Decline in Hertfordshire buses as report claims '50% drop'

A BBC report on Britain’s shrinking bus networks said the county saw the biggest drop in services between 2016-2017 and 2021-22.

According to the data from the Department for Transport (DfT), as reported by the BBC, Hertfordshire lost most of its services as miles fell 56.5%.

Buses in the town centre (Image: Holly Cant)

However, Hertfordshire County Council believes that an "error" in the 2016/17 data for Hertfordshire, published by the DfT, “makes things look worse than they really are”.

But the council did acknowledge that bus mileage in Hertfordshire has been declining for a decade.

A spokesperson said: “However, bus mileage in Hertfordshire was actually fairly steady between 2017 and 2020, before falling by about a third at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown.

“This is a turbulent time for the bus industry, with a sharp decline in passengers during the pandemic, and a wider driver and skills shortage.”

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The council highlighted work it is doing with local bus operators to “maintain as much of the bus network as possible”, including partnerships, the £29.7 million Bus Service Improvement Plan, reduced fares, improved infrastructure, and making transport more demand responsive.

Dr Heather Parry, 71, is one of many locals upset over recent bus services in Watford.

She said: “Since I got my free bus pass, I rarely get to use it in Hertfordshire because I can’t find a bus.

“There is no viable service to the hospital from Cassiobury or to the station so even where there are buses they aren’t going where I need to go. I have to walk."

• See the DfT data here 
• See how much HCC paid Arriva in recent years here

Dr Parry compared the lack of services in Hertfordshire to London, where she regularly uses a “convenient” service.

Unlike in most of England, bus mileage in London, Scotland, and Wales has remained fairly steady since 2010.

Despite a reduction in services the county council has paid major bus operator Arriva much more to run services recently.

It paid £948k in the 2021 to 2022 financial year compared to £746k, £583k and £274k respectively for the previous years.