Karma Chameleon bus to come and go to Edinburgh ZooGo wild for our new look service 26 buses

We have two new chameleon-themed red, gold and green buses joining our fleet this week, marking the start of a new three-year transport partnership with RZSS Edinburgh Zoo.  The partnership will see 30 of our Service 26 buses transformed into a range of animals from the Zoo’s collection, cementing Lothian’s role as Official Transport Partner for the Society.

The Service 26 route includes St John’s Road in Corstorphine, one of Edinburgh’s busiest roads which was once hailed as the ‘most polluted road in Scotland’. The new buses reflect both organisations’ desire to tackle this issue head on, reducing CO2 emissions by 25% compared to the existing fleet and taking cars off the road. They will be instantly recognisable as they will feature huge pictures of the Zoo’s animals, the first being the spectacular Natal dwarf chameleon, which can be seen in the Zoo’s brand new ‘Wee Beasties’ exhibit.

The 26 route connects communities from the west of the city to as far as Musselburgh in East Lothian, which covers two of Edinburgh’s air quality management zones in Musselburgh High Street and St Johns Road. Service 26 is now well known by customers and drivers as the “Zoo bus” as every year it drops thousands of passengers at the entrance of RZSS Edinburgh Zoo.

Barbara Smith, Chief Executive at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo, said:

The Number 26 is immediately recognisable to locals as the ‘Zoo bus’, so it’s fitting that we should welcome the greenest fleet in the city with the launch of our new chameleon bus. We have worked in partnership with Lothian for many years now and with the announcement of 30 new Zoo buses being deployed onto the route, our collaboration continues to go from strength to strength.

Gaynor Marshall, Communications Director at Lothian, said:

We are delighted to extend our partnership with RZSS Edinburgh Zoo for a further three years. Historically the service 26 has been referred to as the ‘Zoo bus’ by residents and visitors to Edinburgh and its great that we are able to continue this tradition by transforming our fleet of 30 new low emission buses into zoo animals, capturing the imaginations of a raft of our customers. Lothian is fully committed to reducing the impact of transport on the environment and the introduction of these new vehicles will ensure we are continuing to improve air quality across the city.