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Lothian Buses

Edinburgh's municipally owned network — madder and white since 1919

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Lothian Buses is the largest municipally owned bus operator in the UK, majority owned by the City of Edinburgh Council with neighbouring councils holding smaller shares. It runs the great majority of bus services in Edinburgh, along with Lothian Country and East Coast Buses routes into the surrounding counties, and the Airlink and Skylink airport services.

What to expect

A dense, high-frequency city network where many corridors see a bus every few minutes, with a simple flat city fare structure that does not vary by distance. The distinctive madder-red and white livery is a fixture of the city.

Tickets and apps

Lothian uses a flat single fare within the city zone and a day ticket that is usually worth buying after two journeys. The Transport for Edinburgh app sells tickets, and contactless tap-on with capping is available. Exact change is needed if paying cash — drivers do not give change.

Tracking Lothian buses

Scottish operators are not legally required to publish live vehicle data, so Lothian coverage on our map is limited. Timetables are complete, and we are working on additional Scottish data sources.

Local brands you can track

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See Lothian Buses on the live map How our tracking works

Fares, ticket ranges and network arrangements change — always check the operator's or authority's own website before travelling. Live tracking coverage depends on what each operator publishes as open data.