County council ready to take on running HertsLynx minibus service in east and north Hertfordshire from commercial operator Uno

Plans have been drawn up for the HertsLynx minibus service in east and north Hertfordshire to be operated in house by the county council rather than a commercial operator.

The “demand responsive” service was set up three years ago as a pilot project, with a £1.48m award from the Department for Transport (DfT).

Since then it has clocked up more than 91,500 journeys in and around the towns and villages of east and north Herts, including Bishop’s Stortford. Currently it averages 5,500 passenger trips a month.

The service has been credited with increasing access to healthcare, employment, education and leisure activities, particularly for younger residents travelling to school or college.

Since its September 2021 launch it has been operated for Hertfordshire County Council by Uno. But now council officers have drawn up plans to operate service in house.

Earlier this week the plans were backed by a meeting of the authority’s highways and transport cabinet panel. The council’s executive will decide how the service should be run in future, with a potential saving of £332,000 a year.

A report says a “more joined-up transport solution” could be provided by allowing HertsLynx to integrate with community transport services such as Dial-a-Ride.

In December last year, the county council set up a second HertsLynx in Dacorum, funded through the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). That service is already run in house and has completed more than 10,000 passenger trips.

Council officers say its success is an opportunity to assess the feasibility and financial impacts of operating the north and east Herts service in the same way.

According to a report presented to the panel, DfT funding for the service north and east Herts service is expected to be fully utilised by April 2025, owing to “continued increase of operating costs”. Plans to bring it in house would extend funding until December 2026 “due to the lower costs of operating the service as an in-house model”.

Cllr Phil Bibby, HCC’s executive member for highways and transport, said the council had lobbied the Government for service funding to continue. He said: “In making it more cost-effective in this way, we are giving ourselves the best chance.”

At the meeting, Buntingford’s Cllr Jeff Jones said he was a “firm supporter” of the service in north and east Herts. But he was worried about what would happen when the DfT funding ran out. He referenced the current £2 fare cap, suggesting it was “extremely cheap”. He suggested that if fares were increased by 100%, it would not affect passenger numbers.

Before the cap was implemented, there was a mileage-based charge of between £3 and £6. Now passengers pay a maximum of £2 and the DfT makes up the deficit.

According to the report, an additional depot for six minibuses would be needed in east or north Herts.

The county council will ask district councils for help to keep costs down.