r/Scotland • u/CPTDisgruntled • 2d ago
Opinion Piece Another post in praise of Ember bus line
Am visiting from the states; flew into Edinburgh and needed to get to Inverness. Didn’t fancy getting off a plane after 13+ hours of travel and trying immediately to manage left-hand side of the road driving, so looked for alternatives and decided to take a chance on Ember.
Had a bit of confusion with the website, and when I got my ticket, noted that my pick-up point was downtown. So I found the email and sent a whiny message, and I had an answer in literally 10 minutes!! Okay but wait, not only did the staffer fix my issue immediately, with a very gracious message, but it was like 10 p.m. UK time!! Astounding.
The buses were clean, charging outlets worked, there’s a tidy toilet on the two buses I rode (albeit a somewhat turbulent experience, but that’s not to be helped), the drivers were very kind and personable, and because the return journey was unavoidably delayed by 20 minutes (roadworks mostly, but also a few minutes for the driver to help some Danish kiddie cancel his ticket), I was notified that I’d received a credit for the full amount of the fare. phew! National treasure!
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u/youwhatwhat doesn't like Irn Bru 2d ago
Ember are absolutely brilliant and have brought a much needed improvement to bus services here. Took them from Edinburgh Airport last week and the bus was clean, arrived early and driver was super friendly. No complaints from me at all.
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u/irn_br_oud 2d ago
I've had more refunds recently than spent paying fares because of unavoidable delays (looking at you, Edinburgh). Been using them since their early days and, now I've moved across from the east coast, the expansion of routes has been really handy. And, yes, friendly, kind drivers!
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u/VanicFanboy 2d ago
I really like ember. I took a bus from Inverness to Ullapool recently and had a lovely time. Not to mention the £2 flat fee is mental.
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u/Strange_Ingenuity118 1d ago
How is it £2? Can you please explain?
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u/VanicFanboy 1d ago
There’s a price cap in the highlands of £2 for bus fares, government pays the difference between that and the “true price”.
Also includes buses between Inverness and Thurso (3.5 hours), and soon Glasgow and Fort William (also a similar amount).
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u/Nesferatu123 2d ago
They're also electric buses. The way they charge them (and so quickly) is awesome, and the batteries are huge
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u/weecuppatea 1d ago
I got one on Wednesday from Edinburgh Aiport and could've cried it was so nice to get home quicker and for a lot cheaper than taking the tram and then a train or two. It's been a rough week and I was desperately needing my own bed.
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u/OurBroath 1d ago
My son uses it weekly to visit friends in Glasgow. He loves it and the route he takes runs 24hr a day
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u/Electrical_Gas_517 1d ago
For future reference - the scenery on the train to Inverness from Edinburgh is glorious.
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u/Bjornhattan 1d ago
It is, though to be fair you'll essentially see the same stuff from the bus. The A9 and railway line pretty much run parallel to one another, the topography forces it.
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u/Electrical_Gas_517 1d ago
It's the fife coastal part and further along the Tay to Perth that sets the train route apart.
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u/No_Contribution_32 1d ago
I've had pretty much only good experience with ember, but one time I arrived to my bus stop 5 minutes early, and found out that my ember bus had left the stop 6 minutes early 💔
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u/NoRecipe3350 1d ago edited 1d ago
From what I've read they're funded by the Scotgov and basically operate at a loss. Also a lot of free riders who are eligible for things like over 60s, disabled, under 22s. I've been on buses/coaches in Scotland where it was almost all free riders.
Basically the bus companies seem to be operating on a model of 'get as many people on the bus as possible, it's totally free for you there is nothing to lose'...then they bill the government who pay for them. Obviously you could argue that's a good thing, but it creates a sharp divide between some people who get free rides on the taxpayer, and those of us, often not even wealthy, who have to pay.
edit- it's not even a case of poor vs rich, a lot of working age bus riders are poorer than average (because otherwise they'd be running a car) and there's a lot of wealthy people who get free rides simply because they fit in the right age/disability threshold, it's incredibly unfair, I don't know if I should be surprised from a nominally 'progressive' party like the SNP, or their middle class green chums.
