No ‘live’ bus times on new ‘travel tracker’ until summer, council admits
Delay put down to ‘complex’ testing and GPS tech upgrade
Edinburgh’s new bus tracker screens are not expected to provide real-time service information until summer, the city council has said.
Issues with the roll-out of the city’s £2.9m ‘travel tracker’ system mean digital on-street displays continue to only show timetables, leading to a rise in complaints about inaccurate arrival times being shown at bus shelters across the Capital.
Council officials said the ongoing testing process was “complex” and “is likely to identify issues where some further development is required,” while Lothian Buses is yet to finish upgrading GPS tracking technology on their fleet. A two-year delay to the project has been blamed mainly on the pandemic and Brexit-related issues.
“The best estimate at this time is for real time information from all operators to be available from summer 2024,” they said.
Edinburgh Bus Users Group (EBUG) said the Council decided to renew the system in 2019 and it was “hard to understand why it’s taking so long to fix”.
In November transport convener Scott Arthur apologised and admitted it had “not been clear” that departures advertised on the new full colour screens – which are also capable of receiving and displaying tram, rail, and air times – were not based on the live location of buses. Now a note advises that what is being shown is ‘timetabled information’ only.
Morningside councillor Marie Clair-Munro, who said she had been “inundated” with complaints from constit
Passengers want a reliable system that clearly and simply displays when the next buses are coming
uents regarding the situation, warned it could “put people off using public transport”.
Delays have already led to an extra £1.7m being spent on keeping the existing, outdated digital bus boards running.
An EBUG spokesperson said: “Passengers want a reliable system that clearly and simply displays when the next buses are coming, rather than timetabled bus information and the next flight to Tenerife.
“In February we asked the Council to use its communication channels to explain the problem, and when it would be sorted. We also urged a focus on doing proven basics well, and not getting over-excited by high-tech ‘solutions’.
“This is beginning to look like a case in point.”