CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

Lothian Buses CCTV

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  1. Frenchy
    Member

    I learned a while ago (probably via CCE) that it is possible to view CCTV footage of yourself from Lothian Buses (and anywhere else, actually).

    After a recent close pass on Gilmerton Road, I decided to do this in order to give myself a better idea of what it looked like from the driver's point of view. I figured I might as well post about the process here. Various thoughts follow, not particularly in any logical order.

    The form you need to fill out is available here: https://lothianbuses.co.uk/about-us/our-company/cctv-policy Post that, along with a cheque for £10, and photo of your ID and a recent bill, to Lothian Buses. The CCTV manager phoned me back a couple of days later to arrange a suitable time to go and view the footage.

    You need to go to HQ (Annandale Street) to view the footage. The manager made it clear that he was not going to comment on what the footage actually showed (but then proceeded to do so, agreeing that it wasn't exactly a glowing endorsement of their drivers' reputation). He also said they have to be careful with what footage they show if other people are clearly identifiable in it, but I think is is unlikely to be an issue for any incidents involving cyclists.

    The bus that I was interested in was an older style one, which only had one outward facing camera. This is facing forwards, and is positioned directly in front of the driver. Newer buses have external cameras and so show more.

    Glad I did this, it was good to see the incident from the driver's viewpoint. It also confirmed that the CCTV was actually pulled from the bus when I reported the incident (the hard drives hold 3-4 days of footage, and automatically overwrite old footage, so you need to report incidents within a couple of days).

    Posted 7 years ago #
  2. acsimpson
    Member

    If I understand correctly come the end of May they will no longer be able to charge £10 for such access requests and will have to provide you with a copy rather than just allowing viewing.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  3. fimm
    Member

    @Frenchy do you know if any action (even just a quiet word) will be taken with the driver as a result of your viewing of the CCTV?

    Posted 7 years ago #
  4. Frenchy
    Member

    @acsimpson - that's interesting, I forgot to actually ask if I could have a copy.

    @fimm - When I first complained, I received a response saying that they take these matters seriously and will provide further training or disciplinary action if the driver's manager feels it is warranted. I doubt anything further happened following me asking to see the footage.

    Posted 7 years ago #

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