Plan for Edinburgh venues to sell cheaper tram and bus tickets for events

Discounted bus and tram tickets would be sold alongside tickets to major sporting and music events in Edinburgh under plans being put forward by a city councillor.

Already popular in Europe, some councillors hope such a scheme would help with parking issues around stadiums on match days.

SNP councillor Neil Gardiner said: “It would be helpful to give sports fans and concertgoers an option to include public transport, at a discounted rate in their event or season tickets. This is currently being looked at for the proposed concert hall at Edinburgh Park.

“Considering including this option for Hearts, Hibs, big rugby occasions and concerts would make sense.

“As a football supporter, I am aware that season ticket sales are already underway. It would be good to understand what is possible when this comes back to the transport committee next month.

“Such an initiative could also take pressure off communities such as Lochend, which my colleague councillor Aston has previously raised.”

Councillors approved an addition to a parking strategy document on Thursday which called on officers to report on progress on exploring the plans at the next Transport and Environment Committee meeting in May.

It asked officers to see about allowing people going to sporting events to purchase a public transport ticket when they get their game tickets.

Their report will also include an update on building relationships between public transport operators in the city and concert and sporting venues.

Gardiner also hopes that a similar scheme, currently being researched, will be applied to the new concert venue set to be constructed at Edinburgh Park.

The 8,500-capacity venue will be situated next to Edinburgh Park railway station, a tram stop and several bus stops, with construction expected to be complete in 2027.

The addition to the strategy document also noted that ‘poor parking by a minority of match day fans’ was causing problems for people living near the city’s stadiums.

It further asked that council officers increase the amount of parking enforcement near city stadiums on match days.