Councillor supports pausing Lothian Buses dividend due to investment in electric buses for a greener fleet.
The bus company usually shares profits with owners. This happened most years before 2020. It only happened once since then, in 2024. They gave owners £3.2 million that year.
Edinburgh Council owns most of the bus firm’s stock. The council usually gets a large payment. A report in February stated no dividend this year.
Councilor Alex Staniforth sits on a transport committee. He said it’s a shame about no dividend. He added the Greens won’t stop green efforts and want a greener bus fleet.
The bus company ordered 50 electric buses in 2023. These double-deckers cost £24 million total. Buses arrived throughout 2024.
The first new electric bus started running in September. Volvo made these buses for the company. They are making the fleet net-zero by 2035. All the buses meet Euro 6 standards now. They reached this goal in 2020.
Edinburgh Council owns 91% of Lothian Buses. Midlothian Council owns 5%. East Lothian has 3%. West Lothian owns only 1%. They asked Lothian Buses for a comment.