SOME of the city's under-threat bus services could have a temporary reprieve under plans being considered by council chiefs.
City leaders have identified eight Lothian Buses routes which they say have the highest social value and are contemplating spending £300,000 on keeping them going for six months to see if Lothian Buses' financial position improves.
Among the rout
es which could be saved are the number 13 Blackhall to Lochend and the number 18 Gyle to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Any cash to save the bus routes would have to come from existing council budgets.
Lothian Buses is looking to axe or curtail 16 of its services by October as it struggles to break even in the face of soaring fuel prices and dipping passenger numbers blamed on trams disruption.
New figures released by the company show it made a £753,000 loss in the first 28 weeks of the year and is projected to face a £4.7 million jump in costs this year because of huge increases in fuel, employment and pension costs.
Among the other options being considered by city leaders is a redistribution of its £1m-per-annum bus subsidies to try and spread their benefits.
Plans put forward by officials would see the 38 Muirhouse to ERI service changed from a 20-minute to hourly service and the subsidy saving redeployed elsewhere.
Campaigners today vowed to fight the cuts, claiming the council had a duty to thousands of people who rely on these services.
Tina Woolnough, chairwoman of Blackhall Community Association, which led a recent campaign to save the number 13 service from Blackhall to Lochend, said:
"This council cannot turn its back on the huge social need which all of these under-threat services provide – the buck stops with them and they need to make every effort to make sure people are not stranded.
"Lothian Buses is blaming the drop in passengers on the tram disruption, a scheme which this administration brought to the city, so it is up to the council to sort out the mess it causes."
The services which could temporarily be subsidised by the council are the 13, 18, 20, 42, 60, N16, N26 and N44.
City leaders are also keen to explore if the number 20 service which loops around Chesser could attract commercial sponsorship.
Figures from Lothian Buses show the firm is facing a steep rise in employment costs of £2.7m due to the need to employ more drivers for the extra buses it needs for the tram diversions, and increased pension costs.
Lothian Buses' diesel bill has risen by £1.95m, an increase of 41 per cent on last year's fuel costs.
The city's Labour transport spokesman, Councillor Ricky Henderson, said: "The situation is deeply regrettable and I hope this is very much a last resort for Lothian Buses. It is unfortunate that its least profitable routes are those with the arguably the highest social need."
A council report into the current situation also reveals a two per cent decrease in overall passenger figures so far this year – 4.5 per cent lower than the 2.5 per cent expected growth.
Councillor Phil Wheeler, the city's transport leader, said: "
The current situation is not unique to Edinburgh.
"We are acutely aware of how vital some of the affected services are for communities (and] are working hard to identify potential options for retaining the most socially important services."
The full article contains 581 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
