Lothian Buses Reviews 

Standing at a bus stop at a blind bend, glanced at phone briefly and bus came round corner very fast ( should it have been going a bit slower given there is a bus stop immediately round the corner opposite a hospice ?) nearly missed it and stuck out my hand so driver did have to stop quite sharply. I accept I glanced at my phone and perhaps should have kept my eyes continue on the road. thanked him however he made a nippy sarky comment which I do t think was justified…

I get 4 buses a day and can say that the vast majority are on time, reliable service and really pleasant. The job they do is really hard and we expect a lot. Just wanted to say respect the drivers and great service.

Has to be the worst company for their bus services.
I live in Rosewell and have to get two buses to Dalkeith and back.
The time I wait in between buses travelling there and back takes at least 4 hrs and some don’t even turn up.
Can’t buy frozen food including ice cream as it’s defrosted by the time I get home.
Our MP has been trying to get our original bus back but LRT are not interested
They don’t care about all the elderly people who have to get off and off buses with their shopping.
I have waited over 1 hr tonight at Nicolson Street, first it said 7 minutes then 16 minutes then disappeared, eventually came back up and said 18 minutes.
About time they got their act together.
You ask the driver what happened to the last bus and don’t even answer you.
I know it’s not the drivers fault.
Whoever is running this department needs to be fired.
Hasn’t got a clue how to run a bus service.

Shocking bus service waiting on 16 bus to go to muirhouse due 7.06 never arrived on the there's no excuse at that time of the morning for the bus to late yet again. Bus 16 to go towards granton bus due 13.05 it's now 13.15 bus still not here shocking bus service.

The driver of the100 bus to the airport today was so incredibly rude. I put my young Scot card on the scanner and did not hear him ask where I was going so when I reached to re position my card because I thought it wasn’t working he shouted NO at me and proceeded to very rudely and patronising ask me where I was going in an aggressive tone. This I felt was very unnecessary, just because someone does not hear you the first time on the side of a busy road, through a glass screen, does not mean you need to be so aggressive.

Almost every bus is late, most drivers have a bad attitude and they seem completely incapable of managing road closures

Atrocious and rude bus drivers that don’t stop at stops even when waving hands, fairly racist as well. Terrible experience and even terrible service, get better Edinburgh. Pathetic.

A driver on the 10 route to bonaly on the 28th July 2026 12:35 at the rustic cottage’s stop rudely passed my stop and shook their head at me and my brother with special needs, I kindly ask that you find who was on the route at that time and have a brief conversation about how you treat your customers

Excellent customer service. Lost my suitcase and was assisted superbly to recover it. The office staff at Shandwick place were friendly and very accomodative. They made everything look simple.

Took a 26 to portabello and was walking down the stairs on top step now the driver knew we were coming down as we were talking and there’s cameras he then proceeded to pull off full speed resulting in me falling really badly and spraining and really badly bruising my arm.

The worst bus line in the whole of the UK. It's never on time, it often goes several stations and says service is over, regardless of passengers who are late for work and appointments. You must find a solution again and buy another ticket. Today, in a very, very high temperature, it stopped for no reason for a long time, so much so that we almost lost consciousness. While if you buy a monthly ticket it costs £80 but the buses have no air conditioning. I ask why the government does not hold accountable!?

They're usually okay which is why they're getting two stars instead of one but the 43 Lothian County service to Queensferry is a disgrace. Today the 17th July I stood at the stop at St Columba's Church waiting for the 12.33 to Queensferry. I turned up early -12.20- and waited. As it turned out turning up early was a waste of time because not only did the 12.33 not turn up but the one at 12.53 was ten minutes late. And if that wasn't bad enough the bus stopped for several minutes at Clermiston Drive to pick up passengers for a service that had broken down.I had something similar a couple of days back with the 43 not turning up at 13.53. Not good enough guys

Bus drivers dont stop for customers trash services

I was travelling on a number5 today which was heading to Hermiston Gate
After I got off at Beaufort Road,I realised that I had left my wallet on the bus!!
I crossed road and waited for no5 heading to The Jewal
The first driver was extremely helpful and tried contacting the bus I had been on,with no success
He suggested waiting for next bus,and again the driver was extremely helpful, and suggested waiting for next bus and told me how long I would have to wait
The next bus arrived and the driver had my wallet!!
I would like to say a huge thanks to all 3 drivers and how helpful they all were

Totally useless. Teams of folk to make schedules and routes, which are rarely kept to. Really no point in those staff.

Had a pass for 30 years and in that time, have lost over a year and a half of my life because of buses not keeping to the schedule!

Fares go up 3x the rate of inflation, probably to pay for the extortionate ad campaign with JC Deceaux!

