Parking charges should be increased in parts of the city centre to fund essential bus services in the capital, according to an Edinburgh councillor.<\/p>\n
Liberal Democrat councillor Neil Ross wants to see more useful bus routes established, like the recently axed 42 that connected Craigleith to Portobello.<\/p>\n
And to fund services which are often not profitable, he wants to see \u2018pay and display\u2019 bays near the city centre changed to standard parking, and have the council do away with free motorcycle parking bays.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/b> Edinburgh Morrisons shoppers terrified as ‘youth with knife’ spotted at store<\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/b> New flights from Edinburgh to Mexico to launch in 2026 with Aer Lingus<\/a><\/p>\n Additionally, he is proposing that free parking on Boxing Day and Easter Monday is done away with \u2013 but the capital would still be left with free parking days on Christmas Day and New Years\u2019 Day.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThese bus routes are needed, but they\u2019re not commercially successful routes, and that\u2019s where the subsidies have to come in.<\/p>\n \u201cBut where\u2019s the money coming from? That question needs to be answered.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are gaps left. One example was the 42 route between Blackhall and Stockbridge, [with its elimination] there isn\u2019t a connection which would join up those communities.<\/p>\n \u201cDumbiedykes doesn\u2019t have a connection anymore, from there to the city centre, because for whatever reason it\u2019s not got a service anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n In a motion submitted to the council\u2019s Transport and Environment Committee, Cllr Ross says that Lothian, as well as other operators, could take up routes funded through the parking changes.<\/p>\n And he asks that council officers research the feasibility of funding the new services and reports back to the same committee in August.<\/p>\n He says that the \u2018pay and display\u2019 bays around the city centre effectively offer discounted parking, raising that some of these bays are across the road for normal, hourly rate parking bays.<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cAnyone can commute into town from elsewhere, or indeed the suburbs, and park there, for I think four or five pounds a day.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same bay across the road is charged at a normal rate, and it would be \u00a32.50 per hour, or whatever the going figure is.<\/p>\n \u201cMy point is, I\u2019m happy for people if they want to park there for the whole day \u2013 just the same price as everybody else. Why should it be discounted?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s taking away that incentive for anyone wanting to commute from the outskirts, or indeed outside town altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s in line with the objectives of the sustainability plans not to encourage people to commute [by driving].\u201d<\/p>\n He said that, in looking to remove free parking on Boxing Day and Easter Monday, he didn\u2019t want to squeeze retailers.<\/p>\n Rather, he wants to see people take the bus in to go to the shops on that day.<\/p>\n Cllr Ross\u2019 motion will be debated at the next meeting of the Transport and Environment Committee on Thursday, 22 May, which can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n