Council check: Hertfordshire County Council

Each Sunday, we judge how well one of our local authorities is promoting the bus services on its patch. This week we look at Hertfordshire County Council.

Where do the buses go?

Hertfordshire markets public transport in the county under the Intalink brand. A comprehensive selection of maps are provided, including a county-wide map, separate maps for each town and even town centre enlargements making it clear from which stop each bus route departs. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

These are provided for all routes in the county, arranged by area. 5 out of 5.

Fares

A summary page links to details of various ticket types. The Explorer ticket is well co-ordinated and unlike in Surrey, is one uniform product across Hertfordshire. Plusbus is well described. There is however no way to find out the cost of a simple single journey. 3 out of 5.

Summary

Excellent maps and timetables. The Explorer and Plusbus tickets are well publicised, but other fares aren't as easy to find. Hertfordshire County Council scores a total of 13 out of 15.

Cheltenham changes / Tiny stop

Stagecoach have made changes to many routes in Cheltenham, which become effective today, reports the Gloucestershire Echo. See full details of the changes on Stagecoach's website, where you can also find details of changes in Swindon, also effective from today.

The Hinckley Times reports on a tiny bus stop that has room for no more than two well-acquainted people to wait for the bus at the same time. You can see it on Google Maps here. If you know of a bus stop with even less waiting room, please let us know in the comments below.

Council check: Surrey County Council

This week, we take a look at how well Surrey County Council promotes the bus services on its patch.

Where do the buses go?

Maps exist , but it isn't immediately obvious where to find them. You need to go to the timetables section and then look to the 'See also..." box on the right and click on maps. The maps are clear and cover the entire county, plus there are town enlargements. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

These are all available and easy to find, ordered by area. 5 out of 5.

Fares

Nothing about single tickets, although links are provided to the bus operators' websites. They don't tell you about single fares either, but at least they give you a point of contact to call or e-mail. There is a multi-operator ticket for Woking. In this part of the world, most operators sell Explorer tickets, which are usually valid on other operators too, but not always. It depends on who issued your ticket and with which other operators you wish to travel. It's very confusing but Surrey has attempted to give an overview of who accepts whose Explorer tickets. Plusbus tickets are well described. They have tried, but the Explorer mess drags Surrey's score in this category down to 2 out of 5.

Summary

Maps cover the whole of the county. Timetables are complete and easy to find. Fares information is confusing. It's good that there's a multi-operator ticket for Woking, but the different overlapping Explorer tickets on offer are surely begging for the council to intervene and establish one uniform product so that passengers and bus drivers have some clarity. Surrey County Council scores a total of 12 out of 15.

Council check: Travel South Yorkshire

Each week we rate how well a local council promoted the bus services in its area. This week, it's the turn of the four councils of South Yorkshire, who work together in transport matters through Travel South Yorkshire.

Where do the buses go?

There is an interactive map, but it's rather clunky to use and doesn't give you an easy overview of what goes where. Bus maps do exist, but to find them you have to go to the timetable finder and enter "map" before clicking on 'Search'. You then see links to five maps that between them cover the whole county. Town and city centre enlargements are also provided. These maps are excellent, but the fact they are so difficult to find forces me to dock a point. 4 out of 5.

Timetables

The aforementioned timetable finder makes it easy to find the timetable for any bus route in South Yorkshire, allowing you to search either by location or by route number. 5 out of 5.

Fares

A range of single and multi-operator as well as multi-modal tickets are mentioned, but it's difficult to get an overview, as you need to go through the ticket finder in order to see a filtered list. A better overview of the multi-operator tickets is given on the TravelMaster website, but TSY don't mention this anywhere near as clearly as they ought to. Information about single fares is simply not available. Plusbus isn't mentioned, which is a shame as it is valid countywide. 2 out of 5.

Summary

Good quality maps exist, but aren't easy to find. Timetables are excellent. Fares information could be better organised because the range of tickets is great, it just isn't that easy to see what's available and to find the right one for your needs. Travel South Yorkshire scores a total of 11 out of 15.

Council check: Merseytravel

Merseyside is administered by four separate city and borough councils, but for transport matters they all work together through Merseytravel. So how well do they publicise the bus services across Merseyside?

Where do the buses go?

Four maps cover every single area of Merseyside, clearly showing where each bus route runs and including town centre enlargements, so that you know where to board. There is also a separate leaflet on where to board your bus in Liverpool City Centre. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

There's a search facility from which you can find the timetable for any route in the county. Nice and easy. 5 out of 5.

Fares

No information on single and return fares, as is sadly standard these days. But Merseytravel makes up for this with its range of multi-operator and multi-modal tickets. Saveaway day out tickets offer especially good value: all buses in the county, plus Mersey ferries and Merseyrail for just £4.90 - Surely one of the best-value public transport tickets in Britain. 

Plusbus is clearly described, but is only valid in the city or borough for which it is issued. Other PTEs (Passenger Transport Executives) in the North and Midlands make Plusbus tickets valid countywide, but that isn't the case on Merseyside. Links are provided to the bus operators' websites for info about their own tickets. 4 out of 5.

Summary

Maps are easy to find and use, as are timetables. Ticketing information is good, but could be enhanced by providing a way to find out the cost of simple single and return journeys. Merseytravel have also been very active in setting up Quality Bus Networks (logo above), where two operators serving the same route are encouraged to co-ordinate their services and accept each other's tickets. In a deregulated market, schemes like this make a big difference to the travelling public and make bus travel far less daunting than it otherwise would be. Merseytravel scores a well-deserved total of 14 out of 15.

Council check: Kent County Council

Each Sunday, we look at a local council and how it promotes the bus services in its area. This week, it's the turn of Kent County Council.

Where do the buses go?

We have a range of maps at our disposal: a county-wide one, which includes the breakway Borough of Medway, not official covered by Kent County Council. Each major town and city has its own detailed map, including enlargements of the town and city centres. 5 out of 5.

Timetables

No timetables on the council's website, but you can easily find out the operator you need to go to for details about each route. There is also a clear link to Traveline on which you can find timetables for all routes in Kent and beyond. 4 out of 5.

Fares

Plusbus is mentioned, but other than that: nothing. No multi-operator ticket exists according to the council. You have to go to Stagecoach's website to find out about the Explorer ticket which is accepted by many operators - but the council doesn't tell you that. Arriva also offers the Explorer ticket, but their leaflet is out of date. No information from the council on how to find out about single and return fares is offered although contact details for all bus operators in Kent is provided. 1 out of 5.

Rail destinations in Kent for which Plusbus tickets are available.

Summary

So we have excellent maps, timetables over on Traveline with a clear link, but totally inadequate ticketing information. Kent County Council scores a total of 10 out of 15.