Existing bus service does not have enough capacity to take children to and from Leith to Holy Rood High School - Petitions (Open)
Petition details
I write on behalf of The Parent Council of Holy Rood High School, Duddingston. Leith falls within the catchment area of this school and the number of pupils travelling by bus from Leith to Holy Rood has increased and is set to increase again in the next academic year. The current public bus service is not adequate to ensure that all children can get on due to the bus being full, missing stops or redirecting up Lochend Road instead of Restalrig Road missing out many students. There have also been occasions (29th May 2023) that a Sunday service has been operating that buses did not show at all. This is very unsafe - it has left children in the dark (in the Winter mornings) to navigate their way to school involving taking alternative transport including a change of bus part way to school. All of these scenarios cause the children to be very late or not to attend at all, and it is very disruptive to their education and that of their classmates. Some of these children can be as young as 11 and traveling to High School independently in their first year of High School. Many pupils can be left distressed when unable to get to school on time and be unsure how to get to school using different routes. The lack of adequate and safe bus service acts as a barrier for children at St Mary's (Leith) to attend their catchment Catholic school.
