On Sunday 25 th September the Mayor of Harpenden, Cllr Nicola Linacre, unveiled the Harpenden Hopper which is a new community bus service being launched in parts of Harpenden.
The idea for the Harpenden Hopper first began a few years ago, when a local resident, business man and local church member, Andy Buchanan, was talking to the then Mayor, Cllr Rosemary Farmer, about how a number of people like himself, who live and work in Harpenden as well as being members of local churches and charities, could serve the Town in more tangible ways, and to help solve some of the issues the Town faced.
Rosemary along with another key councillor, Cllr Teresa Heritage, explained how there were areas of Harpenden that were not well served by public transport and this can lead to people becoming isolated, so together with Rosemary and Teresa and fellow residents Simon George and Carl Tinnion set about exploring how to set up a community bus service.
The launch on Sunday was the culmination of nearly 3 years hard work in setting up the registered charity called Harpenden Connect, to run the Harpenden Hopper using volunteer drivers.
Initially the service will run as a 12 month pilot to gauge the level of demand and need. The first route, which will be a ‘hail and ride’ service, will have pick up points around the Roundwood area and travel into Harpenden via the Memorial Hospital, the Station and the three doctor surgeries, and then onto Church Green. The service will work as a hop on and hop off service allowing passengers to access the service anywhere on the route. It will then do the same route in reverse.
It is anticipated that it will run 3 days a week between 9.30 and 4.30. We anticipate starting the service in the next 3 months.
If residents require more information or would like to volunteer as drivers, please contact www.harpendenhopper.co.uk or find out more about us at hopon@harpendenhopper.co.uk
