Letters: Where are the cameras to watch bad city bus drivers?

Do you agree that standards need to improve among the city's bus drivers?

Whilst having sympathy for what must be a stressful job, I am constantly frustrated by the number of bus drivers who either do not or cannot remain within the road marked off for them. Worse is the frequent practice of simply stopping in the middle of the road to pick up and discharge passengers.

This illegal and dangerous practice is simply ignored and adds to the already dreadful congestion of our city.

Passengers should be aware that when alighting from buses in these circumstances they will almost certainly not be covered by the operator's insurance unless they are able to step directly on to or from the pavement.

Maybe these new cameras will be able to identify these drivers, with fines for blocking the road just don't hold your breath.

John Byrn, Newtongrange

Councillors must get on with job

IT is so typical of the way things are run in this city that councillors are upset that a scheduled "crunch meeting" to discuss the tram system will not be moved to accommodate the visit of the Pope to Edinburgh (News, August 5).

Whether you are one of his flock or not matters not a jot - it will be a once-in-a-generation visit.

Those looking forward to it will be very excited, while others will not give it a thought.

Except for our councillors, of course. The poor dears fear the meeting may drag long into the evening, impacting on their decision-making ability.

Have they not had long enough to think about the tram project fiasco already?

Plenty of people at the sharp end of their previous blundering acts will have much more practical decisions to consider while the councillors ponder over tea and biscuits.

K Welsh, Easter Road, Edinburgh

Buyers investing in their futures

WHILST the latest figures from the Registers of Scotland are very positive, I would not be surprised if many people reading will be very confused.

Recent statistics from Price Waterhouse Cooper said prices would not reach 2007 levels for a decade. From week to week, we are bombarded with figures of rises and falls, hot and cold spots.

Those considering entering the property market, either buying or selling, may be scared off as the situation appears turbulent. In reality, the situation is a lot more stable than figures may suggest.

The reasons people need to move remain - marriage, children, work. And for that reason buying a 'home' is not about a 'quick-buck' investment, it is about finding somewhere to become independent, raise a family, grow old.Yes the market has gone through a period of change, but almost two years since the coining of the term 'credit crunch', buyers and sellers are becoming used to the new reality.

Matthew Gray, property services director, Pagan Osborne, Queen Street, Edinburgh

Diversions are too dangerous

WITH reference to your article "Tram row goes international" (News, August 2), my family and I have lived in Carlton Terrace Mews since the early 60s. I am saddened to see how the council is riding roughshod over its citizens.

Since Regent Terrace was closed off, the traffic management proposals for the Edinburgh trams will stop traffic from turning right into Blenheim Place/Royal Terrace. Residents, businesses and Greenside church all had a taste of this when Blenheim Place was closed off for long periods for peripheral utilities works on Leith Walk.

With Blenheim Place/Royal Terrace closed off, residents will be forced to go further afield through routes which involve negotiating Abbeymount, one of the most dangerous junctions in Edinburgh.

Douglas M B Green, Carlton Terrace Mews, Edinburgh