Mobile App Terms and Conditions

1. General

    • The Bus & Tram app is promoted and operated by Lothian Buses Limited, Annandale Street, EDINBURGH EH7 4AZ. Lothian Buses Limited is registered in Scotland, No. 96849.
    • M-tickets refers to bus and/or tram tickets which are downloaded to smartphones, via the Bus & Tram app.
    • The Bus & Tram app is currently supported on smartphones using either Apple iOS 15.0 or later; and Google Android 4.0 or later operating systems. Lothian Buses may change the supported operating system version(s). Some features may not be available on all devices or operating systems.
    • Purchasing m-tickets confirms acceptance of these Terms & Conditions.
    • Entrance onto any of Lothian Buses’ vehicles or premises confirms acceptance of Lothian Buses’ Conditions of Carriage. Entrance onto any of Edinburgh Trams’ vehicles or premises confirms acceptance of Edinburgh Trams’ Conditions of Carriage.
    • Lothian Buses may modify these Terms & Conditions at any time, and the most up to date Terms & Conditions will be available on our website and linked to from the Bus & Tram app.

2. Use

  • M-tickets must be purchased through the app in advance of travel. Purchasing m-tickets requires either a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection (for which your network provider may charge you) in order to purchase and activate an m-ticket. Purchased tickets are non-refundable and cannot be altered.
  • The Bus & Tram app accepts payment using VISA and MasterCard debit and credit cards, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
  • M-tickets must be purchased and activated prior to boarding. Once activated, tap “Show” to display the ticket – show this to the bus driver when boarding a bus or ticket services assistant on a tram. Your device must have sufficient battery charge to be able to display the ticket to the driver or ticket services assistant upon boarding and to a Lothian Buses or Edinburgh Trams official throughout your journey if requested, otherwise the cash or Standard fare for the journey will be payable.
  • In case of any difficulty, the fare for the journey should be paid. Full details of any problems should be reported to Lothian Buses by visiting support.lothianbuses.com or emailing [email protected] – please make sure you include a note of the email address your account is registered to.
  • All m-tickets must be used within one hundred and eighty days of purchase, after which they will automatically expire. The expiry date of each ticket will be shown in the app.
  • Once activated, m-tickets are locked to the device on which they were activated. In the event of the loss or damage of that device, active tickets can be transferred to your new device visiting support.lothianbuses.com or emailing [email protected] – please make sure you include a note of the email address your account is registered to.  Unused m-tickets can be transferred to a new device simply by opening the Bus & Tram app on the new device and logging into your account.
  • m-tickets can be sent to another user by choosing to “gift” the ticket within the app. Return tickets and discounted bundles of day tickets can only be gifted at checkout – just enter the email address of the recipient in the “Gift this Ticket” section of the Checkout page. Single and individual day tickets can be gifted either at checkout or after purchase by tapping “Gift” from the ticket wallet. Gifted tickets will expire one hundred and eighty days after they were originally purchased.
  • Lothian Buses reserves the right to suspend without refund any account which it believes is being misused, or where these conditions have been breached. In particular, you must:
    • (a) ensure you comply with any local restrictions on downloading, using or otherwise exporting the Bus & Tram app (including any encryption keys or similar content stored in the app)
    • (b) only install the Bus & Tram app from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or other source approved by Lothian Buses
    • (c) not use the Bus & Tram app in any unlawful manner, for any unlawful purpose, or in any manner inconsistent with these terms, or act fraudulently or maliciously for example by modifying, hacking into or inserting malicious code into the Bus & Tram app or the data it creates.
    • (d) not use the Bus & Tram app in a way that could damage disable, overburden, impair or compromise the service, systems or security or those of our agents; and
    • (e) not collect, collate or harvest any information or data from the Bus & Tram app, service or systems, or attempt to decipher or intercept any transmissions to or from the servers running the Bus & Tram app.

