Including information for students

Ridacard Terms and Conditions

1. Use of Ridacard is subject to these terms.

1.1 The Ridacard scheme is promoted and operated by Lothian Buses Limited, 55 Annandale Street, Edinburgh, EH7 4AZ.

1.2 Ridacards remain the property of Lothian Buses at all times and Lothian Buses reserves the right to withdraw the Ridacard at any time.

1.3 Drivers, Ticket Services Assistants and officials of Lothian Buses, East Coast Buses and Edinburgh Trams may inspect the Ridacard at any time.

1.4 A card issue fee (currently £3) is payable when a Ridacard is issued. Notice of any change to this fee will be posted in our Travel Hubs and on the Lothian Buses website.

1.5 It is the responsibility of the cardholder to notify Lothian Buses of any change to their contact details. The cardholder must also ensure that the photograph on their card remains a recognisable true likeness. If required, a replacement card can be obtained on payment of the appropriate fee.

1.6 Ridacards are not transferable and will be withdrawn without refund if presented for travel by anyone other than the person whose photograph appears on it. An administration fee of £10 will be charged for the return of such cards, where the card has not been reported lost or stolen.

2. Use

2.1 Ridacards can be used for travel on all Lothian Buses services, NightBuses, Lothian country (city & cityWEST zones) and East Coast Buses zones A & B. Ridacard is not valid for travel on special services, East Coast Buses zones C-F and Edinburgh Bus Tours.

2.2 Ridacards can be used for travel on Edinburgh Trams in both the Airport and City Fare Zones, but must be successfully validated on one of the Platform Validators at each tram stop, prior to boarding the tram. Passengers who have not validated their Ridacard before boarding must pay the on-board fare of £10.

2.3          In case of difficulty, the fare for the journey should be paid and the card taken to one of our TravelHubs within two working days, where it can be checked and replaced if necessary. For weekly, four weekly and Annual Ridacards which have failed without any sign of visible damage, a replacement card will be loaded with compensatory time up to a maximum of three days – no monetary refund will be paid in respect of any fares paid. For Direct Debit Ridacards which have failed without any sign of visible damage, the cardholder will be refunded the value of the lowest cost equivalent on-bus tickets (e.g. DAYtickets or Daily Cap). Proof of purchase will be required. and only up to a maximum of three days travel will be refunded.

2.4 Lothian Buses will withdraw any Ridacard which it believes has been tampered with or is being misused or has become illegible (see 1.5 above) or electronically unreadable.

3. Loss / Failure

3.1 Cardholders, or in the case of a Junior card the cardholder’s parent or carer, must report loss or theft of the card or any technical failure in person at one of our Travel Hubs where a replacement card with the same expiry date will normally be issued. The fee for a replacement card (currently £3) will be waived if the failed card is undamaged.

3.2 Once cancelled, Ridacards must NOT be re-used. Once a replacement card has been issued, only that replacement card must be used for travel or subsequent Ridacard purchases.

3.3 Lothian may, from time to time, introduce alternative arrangements to the processes detailed here to facilitate remote fulfilment of new or replacement cards. These will be detailed on our website – https://www.lothianbuses.com/travelhub/

4. Refunds

4.1 To apply for a refund, the card must be returned to one of our Travel Hubs. Refunds are only available on Annual, Student 9 Month and Direct Debit Ridacards.

4.2 Refunds on Advanced Purchase Annual Ridacards are paid in accordance with the published scale. The start date for the calculation of any refund will be the date when the card is returned to us.

4.3 For cancelled Direct Debit Ridacards, a refund of money paid but not required to pay for travel will be made.

4.3.1 Any refund will be calculated from the date the Ridacard is returned to one of our Travel Hubs, which must be at least five working days before the monthly payment date.

4.3.2 Lothian reserves the right to withhold the £25 initial administration fee from any refund where a Direct Debit has been cancelled within 12 months of the date of issue, or where the terms and conditions of Ridacard have otherwise been breached.

4.3.3 Direct Debit payments will continue, irrespective of Ridacard use, until either the Ridacard is returned to one of our Travel Hubs, or the Direct Debit mandate is cancelled by the cardholder. Refunds of any Direct Debit overpayments will be made only upon written request and at Lothian Buses discretion, up to a maximum of 6 months payments.

4.4 For Student 9 Month Ridacards, the start date for the calculation of any refund will be the date when the card is returned to Lothian Buses. The value of the whole weeks used between card activation and card return will be deducted from the price paid at the current 7 Day Student Ridacard price. No refunds are available on Student 9 Month Ridacards which have less than 15 weeks validity remaining.

4.5 Correspondence related to Direct Debit payments, refunds and cardholder details can be emailed to [email protected]

5. Variation

5.1    Lothian Buses reserve the right to vary these Terms and Conditions.

6. Privacy

6.1 Lothian Buses will be what’s known as the ‘Controller’ of the personal data you provide to us. We only collect basic personal data about you. We have a robust Data Protection policy in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal data.

