Following the deregulation of bus services in 1986, Harrogate Independent Travel was set up by a number of West Yorkshire Road Car Company drivers, in a bid to challenge their former employer.

It was introduced in September 2020, as part of a joint partnership between Leeds Bradford Airport, Transdev Blazefield and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

As part of this, a new butterscotch and burgundy livery was introduced across the fleet, with the exception of the double-decker Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL vehicles dedicatedly branded for the company's Leeds to Harrogate and Ripon route 36, which received a revision to its original black, red and grey livery in 2009.

These buses operated on routes 2 (to Bilton), 3 (to Jennyfield), and 6 (to Pannal Ash) under the new brand name Harrogate Connect,[16][17] with the original butterscotch and burgundy livery being revised and replaced by a new red and black colour scheme.

The first phase involved the delivery of fourteen brand new high-specification Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL double-decker buses for operation on route 36.

These new buses replaced older Wright Eclipse Gemini vehicles, and the route received a new identity – named ‘Riding Redefined’ – along with a new two-tone red and black livery.

[22] Later that year, a new two-tone red livery was also introduced for the standard fleet, and ten Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE single-deckers were refurbished for operation on route 1,[23] including six existing buses and four new transfers from other Transdev subsidiaries.

These, along with two Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL and B9TLs recently replaced from the 36 fleet, were upgraded with modern passenger amenities such as WiFi connectivity, USB charging capabilities and audio/visual next stop information, and were also fitted with superchargers to reduce NOx emissions.

[41] Following the rebrand of the company in 2016, a two-tone red livery was introduced for local bus services in and around the spa town of Harrogate.

As part of this, a fleet of battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaros were introduced, replacing the company's diesel powered Wright Eclipse vehicles.

In October 2018, the 24 to Pateley Bridge became mainly electric-bus operated, with 2 battery-electric Optare Solo SR EVs branded in the Harrogate Electrics livery allocated for the route,[45] however these buses have since been withdrawn from use.

Services are operated by a fleet of high-specification Wright Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5TL double-deck vehicles, dedicatedly branded for the route in a two-tone black and red livery.

Features include free WiFi, USB charging, coach-style seating with a 2+1 arrangement upstairs, an on-board library and audio-visual next stop information.

[46][47][48] The former West Yorkshire Road Car Company depot at Grove Park in Harrogate was sold for redevelopment in the early 1990s.

Following which Harrogate & District Travel operated from two depots; minibuses being based at Camwal Road in Starbeck and conventional buses at Manse Lane in Knaresborough.

The whole fleet was then operated from a single site, with the exception of one vehicle that remained out-stationed at Upper Nidderdale High School in Pateley Bridge.

As of June 2024[update], the fleet consists of 57 diesel-powered and battery-electric single and double-deck buses, manufactured by Mercedes-Benz, Optare, Volvo, Wrightbus/Volvo, and East Lancs/Scania.