In praise of Park and Ride

In full knowledge that it was a Labour council plan, I'm going to sing the praises of the Hermiston Park & Ride scheme.

Having the rare luxury of a car to drive this weekend (and also because it would be towed away by lunchtime if I left it in Marchmont) I decided to make optimum use of it and drive to work.

But where to park? Well, Hermiston Park and Ride saved the day.

A fairly seamless short drive out along the Western Approach Road had the triple-win of catching on the radio: Mark Ronson's "Stop Me" (twice), Muse's "Plug In Baby" and a hilarious Gordon Ramsay interview from the Chris Moyles team. (Prior night plans to do a short Spanish lesson during this half hour were abandoned upon starting the ignition).

An indecisive driver's nightmare awaited me at Hermiston as there were plenty of spaces to choose from even at 8:20am. I had no such dramas swinging into one of the farther away spots. I like to say it's to allow grannies a closer berth but really my parking is just woeful.

Clear signs for where and when the buses would be arriving were complimented by announcements of when buses were just about to arrive or depart. The nicest touch was the evidence of joined-up thinking in having rows of recycling bins available so you could bring your old papers, bottles or plastics to get rid of before heading out to work. Time management is everything.

And speaking of which, running 10 minutes early for the 45 bus to take me into RBS, I had the choice of the Metro, The Skinny or Short Cuts magazines to keep me entertained in the meantime.

And bang on time it arrived. Which pretty much brings me present and another day at the bank awaits….

Park and Ride people, you know you want to….!