Uno (bus Company)
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Universitybus Limited, trading as Uno, is a bus operator owned and operated by the
University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...
, serving members of the general public, and also its own students and staff. The service was set up in 1992, growing out of a shuttle service previously operated for students at Wall Hall College located near
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
connecting them to the other campuses of the university and the Polytechnic (Hatfield) before that. It provides student transport to the university from local areas as well as improving east–west travel across
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
and has opened up new links from
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...
. Services have expanded as the university has closed outlying sites at Watford and
Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...
and developed the new de Havilland Campus on the site of the former Hatfield Aerodrome, Hatfield. Other developments on this site, including business premises for companies such as
Veolia Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. In ...
,
DHL DHL (originally named after founders Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) is a multinational Import-Export Expert Company, founded in the United States and headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It provides courier, package delivery, and express mail service, ...
and EE have also provided passengers. Uno also operate urban bus networks in
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
and
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
, a network of routes between
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
and
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
for
Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...
, as well as contracted bus services for
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
.


History

A bus operator named ''Universitybus'' was set up as an 'arm's length' company by the University of Hertfordshire in 1992. It has its own board of directors and is expected to run on a fully commercial basis. Independent research later indicated that, as a consequence of subsequent expansion into running local bus service in Hertfordshire while still maintaining its core university services, the Universitybus brand was confusing a third of the county's bus users, who did not realise they could travel on the operator's bus services. As a result, in March 2005, Universitybus was rebranded as ''Uno'', with the operator's fleet adopting a pink and purple livery designed by Best Impressions. Shortly after purchasing the St Albans operations of Centrebus in 2008, Uno helped to found a voluntary partnership of local authorities, the university and the bus and rail operators serving the city with the aim of co-ordinating and improving public transport across St Albans. The partnership uses powers under the most recent Transport Act as a Quality Network Partnership but is known publicly as 'Network St Albans'. Uno is currently the second largest bus operator in Hertfordshire. On 20 April 2009, Uno recast many of its services to integrate a number of the former Centrebus routes. Further changes took place on 28 September 2009, following the opening of the new
University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...
Forum. These changes included improvements to late evening services and the extension of operating hours until as late as 3:30am for a select few routes. The main timetable change each year takes place in September to coincide with the start of the school, college and university academic year. In September 2012, Uno commenced operating in
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
, initially taking over routes 18 and 19, both of which serve The University of Northampton. A third service, route 21, began operating in 2013, covering some of Northampton's eastern district and serving Northampton College. In September 2013, Uno began operating a small network of routes between
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
,
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...
and
Flitwick Flitwick () is a town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling ''Flytwyk'' appears in 1381. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, ...
for
Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...
. On 25 July 2015, Uno became a contracted
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
(TfL) operator when it commenced operating route 383. In November 2016, Uno's Northampton operations were shortlisted for the Top Independent Operator award in the national UK Bus Awards; they finished as a finalist. In November 2018, Uno were shortlisted for several awards in the UK Bus Awards and won two - Marketing Initiative of the Year for The Comet routes 614 and 644 and Leadership & Inspiration for the MD, Jim Thorpe. It was announced in November 2023 that Uno's University of Northampton operations would cease on 9 March 2024, with a new bus contract awarded by the university to Stagecoach Midlands set to commence later on the date. Stagecoach plans to integrate the contracted university bus network into Northampton's main bus network, as opposed to Uno's network remaining separate of the town and outlying areas.