6.2 For all Ridacards, we collect and process the following personal information: name, address, date of birth, a passport size photograph and, for Student Ridacards, the college or university attended and matriculation date.

6.3 For Direct Debit customers, we also collect email addresses for account correspondence, and bank details. This information is required to establish and maintain your payment schedule and will be securely processed by our partners, Singula Decisions Limited, in accordance with PCI DSS standards. We may also share your personal information with the police and other law enforcement agencies for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime, where required by law to do so. Otherwise, we will not share your personal information with any other third parties without your prior consent.

6.4 We use the information of Ridacard holders for customer services, administration, and fraud prevention. We only collect the information we need to provide these services.

6.5 We will retain your information for the time that you have a Ridacard registered in your name and for up to 5 years after the last use of your card, less if the data is no longer required for its original purpose, after which your data will be securely deleted.

6.6 If at any point you believe the information we process on you is incorrect, you can request to see this information and have it corrected or deleted. Further details can be found in our Customer Privacy Notice. If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter. Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at [email protected].

7. Direct Debit

7.1 The Direct Debit administration fee, currently £25, is payable in addition to the first monthly travel payment in order to initiate any subscription. Subject to clause 4.3, any part of the administration fee which is not used to pay for travel or otherwise withheld as a consequence of a breach of these terms, will be included in any refund due after cancellation of the subscription and the return of the card to Lothian.

7.2 Monthly Direct Debit payments are due one month from the date the subscription is initiated.

7.2.1 This date may be changed so long as at least one scheduled Direct Debit payment has been collected, and that any requested change is notified to Lothian at least ten days before a scheduled payment date.

7.2.2 Changing the payment date may result in a pro-rationed charge for travel, which is payable at the time the payment date is changed.

7.2 Direct Debit Ridacards are loaded with 5 years continuous validity, with the expiry date shown on the bus ticket machine/platform validator display every time the card is used. Towards the end of that period, continuing Direct Debit customers should visit one of our Travel Hubs to have the validity of the card extended. Ridacard validity and usage are not matched to Direct Debit payments – the card must be returned to a one of our Travel Hubs in order to cancel any Direct Debit.

7.3 It is the account holder’s responsibility to ensure adequate funds are available when payment is requested.

7.3.1 Should an attempt to collect the monthly amount due by Direct Debit be rejected, Lothian will attempt to collect the overdue amount after seven days. The account holder may also contact Lothian, by calling 0113 320 7108 or visiting one of our Travel Hubs, to arrange for immediate payment of the overdue amount

7.3.2 Should any second attempt to collect payment also fails, the Ridacard and associated subscription will be immediately cancelled.

8. Advance Purchase

8.1 Following initial card purchase, advance purchase 1 week and 4 week “top ups” can be purchased from PayPoint agents within the Lothian Buses operating area.

8.2 Zone C & D Ridacards cannot be topped up at PayPoint agents – “top ups” for these cards can only be purchased at one of our Travel Hubs.

8.3 If a Ridacard is allowed to expire before being “topped up” with another one or four weeks, then the time purchased will not start until the card is used on one of our buses – this is called “activate on first use”. Alternatively, if a Ridacard is “topped up” before the current product expires, then the current expiry date will be extended by the amount of time purchased and the card will remain continuously valid throughout – the updated expiry date will be shown on your receipt.

9. Student & Junior Ridacards

9.1 Student Ridacards are only available to pupils of secondary schools in the Lothian Buses operating area and to full-time students in possession of a currently valid photo-ID matriculation card from one of the following Universities and Colleges:

Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh Theological Seminary, Heriot-Watt University, Newbattle Abbey College, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, SRUC (formerly Scottish Agricultural College), The Edinburgh College (formerly Edinburgh’s Telford College, Jewel & Esk College and Stevenson College) and University of Edinburgh.

9.2 Student Ridacards will not be valid for travel beyond the expiry date of the matriculation card which must be presented at the time of purchase. Continued eligibility to purchase a Student Ridacard beyond that date will require the cardholder to repeat the above process by presenting their new matriculation card at one of our Travel Hubs. Cardholders who are no longer eligible students must visit one of our Travel Hubs where any purchased time up to a maximum of 28 days will be transferred to a new Adult Ridacard. The balance of any time purchased over and above the first 28 days will be refunded by cheque. See also 7.2 for Direct Debit cardholders.

9.3 Junior Ridacards are available to passengers aged between 5 and 15 (Direct Debit – 14). Proof of age is required at time of purchase. Junior Ridacards are not valid for travel on or after the cardholder’s 16th birthday.

See also 7.2 for Direct Debit cardholders.