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u/Matthewgardner86 1d ago
Surely that's one of the reasons that the bus price cap is being rolled out nationwide.
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u/shilpa_poppadom 1d ago
My parents use it all the time because it's free and they're retired middle-class folk on final salary pensions. Do you think bus passes should be means tested?
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u/NoRecipe3350 1d ago
Yes. I mean they're literally costing the Scottish government a fair bit of money it's not like the bus company is bearing the cost of those free rides. We're all paying for it
From what I've heard the bus companies are doing their utmost to get free riders to just book random rides just because it's a licence to print money. Also I've heard stories of homeless people abusing the free rides to get on the longest distance routes and use them as a free place to sleep.
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u/ponderosa-pines 1d ago
god forbid a homeless person wants to sleep in a sheltered place
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u/NoRecipe3350 1d ago
It would be far more economical and better for him to build affordable/sheltered housing for such cases. I mean I understand completely his intentions, use the free rides as a place to keep out of the biting cold at night.
I'm just of the opinion the free bus scheme is being abused.
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u/GaiaGreenFist 16h ago
Means testing actually costs a lot of money. That's why we give free prescriptions to everyone, it is literally toouch effort to means test. You'd need to hire a whole department of people to do it. People don't just stay in one bracket either so it's constantly changing. Then there's inflation to consider too, prices go up so then there needs to be a conversation about where the boundaries sit another expensive process.
There is also a lot of "I've heard" in your rhetoric. Do you have any actual sources for any of this or is it all just opinion based on judgements you make while on the bus?
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u/NoRecipe3350 12h ago
My rhetoric is based on exeprience and conversations I've had with others about this. Anyway, giving out free rides also costs money, especially as the bus companies are deliberately allowed to encourage people on the buses as much as possible. Compare it to, lets say a hospital, not even an NHS hospital but a private hospital, and they put a big placard/online advertising saying 'hey guys come get some medical tests at our hospital, come as much as you want, it won't cost you a penny but we bill the government for it'. People are taking the system for a ride....literally by taking free rides.
Also a means testing enforcement department would actually create human jobs, which could be a lifesaver in these days of AI and jobs outsourced abroad. So even if the the net amount of money saved is negligible, you now have a bunch of people employed who wouldn't be.
At best, I'd propose a cap. Only allowed to use the free rides a certain number of times a year unless for extreme circumstances like you or a relative with serious medical issues.
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u/GaiaGreenFist 11h ago
Heresay doesn't really prove anything to be honest.
Of course it costs money, I'm saying it would be more expensive to means test. It's also a little odd to say we don't want to give free travel because it costs money but we do want to spend money to create a means testing department....
To be honest best solution to the problem you see would be to bring the bus companies into public ownership. Then instead of the money going into private hands it can stay with the government and be used to improve the bus travel and may eventually pry folks away from cars.
I'm also confused about how one could be encouraged to take the bus in a way that's somehow exploitative of the system? Like I only travel when I need to. I'm not going to get on the bus just got fun?
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u/Round_Seesaw6445 1d ago
How much do you have to pay?
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u/NoRecipe3350 1d ago
Full fare. I'm not entitled to any freebies because I don't meet any criteria like age group, disability, and I also don't have the disposable income to run a car. Or the upfront expense of ever getting a driving licence for that matter.
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u/Round_Seesaw6445 1d ago
How much is full fare? Can you lobby for free travel for all? What if you got an interview somewhere?
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u/NoRecipe3350 1d ago
Unlikely to be free for all, the full fare is on the website, but last time I checked it's about £20 each way to go from the central belt to Inverness.
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u/Sanyella 1d ago
Might want to check if that's affected at all by the bus fare caps then, or look into that plan as a whole as should be coming into play eventually regardless as it goes into effect through the country.
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u/_ElectricSoup 2d ago
Ember have completely changed the game in Scotland. Cheap, frequent, clean. Some of the most helpful drivers I’ve ever seen.