3. Mobile Ticket Types and Validity

  • The ticket types described below are subject to change – Lothian Buses and/or Edinburgh Trams may vary the type, price and validity of tickets available at any time. Any changes will be notified through the app and on our websites.
  • Tickets purchased for one Adult are valid for one adult. Tickets purchased for two Adults are valid for two adults travelling together, and so on. Family tickets are valid for up to two adults and up to three children travelling together.
  • Lothian Buses’ SINGLE tickets are valid for one journey on any one of Lothian Buses’ day services, or one journey on EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country’s day services within zones A & B only. They are not valid for travel on: Edinburgh Trams, Airlink, special services, Tours, night services. Single tickets can only be activated between 04:00 and 00:59 the following morning. Once activated, Single tickets are valid for 5 minutes during which time they should be shown to the driver upon boarding.
  • City DAY tickets are valid for an unlimited number of journeys for one day on Lothian Buses’ day services, Edinburgh Trams in the City Fare zones, and in zones A & B on EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country day services. They are not valid on Airlink, night services, travel to/from the Airport on Edinburgh Trams, special services, Tours, travel outside zones A & B on EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country. City DAY tickets can only be activated between 04:00 and 23:59. Once activated, City DAY tickets are valid from time of activation until 01:00 the following morning and should be shown to the driver or ticket services assistant upon boarding for each journey taken.
  • City LATE tickets are valid for an unlimited number of journeys on Lothian Buses day services after 1800, and on the following morning’s night services until 04:30. They are also valid on Lothian Country and EastCoastbuses in zones A & B only, and Edinburgh Trams in the City Fare Zone only. They are not valid on Airlink, travel to/from the Airport on Edinburgh Trams, special services, Tours, travel outside zones A & B on EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country. City LATE tickets can only be activated between 17:55 and 04:25. Once activated, City LATE tickets are valid from time of activation until 04:30 the following morning and should be shown to the driver upon boarding for each journey taken.
  • Night SINGLE tickets are valid for one journey on Lothian Buses night services. They are also valid on EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country night services in zones A & B only. They are not valid on Lothian Buses day services (except those operating between 00:00 and 01:00), special services, Airlink, Edinburgh Trams, EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country day services (except those operating between 00:00 and 01:00 in zones A & B), special services, or Tours. Once activated, Night Single tickets are valid for 5 minutes during which time they should be shown to the driver upon boarding.
  • Airport SINGLE and RETURN tickets are valid on Airlink for journeys to or from Edinburgh Airport. Once activated, each ticket is valid for 5 minutes during which time they should be shown to the driver upon boarding. Purchasing an Airport Return ticket downloads two m-tickets to your smartphone – one for each journey. Return tickets can only be gifted at checkout – enter the email address of the recipient in the “Gift this Ticket” section of the Checkout page.
  • Single City Zone tickets are valid for one journey on Edinburgh Trams in the City Fare Zone only. They are not valid for travel in the Airport Fare Zone on Edinburgh Trams, or on Airlink, Lothian Buses, Lothian Country, EastCoastbuses, Tours, or special services. Single City Zone tickets can only be activated between 04:45 and 23:45. Once activated, Single City Zone tickets are valid for 30 minutes during which time they should be shown to the Ticket Services Assistant on the tram.
  • Single Airport Zone tickets are valid for one journey on Edinburgh Trams only. They are not valid on Airlink, Lothian Buses, Lothian Country, EastCoastbuses, Tours, or special services. Single Airport Zone tickets can only be activated between 04:45 and 23:45. Once activated, Single tickets are valid for 30 minutes during which time they should be shown to the Ticket Services Assistant on the tram.
  • Return Airport Zone tickets are valid for two journeys on Edinburgh Trams only. They are not valid on Airlink, Lothian Buses, Lothian Country, EastCoastbuses, Tours, or special services. Return Airport Zone tickets can only be activated between 04:45 and 23:45. Once activated, Return tickets are valid for 30 minutes during which time they should be shown to the Ticket Services Assistant on the tram. Purchasing a Return ticket downloads two m-tickets to your smartphone – one for each journey. Return tickets can only be gifted at checkout – enter the email address of the recipient in the “Gift this Ticket” section of the Checkout page.
