For anyone who lives in Leith and happens to work in the city centre, the current chaos with buses and public transport across the city can cause a great deal of frustration.
With Leith Walk being closed to all Northbound traffic and only having one lane open for buses coming into the city, many routes are forced on long diversions to avoid the tram works.
And those coming back from Leith are forced to contend with both the disruption from the building works as well as the stagnant traffic that trails down Leith Walk throughout rush hour.
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So, to see just how long it actually takes people to get from the city centre down to Leith, we decided to brave the lines of the Leith bus routes.
Starting from the city centre, we took a bus route to Leith and then a different one back to see how different the routes are when on Leith Walk and when they have to avoid them.
Getting to Leith
With many of the routes diverted, we waited at a bus stop in Tollcross for the 35 - and it's amended journey along Tollcross, up to Candlemaker Row, then down towards the Southside.
As we travelled through the Southside, seemingly directly away from Leith, the bus turned and started towards Dumbiedyke, at the end of Cowgate.
From there, we travelled along Holyrood Road and all the way out to the Scottish parliament building, driving past the Crags and the parliament before continuing to Abbeyhill.
As we trundled along, I was conscious that a simple journey from A to B was turning into a veritable tour of the capital.
Indeed, as the route swung way out to the East of the city, I was sure I had got on the wrong bus. But as we started through Abbeyhill, the bus got back on the posted route on Google Maps and my nerves were finally settled.
From Abbeyhill, the route was fairly uneventful, travelling directly on to Leith and thankfully avoiding much of the traffic.
Getting back from Leith
For the route back, I knew some buses still went up Leith Walk itself and I was determined to see how long it would take me.
I waited at St Anthony Street bus stop for a number 16. When I got there, lots of people were milling around waiting for buses. As the 16 became increasingly late, more people began to arrive and add to the growing queue at the bus stop.
Finally, the 16 pulled around the corner and people piled on. At the start of rush hour, the bus was packed and, a few metres from where we got on, we hit the first traffic jam.
Stuck at the junction of Henderson street and Great Junction Street, it took eight minutes just to travel a mere 160 metres to the foot of Leith Walk.
From there, it would take us nearly 25 minutes to get to the top of Leith Walk, just 1.2 miles. According to Google Maps, it would actually have been as fast for me to walk along Leith Walk as it would to take a bus.
At the foot of the walk, more people piled on from the temporary bus stop at the edge of the construction site.
The next 25 minutes were spent in a series of traffic jams, waiting at temporary traffic lights and weaving through the single lane of traffic that is open amid the tram works.
From the top of Leith Walk, we cut down York Place and onto Queen Street. From there it was pretty much plain sailing as the traffic thinned out the further away from Leith Walk we were.
By the time we reached the same bus stop as I started from on the way to Leith, I had been on the bus for 45 minutes. Just a little longer than the route there but having such a direct route take so long remains quite frustrating.
And of course, there are other reports from people that these journeys can take even longer. With some people complaining about waiting more than an hour on a bus from Leith to the city centre.
So, if you’re stuck on a bus halfway up Leith Walk, it might be just as quick to get out and walk.
