The Harpenden Hopper is a community run ‘Hail & Ride’ bus service that links the town centre with residential areas of Harpenden that are poorly served by other commercial bus companies.

We run Monday to Fridays morning and afternoon, except Bank Holidays.

See our Route and Timetable page for a map and times.

The bus is open for use by anyone.

However, please note that regrettably, the buses are not wheelchair accessible on the Hopper service - please see below for more details.

Fares are £2.00 per adult, £1.00 for children under 16 years, and babies travel for free. All fares include a return journey on the same day - hold on to your ticket for your return journey.

We are happy to accept all concessionary tickets – including pensioners’ bus passes.

Please note we currently only accept cash and we are unable able to give change.

The buses we use have a wide opening side door with an illuminated step and high visibility grab poles.

Our buses are fitted with a manually extendable wheelchair access ramp but unfortunately a number of factors prevent its use on the timetabled, Hail and Ride Hopper service.

We train our drivers to the nationally recognised MiDAS standard – the ‘Best Practice’ accreditation for minibus operators – and offering wheelchair access would require all of our drivers, and a similar number of mandatory Assistants, to gain additional MiDAS qualifications. The service depends on almost 20 volunteer drivers and we cannot attract a similar number of Assistants.

However, we make the buses and our drivers available to other local organisations such as the Town Council and local charities who need transport to organise community activities.

Our drivers are trained to be sensitive to the needs of passengers and are always happy to assist boarding and alighting, especially for those with shopping or small children.

Use the map and timetable, then stand on the kerbside a few minutes early. When you see the Hopper bus approaching, signal clearly the driver to indicate you wish to board.

The driver will stop as close as is safely possible. When boarding, tell the driver your destination and either pay your fare or show your pass.

Our drivers will drop you as close as is safely possible to your destination.

We use the regular bus stops in the town centre to set down and pick up passengers.

Which stop you will need to use depends on the route the bus is following - please use the map and timetable to identify which stop you’ll need.

You can always ask the driver on the way in to town where you need to be to catch the service back.

Traffic and other factors like building material deliveries along the route sometimes cause delays but as far as possible, we try to keep to the published timetable - if we know about road works and closures in advance we try and get the information on the website as soon as possible.

As we offer a Hail and Ride service, we never know where or for how long we’ll have to stop when picking up or dropping off passengers so timings can drift a little. We always try not to get too far ahead of the timetable but sometimes it’s not safe or courteous to other drivers for us to travel very slowly, so we may get a little ahead of ourselves. For this reason, it’s best to be in place and looking out for the Hopper at least a couple of minutes before its scheduled arrival time.

We have two modern, reliable buses and will always use a backup if necessary to run the service. Only extremely bad weather (dense fog, snow, ice) may get in the way of operation as our drivers have to use their own discretion to maintain safety. If your journey is critically important and you want reassurance, call our contact number to confirm that the service is operating.

Who operates the Harpenden Hopper?

A charity (Reg Charity No. 1172748) called Harpenden Connect has been set up by a group of community-minded local people, with the backing of Harpenden Town Council. The Trustees of Harpenden Connect run the business, and the buses are driven by fully trained and qualified drivers. Everyone involved in providing the Hopper service is a volunteer.

The running costs are met by grants, donations, commercial sponsorships, fares collected from passengers and community hire charges, with the backing of Harpenden Town Council.

Yes!

If you are someone (or if you know someone) who enjoys driving and meeting people, we’ll always be delighted to hear from you. Our drivers work between one and three half-day ‘shifts’ each month and know when they’ll be working about two months in advance. We provide full training in both driving skills and service operation and as a trainee, you’ll be ‘buddied’ with an experienced driver until you’re comfortable taking the Hopper out on your own.

The buses can be driven by anyone between 25 and 79 who has a standard ‘B’ driving licence for manual gearbox cars. You will need to undertake an informal driving assessment in your own vehicle before being accepted as a MiDAS trainee, but this is a short practical exercise covering the route so you can see where we go and we can see how you cope.  (To comply with the law, over-70s need to take a D4 Medical Examination when they renew their licence or when applying for the necessary endorsement. Get in touch to discuss if this applies.)

A polo-shirt and fleece ‘uniform’ is also provided to drivers. If you don’t want to drive but want to give some time to the community, we’re always looking for energetic supporters who can help with marketing, fund-raising and public relations as well as potential candidates for Access Assistant training when we develop the service further for wheelchair access.