Edinburgh is a major transport hub in east central Scotland and is at the centre of a multi-modal transport network with road, rail and air communications connecting the city with the rest of Scotland and internationally.
Transport is an area under the control of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government who have the statutory power to control, fund and regulate transport projects of national importance within the city. Transport for Edinburgh is the City of Edinburgh Council's executive body responsible for the development of all transport projects within the city, and it brings a number of key transport providers together under one umbrella.
Public transport in Edinburgh is generally extensive and efficient, but problems such as traffic congestion and the delivery of key transport projects in the city are a prevailing concern.
Airport
Edinburgh Airport is to the west of the city centre, on the A8 trunk road, and is the principal international gateway to the city, as well as the busiest airport in Scotland. It is owned and operated by Global Infrastructure Partners. The airport serves a wide range of domestic and an expanding number of European, transatlantic and Middle East destinations, handling over 12 million passengers per year.
The main terminal building was built in 1977 by the Edinburgh architect Robert Matthew, and was substantially extended and modernised in the late 1990s. A £14m project to construct a new international pier, further increasing capacity, was completed in 2006.
A master plan for the growth of the airport was published in May 2005 indicating that the main terminal building will need to be increased in size, and that new aircraft hangars, maintenance facilities, and cargo handling facilities will need to be constructed. The possibility of a second runway built on land to the north of the current airfield, has been mooted, to cope with the forecast growth in air traffic. A new air traffic control tower was opened in October 2005.
Currently the airport is connected to the city centre by a dedicated bus link operating from the main terminal building to Waverley Bridge and a tram link from the airport to the city centre which opened in May 2014.
Bus transport
Bus services
Buses are the main means of public transport in Edinburgh. There is an extensive bus network, covering all parts of the city, its suburbs and the surrounding city region. Edinburgh is widely regarded as having one of the most extensive bus services in the country, with some of the highest patronage figures in the UK outside of London.
There are two major bus operators in Edinburgh:
Lothian Buses - the main provider of bus services in the city. McGill's Scotland East
Lothian Regional Transport was the precursor to Lothian Buses and was formed in 1986 after bus services were deregulated by the Transport Act 1985. Lothian Regional Transport changed its title to Lothian Buses in 2000. It is a publicly owned company with the City of Edinburgh Council having the 91% controlling stake in the company; the remainder is divided between the local authorities of Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian. Lothian Buses also run the Airport Express shuttle between Edinburgh Airport and the city centre, as well as a network of night buses operating on popular routes between midnight and 5am.
Both Lothian Buses and McGill's Scotland East charge a single flat fare regardless of distance, and operate a day ticket system, allowing unlimited travel on their buses during the day. Most buses run at intervals of between 10 and 30 minutes during the day; there is a reduced service after 7pm. There are some night bus services.
As well as local buses within the city, several companies offer inter-city buses between Edinburgh and various other cities within Scotland and the UK. Scottish Citylink runs buses from Edinburgh to places such as Stirling, Perth and Glasgow (900 Edinburgh–Glasgow), and Megabus operates budget services between Edinburgh and Glasgow and London.
Edinburgh Bus Station is located on St Andrew Square in the city, but is not used by local services.
Bus corridors
From December 2004 to January 2008, a 1.5 km long guided busway - "Fastlink" - ran between the west Edinburgh suburbs of Stenhouse and South Gyle, parallel to the railway line from Haymarket to South Gyle. There were four passenger halts on the busway at Broomhouse East, Broomhouse West and Saughton East and West. Edinburgh Trams, from the city centre to the Airport, now run on the corridor previously occupied by the Fastlink guideway with stops at Saughton, Bankhead and Edinburgh Park Station.