Tag Archives: bus

Attractions, Days Out, Public Transport, Quingo Scooters

Quingo Accessible Days Out: Edinburgh Bus Tours

Quingo Scooters encourages users to get out and about, discovering some different days out in the best cultural hotspots. In our series of articles, we shed light on various accessible days out for you to enjoy on your mobility scooter.

Today we head to the North of the UK, to the Scottish capital. A beautiful city, Edinburgh is known for its historical attractions and architectural gems, making it one of the UK’s top tourist destinations. See everything it has to offer by having a day out on one of the Edinburgh Bus Tours.

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Edinburgh Bus Tours

Since they were established in the 1920s, the Edinburgh Bus Tours have become Scotland’s third most popular paid-for attraction. They’re operated by Lothian Buses and depending on the tour you take, you can see some of Edinburgh’s best sites. This includes Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, Grassmarket, Calton Hill and the Palace of Holyrood House, which is the official residence of the Scottish monarch.

There are three main tours – the Edinburgh Bus Tour, City Sightseeing Tour and Majestic Tour. They all visit some of the same attractions e.g. the Palace of Holyrood, but there are some variations e.g. the City Sightseeing Tour doesn’t stop at the Scottish Parliament, but the other two do. The Edinburgh Bus Tour offers a live guide in English, but the others provide multi-language commentary. Meanwhile, the City Sightseeing Tour is really good for kids, as it gives Horrible Histories commentaries!

The tours last roughly one hour and operate all year round, although the City Sightseeing is closed on Christmas Day. The trips depart every 15, 20 or 30 minutes, depending on the tour and time of year. Visit the tours’ pages on the Edinburgh Bus Tours website to learn their departure times, depending on the day and time of year. An adult ticket for each tour costs £15, but senior tickets (aged 60+) are £14, with students paying the same, while children’s tickets (aged five to 15) come in at £7.50.

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Accessibility

The main Edinburgh Bus Tours are all suitable for mobility scooter users. The trips all depart from the interchange at Waverly Bridge, which is based right next to Edinburgh Waverly train station, making this location easy to find. You can also join the tours at any stop on their respective routes. You should consult the ‘finding us’ page on the Edinburgh Bus Tours website to help plan your trip.

Lothian Buses has gone above and beyond to accommodate mobility scooter users on its Edinburgh Bus Tours. Following a £6.5m investment, Lothian Buses fitted various mobility-friendly features on the buses used in its Edinburgh Bus Tour, City Sightseeing Tour and Majestic Tour routes. These vehicles offer two accessible spaces, which have securement systems installed. This means that your mobility scooter will be electronically held in place, helping you stay stable as the bus moves.

The accessible spaces fitted on the vehicles used in the Edinburgh, City Sightseeing and Majestic Tours are suitable for Class Two Mobility Scooter users. Various models sold by Quingo, such as the very affordable Quingo Classic, are Class Two, meaning that you’ll have no problem going on one of the Edinburgh Bus Tours with one of these models. The buses also have two ramps, which the drivers will be happy to roll out for you. There are also display screens showing footage from the front of the bus, alongside subtitled commentary, fitted above the wheelchair spaces.

About Quingo

The Quingo Scooter range features six models to suit your needs and budget. New models are now available from just £22/week on our new contract hire scheme which includes all servicing and maintenance, Insurance, Roadside Recovery, Call Outs and Consumables including Batteries and Tyres. For more information on this or the latest Quingo Scooter range, please visit our website. Alternatively, if you have any Service questions you can always contact us or call customer services on 01582 430 900.

Keep up to date with the latest mobility scooter advice, tips and interesting places to visit on the Quingo Scooter Users Blog. Connect with Quingo and keep up to date with all our latest news on Facebook and Twitter.

All Quingo Personal Mobility Vehicles are provided by Forever Active, the UK’s exclusive distributor. Forever Active is a trading name of Advantage Marketing Corporation Limited (AMC).  AMC Limited is an appointed representative of First Senior Insurance Services Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. First Senior Insurance Services FSA Register number is 308478.

Public Transport

Mobility Scooters on Buses and Trams in Edinburgh

The Quingo Scooters team were delighted to read that following calls for mobility scooters to be let on buses and trams in Edinburgh, they are now to be allowed on for the first time under a trial scheme being launched by Scottish transport bosses.

Improved accessibility in Edinburgh

Jim Eadie, the Scottish MSP for Edinburgh Southern, raised the issue of poor accessibility on public transport for mobility scooter users earlier this year. Eadie was told that “operational circumstances” meant Transport for Edinburgh could not allow mobility scooters on board the Scottish capitals busses and trams. Continue reading Mobility Scooters on Buses and Trams in Edinburgh →

Public Transport

Taking Your Quingo on the Bus

In the first of a series of articles about accessible public transport, today the Quingo scooter team present our guide to buses.

Freedom and independence

We know our customers are delighted that their Quingo gives them the freedom to travel as they please, whether this means visiting friends or family, doing their daily shop or simply going out for some fresh air.

However, for longer journeys involving public transport, there are often a few more things to consider.

Travelling by bus with your Quingo 5 wheel scooter

The regulations regarding travelling by bus with a mobility scooter vary so it’s important to check with your bus company for full information.

According to the Research Institute for Consumer Affairs (RICA), a charity whose information is cited by the Department for Transport, if you and your scooter meet certain criteria you may be able to take it on low-floor buses. You can find more details on the requirements below:Quingo Scooters

What are the requirements?

  • Your scooter must be Class 2 type and meet certain size limits. Your bus company must also be running a scooter permit scheme, such as the one developed by the Confederation for Passenger Transport (CPT) or the one run by Transport for London (TfL).
  • Your bus company will need you to demonstrate that you are able to manoeuvre your scooter on and off the bus safely and that you can reverse into the wheelchair space. They should offer you training and can also advise which local routes you can travel on.
  • Bus companies who are signed up to the CPT scheme will issue credit-card sized permits which show that you are allowed to travel with your scooter. Make sure you have this to hand when ready to board the bus, so you can show it to the driver to highlight that you’re permitted to bring your Quingo on board.
  • If you’re not sure whether or not your local bus company has a permit scheme, you can check The Rica website which contains a handy list of bus companies who have signed up. If yours isn’t on the list try asking them about the CPT scheme as they may be happy to accept a permit that’s been given to you by a different operator.

Finding out more

These are the main points to consider if you’d like to take your Quingo on a bus. We’d advise that you contact your bus company to find out everything you need to know. It is also recommended that scooter users stay seated during transit. We‘d also encourage you not to dismiss bus travel with your scooter out of hand, it varies from region to region and company to company, but we encourage you to make the most of your travel experience on your Quingo 5 wheel scooter.

Quingo Scooters
We want to get you out and about on your Quingo

 

If you have any questions about your Quingo, please complete the enquiry form and one of our friendly and knowledgeable team will get back to you. Alternatively you can call our customer service line on 01582 430 900.