City traffic staff merge with buses

The council’s traffic control centre, currently located in the City Chambers, has already been working closely with Lothian Buses control since tram works started in 2009.

Now they plan to co-locate in a new operations control centre Lothian Buses is building at Annandale Street.

It is also intended to locate the tram operations control centre in the building when the tram is up and running.

Mark Turley, director of the city council’s services for communities department, said: “Co-location of the two control rooms, and the closer working relationship this brings, will deliver benefits to both organisations and is established practice in continental Europe, where multi-agency control centres are commonplace.

“Lothian Buses will benefit from much improved access to the staff who control and coordinate traffic flow.”