The Intalink logo |
|
| Type | County Organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | Public Transportation |
| Headquarters | Hertford, United Kingdom |
| Services | Transportation |
| Owner(s) | Hertfordshire County Council |
| Website | Home Page |
Intalink is the organisation responsible for organising the management of public transport services in Hertfordshire on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council. This relates to buses and trains at the moment, but in the future tram services could be introduced. They design, create and promote cross-operator multi-journey tickets and occasionally run competitions. They manage Quality Bus Partnerships maintaining good standards along routes that need it. Along with this, they provide printed timetables, maps and leaflets promoting the above services.
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On behalf of the county council, Intalink have a number of responsibilities and duties in a wide variety of areas.[1] These involve making sure that the public is aware of the Intalink brand and the services provided.[2] They also seek to reduce congestion and emissions through the use of careful planning with operators. They also believe that social exclusion, accessibility, travel plans and mode share (where people share a mode of transport, such as taxis or cars) are important factors in Hertfordshire. They aim to demonstrate the advantages of public transport to users,[3] communities,[4] local authorities,[5] businesses, leisure and health and new members that could wish to join the Intalink community. They aim to keep the public transport in Hertfordshire to a high standard in conjunction with local operators.[6]
They also have a number of specific aims, such as persuading operators to submit bus registrations and service change notifications to the council using new Electronic Bus Service Registration techniques, making sure operators do not make an excessive number of changes within a short period of time to maintain stability and to make sure operators keep a high standard of service running.
As part of their duties Intalink release a number of publications. Many of these are available on the website organised into specific categories. The publications include:
They have a website providing information about the services they provide. There are short films promoting public transport[11] and information on the ticket offers available.[12] There are also links to the timetables, maps, how to find the nearest bus stop and how to plan journeys using Traveline.
In addition to the above, they also have a Twitter account detailing any service updates or changes in the future.[13]
Intalink manages a number of ticketing schemes across the county in coordination with bus operators. These are outlined below.
The Explorer ticket was introduced in 2001 and started off as a simple £6 ticket for one person that provided unlimited bus travel throughout the county. Since then it has developed and in there are three current types of Explorer tickets available:
Tickets are available and accepted on almost every service within the county, with few exceptions. The main exceptions are school services, coaches and services contracted to Transport for London. The Explorer is also valid in a number of locations outside the county, mainly services contracted to Essex County Council and services that are mainly in-county but leave the county for a section of route. All Intalink-produced timetables show the validity of Explorer tickets.[14]
From the end of August 2010 the price of the single person tickets will increase. The adult will become £8 and the concessionary will become £4. The £12 four-person ticket will remain unchanged.
This offers discounted season tickets to travel within specific places within the county. It is aimed at local students and businesses to get colleagues between home and their place of work or study. There are two examples in the county currently:
This is a national scheme allowing integrated bus and train travel for one price. Intalink currently manage the promotion of this scheme in Hertfordshire. It is currently at 35 out of 50 rail stations in Hertfordshire and for a small supplementary charge to a rail ticket, unlimited bus travel in the area around the railway station is available. More information about the areas of validity are available on the PlusBus information page[15] on the Intalink website.
In the future, there are many plans to promote and improve public transport through Intalink. There are plans to introduce real time information showing what time a bus will actually arrive, as opposed to the current system where just the scheduled time is shown. Bus stop timetables may be changed; currently Intalink are trialling stop specific timetables as opposed to the current type where the same timetable is posted at every bus stop. If the plans go ahead, operators will be able to also send out updates to the bus stops (where they have electronic displays) to display status updates and details of alterations or cancellations.
There are also proposals to convert the rail line from Watford to St Albans from rail, operated by London Midland, to a tram service operated by the county (possibly under Intalink branding).[16] This would present a unique situation in the county as currently there are no trams running as a public service in Hertfordshire.