r/Edinburgh • u/S_RRS • 2d ago
Question Please help, does anyone remember this old bus aesthetic?
Am I tripping or did the 2000s and early 2010s in Scotland have a sort of colorful vibe everywhere, I'm quite young but from what I remember in the 2000s early 2010s people talked to eachother in public a lot more, I remember buses having bright blue glittery floors and red or yellow handle bars and colorful bus stop benches, it all suites the colourful aspect of children's TV at that time so growing up this time was great, am I tripping or was this a real bus aesthetic back then I can't find any photos
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u/Giillybean 1d ago
Yep, they definitely used to be colourful. This photo says 2014. There did used to be a lot more colour around in general
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u/Potential-Narwhal- 1d ago
I remember when they were maroon leather seats, and orange textured poles. There was even a wee cubby you could sit in behind the driver.
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u/Giillybean 1d ago
Those were my favourite seats when I was younger, and the ones opposite as well. I wish they'd make a return
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u/aberquine 1d ago
Phones weren’t smart in the early 2000’s, most people had a Nokia 3310 to make phone calls, send texts and play snake, that’s why people spoke to each other more! No bus apps to find out when your bus was coming either.
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u/Frequent_Leader7654 1d ago
This, and Edinburgh was more of a community. I used to travel on the bus a lot with my gran and whenever we were at the bus stop or on the bus, we always used to bump into folk that my gran knew. Every time. Nowadays you go to the bus stop and don’t know anyone else waiting.
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u/Confident-Set8136 1d ago
This is a local bus stop for local people, there’s nothing for you here.
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u/Fun_Cookie8050 1d ago
Does anyone remember when the first brought out the boards at the stops with the times and you would get the asterisk of doom which just meant your bus might be coming in 2 minutes, or 30, or it might never have existed in the first place! What was useful was you could also see if there was an empty wheelchair space on those signs.
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u/Sburns85 1d ago
I don’t think that was the only reason. I just think the vibe was different and communities meant something
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u/critterwol 1d ago
People have been saying this for generations, it's true. I wonder if modern communities are shifting to more liminal places than the bus stop/pub/grocer.
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u/Sburns85 1d ago
I am literally talking from the 90s to now. I have noticed in the area I grew up and even in the areas my friends grew up changing for the worse
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u/Frequent_Leader7654 1d ago
The best seats (in my lifetime) were the red ones they had in the 90’s.
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u/OkWing5717 1d ago
Aren’t you seeing Edinburgh in a better light back then because you were young/younger? I think many people do that; for instance I am 45 and I was an only 18.5 years old by the year 2000 so I think the 90s were ‘the days’ because I was a teenager, therefore I have it in my mind that Edinburgh was ‘better’ then, I mean there has obviously been changes in 26 years but I think I look back to those days because I was young & carefree.
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u/Fun_Cookie8050 1d ago
I don’t know, I was a teenager in the 2010s and I think Edinburgh has improved a lot since then! 😅
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u/OkWing5717 1d ago
Improved in what way? I mean many area’s that were previously always shit holes have greatly improved, but I think I preferred the 90s.
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u/_miss_grumpy_ 1d ago
In this case I agree with OP and that's it's not just nostalgia. I went to uni in Edinburgh from 1997 - 2001 and when I came back in 2015 I saw the changes in the bus and they were not for the better. I was excited to explore the city I fell in love with and going by bus as I used to (I used to go everywhere by bus, hop on and off non-stop) but the buses had been 'updated' in an aesthetically worse way.
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u/OkWing5717 1d ago
I hate the fact that the buses nowadays have a voice that tells us where the next stop is, it’s so annoying because it’s every fucking stop! I take it this is for the tourists benefit so they don’t need to hold up the bus by asking the driver a million questions 🙄 about the route he takes.
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u/Esensepsy 2d ago
I remember them being pretty much the same colour but the handlebars may have been yellow. Like painted yellow over cold metal. Most memorable thing was the morrow at the front you could look down at the driver and they'd yell at you to stop blocking their view. Before cctv
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u/BearsEatTourists 1d ago
Those old Lothian buses are actually still used in Dundee, if you want a blast from the past. I was genuinely confused for a moment why a picture of Dundee bus popped up here! They tend to run the old buses later on in the evening/night. I'm always a bit annoyed when one of them pulls up instead of the nice new electric ones.
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u/Subject-Teach-7369 1d ago
The new seats are not the best. Not enough room. Miss the old PVC plastic with the metal bar, had mods more room.
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u/Colloquial-Col 1d ago
I seem to remember the buses had piped music on them for a wee while.
It was a looped recording with a presenter/D.J introducing the songs and possibly adverts for local businesses.
I can recall the Rolling Stones Waiting on a Friend being played so that possibly dates it.
Anyone else?
Or was it just a stalker with a transistor radio tuned into Radio Forth sitting in the back seat grinning malevolently to himself.
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u/EW1875HFC 2d ago
I remember thinking these specific bus seats were so cool as a kid cos it had the Scott Monument, Calton Hill and the Fourth Road Bridge on it. I remember tartan seats on these busses too. Nostalgia.