Previous route changes

In March 2008, Uno purchased Centrebus's
St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
garage, taking over all Centrebus routes operating from there, including the ''S'' St Albans City route network, PB1 (a
Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882.Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...
. In April 2009, several former Centrebus services were integrated into the main network (mainly as services 620 and 621) while one further route (304) provided under contract to Hertfordshire County Council was transferred to Arriva Herts & Essex. In March 2010, a number of the routes around Hatfield and
Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...
, that only ran a couple of times a day or on one day a week, were lost to
Sullivan Buses Sullivan Bus & Coach Limited, trading as Sullivan Buses, is a bus company based in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, England. Founded in 1998, it operates local bus services in and around Hertfordshire including school services, rail replacement bus ...
. The evening 620 service contract was also lost to Arriva Herts & Essex. The 694 service, introduced in September 2009 as a
park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...
service between College Lane and Stanborough Lakes in WGC, was axed completely. In September 2011, changes were made to routes 607, 610, 615, 625, 635, 658, 659 (frequency changes/new services); route 700 (reduction in service as result of 625/635 changes; routes 602, 603, 622, 634, 636 and 712 (general timing changes) and withdrawal of route 641, with assurances that the peak hour connection would be kept on the route 341. However, in January 2012, the peak hour connection was lost from 341, along with shortening of some early and late journeys on the 602, 603, 620, 621, 622, 625, 635, 658 and PB1 services; the withdrawal of routes 604 and 634 outside of peak; and changing all evening 644 buses to run via Barnet via route 614). In March 2015, Uno took the 797 Green Line route that previously operated from
Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...
to London Victoria (Green Line Coach Station) on, operating a shortened version of the route between London and Hatfield, on weekdays. The service was withdrawn the following year.


Garages and buses

Uno operates from a garage purpose built in 2003 at Gypsy Moth Avenue, Hatfield Business Park. Following the takeover of Centrebus' St Albans operations, Uno continued to operate them from the St Albans garage. However, this was subsequently closed and operations consolidated into Hatfield. As a result of winning the Northampton University contracts a depot has opened at the Park Campus of the university by September 2012. This closed with the redevelopment of the university site and the depot moved to Riverside Industrial Estate. The Riverside depot closed in March 2024 when Uno's Northampton services ceased. A similar arrangement also operates at
Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...
following initiation of services between Milton Keynes and Bedford in September 2013. In September 2017 Uno launched a fleet of six brand-new, high specification buses on the 614/644 routes between Hatfield and North London, rebranded by the company as ' The Comet'. The new buses are Enviro400 City double deckers, made by Alexander Dennis. At the end of May 2018, Uno started operating six brand-new single decker buses made by MCV ( MCV Bus and Coach) on Volvo's B8RLE chassis. The buses were branded 'Dragonfly', in reference to Hatfield's aircraft heritage, and allocated to route 610 (
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
- Hatfield -
Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882.Cockfosters Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the London Borough of Enfield and partly in the London Borough of Barnet. It is 10 miles (16 km) north of Charing Cross. Before 1965, it was in the count ...
). The buses feature WiFi, USB charging sockets, on-board stop announcements and an innovative sofa at the front. In February 2019, further investment by the company saw a fleet of 8 buses launched under the 'Tigermoth' brand for the 653 route - each bus named after the first eight female pilots from the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) - Joan Hughes, Margaret Cunnison, Mona Friedlander, Rosemary Rees, Marion Wilberforce, Margaret Fairweather, Gabrielle Patterson, and Winifred Crossley Fair - who were based at Hatfield in the Second World War."Uno launches 'Tigermoth' buses in Hatfield named after inspirational female aviators"
''Welwyn Hatfield Times''. 6 February 2019.


Ticketing

The company participates in various county-wide ticketing schemes where appropriate, such as Plusbus (discounted combined rail and bus tickets), Intalink Explorer (a ticket allowing unlimited travel around Hertfordshire), and discounted travel for children with a Hertfordshire SaverCard. Ticket machines on non-TfL services are supplied by Ticketer. The company have their own mobile ticketing app, which allows passengers to buy their ticket before they travel and pay with credit or debit cards.


References


External links

*
Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uno (Bus Company) Transport in Hertfordshire Bus operators in Hertfordshire University and college bus systems London bus operators Transport in St Albans Transport in Watford 1992 establishments in England Companies based in Welwyn Hatfield