In 1906, The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed, initially operating steam buses, before adopting conventionally-fuelled vehicles 1911. In 1924, the company was absorbed into Tilling & British Automobile Traction and renamed Harrogate & District Road Car Company. Following the company's expansion the company was renamed West Yorkshire Road Car Company in 1927, to reflect the wider service area provided. In 1948, along with other companies that were then part of the Tilling Group, West Yorkshire Road Car Company was nationalised. In 1968, West Yorkshire Road Car Company became part of the National Bus Company. In 1987, West Yorkshire Road Car Company was sold in a management buyout, to former East Yorkshire Motor Servicesmanaging director Alan Stephenson's AJS Group. In December 1988, the business was split into smaller companies, one of which was Harrogate & District Transport Limited. Harrogate Independent Travel was set up as an independent in 1986, following the deregulation of bus services, by a number of West Yorkshire's Harrogate drivers to challenge their employer. This company was purchased by AJS Group in April 1989. In 1991, Harrogate & District Travel was one of a number of AJS Group subsidiaries sold to Blazefield Travel. In 1996, the Ripon operations of Cowie'sUnited Automobile Services was purchased. In January 2006, Harrogate & District Travel was included in the sale of Blazefield Holdings to Transdev, with the company re-branded as Transdev in Harrogate. In July 2016, the company was again re-branded, now operating asThe Harrogate Bus Company.
Services
The Harrogate Bus Company operate a number of local bus services within the town of Harrogate, with regional services operating as far afield as Ripon and Leeds. Most local services running in and around Harrogate are operated by a fleet of 8 fully-electric, high-specification Volvo 7900E vehicles, branded in the redHarrogate Electrics livery. The vehicles were introduced in July 2018, following a £1.7 million investment from Transdev, together with £2.25 million of funding granted from the Government's Low Emission Bus Scheme. . As well as local services, The Harrogate Bus Company also operate the Riding Redefined36 service, which provides a frequent service between Ripon, Harrogate and Leeds. The service is currently operated by a fleet of high-specification Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL double-deck vehicles in a black and red livery. bodied Volvo B9TL operating service 7 to Wetherby then Harrogate, seen at New Briggate in Leeds.
Former operations
A significant former route was the Airport Xpress 767 service, running from Harrogate to Leeds Bradford Airport. The service was operated by the then Harrogate & District from April 2005, until the contract was awarded to Dales & District, in April 2010. The link between Harrogate and Leeds Bradford Airport is now provided by Yorkshire Tiger's hourly 747 service. A re-tendering exercise carried out by North Yorkshire County Council in 2011, saw all council contracted routes operated the company pass to other operators in the area, excluding the X59 service, which operated between Harrogate and Skipton. This service was operated commercially, and at a reduced frequency, for a short period, until it was withdrawn in March 2013.
Bus war
In 2011, then Transdev in Harrogate, became involved in a bus war with local independent operator, Connexionsbuses. The bus war concerned services operating around Wetherby Bus Station.