Meanwhile they promote 18 films on the sides of buses... hardly appropriate when kids use their buses.

Not sure if they still exist, but there used to be 'interchange' stops - idea being you get off bus 1 and walk to the stop for bus 2. Fine if you don't mind walking a quarter mile and crossing 4 roads (me going home from the gym).

My most used route has several fewer stops than pre trams and around 25% fewer buses per hour run from home than pre Covid. They say it's based on perceived need, yet buses were often full after 5-6 stops when we had more!

Oh...they previously said it was because of a lack of drivers?!

Funny how they can't even lie consistently!!!

Any number of drivers can't take corners without going on the kerb. Don't believe if they say it's the Enviro 400s...it happened long before these buses were even a thing.

Twice in the last few weeks, I've had headphones smashed because the motion of the bus caused me to hit my head against rails, etc. No point reporting it, because...

Then there's the cover up! I was on a bus stopped at traffic lights outside the WGH. The bus pulled out, then hit the brakes so hard I was thrown several feet forward, only stopping where I did because instinct told me to grab a pole.

Lothian Buses refused to tell me why the situation arose and would only give me footage of me flying through the air, but with everyone else's faces blurred, so I couldn't identify the witnesses.

I should have called the police at the time, insisting the bus wait until they arrived and took statements from everyone else on board and so they could have sub poenaed all the footage.

Let's face it...if it was to avoid hitting a child or whatever, why wouldn't you disclose that, so it would be clear it was an unfortunate consequence of an external factor?

The fact that there has been a few similar incidents since then makes me think one of two things is the case...

1) their drivers are often little better than me after 5 pints and I don't even drive!
2) it's a vendetta against me for being critical of the company in the past.

Let's just say I think they are worse than the SNP, who I hate, but at least we can vote them out (read Labour for the UK and GE).

In fact, they are even worse than the Scotland football team and they are a pitiful embarrassment!

It asks for when the situation arose... pretty much every day since 1996!

I've asked several times in the past to spend a few hours with a manager, where I can point out things that could be improved on. Not once has any of these requests even been acknowledged, never mind considered or declined, even when I copied my MP/MSP into the email!

I don't think they're bothered about providing a good service. They have a monopoly, so can get away with anything. No better than legalised extortion.

I was forced into getting the Airlink 100 service last night (14th June)
£6.50 for a 12 minute journey on a packed bus, you'd think for that price, the driver might at least attempt a fake smile but no. Miserable and unfriendly.

X99 bus from queensferry hawes pier to Edinburgh centre.
The info given by the staff on the bus was really helpful. Appreciated the ticket including all modes of public transport. Clean and comfortable bus.
I use the bus twice a year when on the cruise ships and can’t fault their service. Staff are a real asset to the company.
Thank you
Uk resident

Absolutely disgusting behaviour from the driver. He showed no respect.

The bus number did not appear to match what Google Maps showed. I expected it to be the number 7, although I am not sure whether this was a display issue, as the number shown did not clearly appear to be 7.

When I boarded, I asked the driver (a male driver wearing square black-framed glasses and of a heavier build) whether the bus was going to Gordon Terrace. The driver did not seem to know. I found this surprising, as I would expect a driver to know the names of the stops on the route.

I showed him the route on Google Maps. He responded with something I could not hear and then quietly said, while gesturing straight ahead, that he was "just going down." I was still unclear whether the bus would take me to my destination. I was unable to determine whether the bus would stop at Gordon Terrace. The route display inside the bus was either not moving or too small to read clearly, and the driver's response did not answer my question.

I therefore decided to get off when it seemed appropriate. I realised we were at Lady Road, which was close enough to where I needed to go, so I chose to leave the bus because the driver had not been able to confirm whether the bus would stop at Gordon Terrace.

As I was getting off, I only just missed the opportunity to exit before the doors started closing. The doors had not fully closed, and the driver reopened them. However, he did so in a manner that appeared dismissive and disapproving. He repeatedly shook his head in what seemed to be a performative display of annoyance. I looked back at him to show my objection to his behaviour. He continued shaking his head without acknowledging me.

Reflecting on the incident, I felt that I may have been treated differently because of my ethnicity. I noticed that a pale-skinned Scottish passenger who boarded after me appeared to be treated more courteously. While I cannot know the driver's motives, the difference in treatment left me concerned.

I would like to ask the driver: is he sure that he treats all passengers with the same level of respect and courtesy that he shows to those who belong to Scotland's majority population?

Driving in Edinburgh is absolutely awful. The council have made the roads a disgrace. Lothian drivers take the stress away while I sit watching a film on my phone. I know they struggle with the timetables with all the roadworks and who knows how they feel at the end of the day, but I appreciate greatly that you deal with the stress so I don't have to.