Edinburgh’s 12-hour bus lane pilot delayed by a year

A pilot as part of plans for the 12-hour extension of bus lanes in Edinburgh has been delayed by about a year.

Councillors agreed last year to a pilot of the 7-7-7 scheme, where bus lanes operate from 07:00 to 19:00 seven days a week – on the number 44 route from Juniper Green to Musselburgh.

It was to get under way earlier this year but was held up due to traffic orders.

Now it is hoped the pilot will be up and running by February 2026.

Currently most bus lanes in Edinburgh only operate during peak hours of 07:30 – 09:30 and 16:00 and 18:30 Monday to Friday, with cars able to use them outside of those times.

However since the Covid lockdown it has been argued that travel patterns have changed and therefore the restrictions need to cover a larger part of the day.

Councillors agreed on a trial on one bus route rather than an immediate roll-out after a consultation found mixed views.

Before 2015, many bus lanes across the city operated 07:30-18:30 Monday to Saturday or 24 hours a day.

Stephen Jenkinson, City of Edinburgh Council’s transport and environment convener, said: “Making public transport more efficient, reliable, and reducing journey times, are key objectives for us.

“I share the frustration over the delayed rollout of this trial.

“Officers are working with transport partners to secure the necessary funding and progress experimental traffic orders to deliver improved bus priority infrastructure.”