Future of Zipper bus contract unclear after operator rebuked
Yeomans Canyon Travel has been told to reduce the number of services it operates
The fate of Hereford’s free Zipper electric bus service is unclear after the company which operates the buses on behalf of the city council was rebuked at a public inquiry.
Transport Commissioner for the West Midlands Miles Dorrington ordered that Yeomans Canyon Travel, based in the city, cut the number of bus services it can operate from 40 to 36 after evidence was produced of inadequate checks to bus safety.
A spokesperson for Herefordshire City Council said they could not yet comment on whether this would impact on circular city service.
The three bright green Zipper buses were introduced onto the city’s roads in November 2023, part-paid for by the Government’s Stronger Towns Fund, with Yeomans then named as the operator.
They were intended to provide a low-cost, frequent, environmentally friendly way to get between key locations in the city, including the railway station, swimming pool, Courtyard theatre and Asda superstore.
There remains some doubt as to how, and indeed if, the service will continue to be funded once central funding ends in November, while the current contract with Yeomans is expected to continue until next March.
The city council has agreed to spend £5,000 on a feasibility study on the future of service.
Last October, Herefordshire Council ruled out taking over responsibility for the Zippers, though it offered to contribute to the feasibility study.