  • NETWORK tickets are valid for an unlimited number of journeys on Airlink, Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country day services, and the following morning’s night services. They are not valid on Tours. NETWORK tickets can only be activated between 04:00 and 23:59. Once activated, NETWORK tickets are valid from time of activation until 04:30 the following morning and should be shown to the driver or ticket services assistant upon boarding for each journey taken.
  • ECB SINGLE tickets are valid for one journey on any one of EastCoastbuses day services within the zones specified on the purchased ticket. They are not valid on Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, Airlink, Lothian Country, special services, or Tours. ECB Single tickets can only be activated between 04:00 and 00:59 the following morning. Once activated, ECB Single tickets are valid for 5 minutes during which time they should be shown to the driver upon boarding.
  • LC SINGLE tickets are valid for one journey on any one of Lothian Country day services within the zones specified on the purchased ticket. They are not valid on Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, Airlink, EastCoastbuses, special services, or Tours. LC Single tickets can only be activated between 04:00 and 00:59 the following morning. Once activated, LC Single tickets are valid for 5 minutes during which time they should be shown to the driver upon boarding.
  • Country DAY tickets are valid for an unlimited number of journeys between zones B – H only on EastCoastbuses or Lothian Country day services only. They are not valid on night services, or on any of Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, special services, Airlink, or Tours services. Country DAY tickets can only be activated between 04:00 and 23:59. Once activated, Country DAY tickets are valid from time of activation until 01:00 the following morning and should be shown to the driver or ticket services assistant upon boarding for each journey taken. Bundles of 5 and 20 Country DAY tickets are available – please note that tickets purchased as part of a bundle cannot be individually gifted; the whole bundle can only be gifted at checkout.
  • City&Country DAY tickets are valid for an unlimited number of journeys across all zones A – H on EastCoastbuses day services, Lothian Country day services, Lothian Buses day services, Edinburgh Trams (except Airport). They are not valid on night services, special services, Airlink, Tours, to/from the Airport on Edinburgh Trams. City&Country DAY tickets can only be activated between 04:00 and 23:59. Once activated, City&Country DAY tickets are valid from time of activation until 01:00 the following morning and should be shown to the driver or ticket services assistant upon boarding for each journey taken. Bundles of 5 and 20 Adult City&Country DAY tickets are available as – please note that tickets purchased as part of a bundle cannot be individually gifted; the whole bundle can only be gifted at checkout.
  • Country LATE tickets are valid for travel after 18:00 in zones B – H only on EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country day and night services until 04:30. They are not valid on Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, Airlink, special services, Tours. Country LATE tickets can only be activated between 17:55 and 04:25. Once activated, Country LATE tickets are valid from time of activation until 04:30 the following morning and should be shown to the driver upon boarding for each journey taken.
  • City&Country LATE tickets are valid for travel after 18:00 in all zones A – H on EastCoastbuses and Lothian Country day and night services.  They are not valid on Airlink, special services, Tours, to/from the Airport on Edinburgh Trams. City&Country LATE tickets can only be activated between 17:55 and 04:25. Once activated, City&Country LATE tickets are valid from time of activation until 04:30 the following morning and should be shown to the driver upon boarding for each journey taken.
  • ECB Night SINGLE tickets are valid for travel on EastCoastbuses night services for the number of zones specified on the purchased ticket only. They are not valid on EastCoastbuses day services (except those operating between 00:00 and 01:00), Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, Airlink, special services, Tours. Once activated, Night Single tickets are valid for 5 minutes during which time they should be shown to the driver upon boarding.
  • LC Night SINGLE tickets are valid for travel on Lothian Country night services for the number of zones specified on the purchased ticket only. They are not valid on Lothian Country day services (except those operating between 00:00 and 01:00), Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, Airlink, special services, Tours. Once activated, Night Single tickets are valid for 5 minutes during which time they should be shown to the driver upon boarding.

4. Privacy & Security

  • Lothian securely processes personal information pertaining to m-tickets, in accordance with the latest Data Protection Act legislation. View our Privacy Policy at lothianbuses.com/privacy-policy/

Updated: April 2025