Route 99 now joined by 99 Flex

Sunday 6th August 2023

Readers will know I cite the semi-fixed arrangements on long standing bus route 99 between Chichester and Petworth and route 101/102 between Devizes and Pewsey as examples of best practice in combining a timetable with times at fixed points with flexibility to serve hamlets and villages on a semi-flexible route in response to passenger demand. Where geography allows, it seems to be the best compromise to suit the majority of passengers in rural areas.

I’ve travelled on both routes and blogged about their success as well as featuring them on my DRT chronology page.

It was therefore with some trepidation I heard news in both cases the county councils were planning to change these long standing arrangements and make use of ride sharing technology including apps offering greater flexibility.

These changes have now been introduced and for this week’s DRT travel experience I’m reporting on the new 99 Flex in West Sussex. Next Sunday I’ll report on the new Wiltshire Connect flexible 101.

At one time West Sussex County Council was thinking of converting the whole of route 99 over to a completely flexible route but thankfully good sense prevailed, helped no doubt by the advice of operator Compass Bus which has a wealth of experience, having operated the route for many years and knows its passengers well. As explained in a recent blog about Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) developments in East Sussex, from 24th July the route has retained its existing timetable and arrangements for some flexible routing (with one bus) but has been joined by a second bus which operates completely flexibly in a designated area either side of the northern end of the route to provide links to locations such as Pulborough, Amberley, Midhurst and Chichester as well as connections with the conventional 99.

It all seems a bit confusing with both the 99 and 99 Flex having flexibility but the former only to a certain extent.

The new arrangements have obviously doubled the cost of running the route and I assume it’s hoped the second bus will at least double the overall number of passengers compared to the previous arrangements. As you can see it’s using a Book-a-Bus brand and an app from the Pingo company as also used by East Sussex for its Flexibus scheme. The new arrangements began a couple of weeks ago on 24th July.

I took a ride on Thursday afternoon and was initially confused as to whether the 99 had become totally fixed but the bus still wanders either side of the A285 as required from any bookings on it’s scheduled timetabled journeys whereas the 99 Flex bus can go anywhere in its designated area as required, including ferrying passengers to connect with the 99 if times coincide. Well, at least that’s the theory I believe but in practice I suspect the 99 Flex will be used by passengers in the know who book a personalised end to end journey.

Which is exactly what I did by booking a ride from Singleton, in the far west of the area covered, to Pulborough station in the north east corner. It’s a journey that could be achieved by using the half hourly Stagecoach route 60 to Midhurst and changing there to the hourly Stagecoach route 1.

I find the Pingo app quite clunky to use. The map on which to specify pick up and set down points is very difficult to read and if you type in the pick up point (eg I typed in Singleton) it defaults to a point in Singleton which I couldn’t see how to amend.

Once you’ve added your desired destination and day and time, and got a ride offered and you’ve booked it, the only confirmation you receive is one specifying the pick up time (but not location) and the destination (but no estimate of arrival time) which is a bit confusing.

And interestingly all references are to times in the 12 hour clock format as on the leaflet (shown earlier) whereas the 99 timetable is in 24 hour clock which is a bit inconsistent and confusing.

Last Thursday morning, having watched the comings and goings of Stagecoach’s buses in Chichester…

… I saw the 12:13 scheduled departure on the semi-fixed route 99 depart for Petworth from the bus stop opposite the cathedral with three passengers on board and in its new Book-A -Bus branding.

I caught the next Stagecoach (yellow liveried for route 700) route 60 up to Singleton …

… arriving at 12:50, running a bit late, but in plenty of time for my 13:15 booked departure on the 99 Flex and luckily the app had livened up to show me where the pick up point was which had previously not been showing, and the time until departure.

It also seemed to show the bus on its way (the red line) so I wandered along the lane enjoying the charm of the village to wait for the bus to arrive …

… and turning the corner was surprised to see a standard liveried Compass Bus in the distance already parked up …

… by the village school.

Deano, the driver, was standing by the bus and we soon began chatting and it turned out he’d worked for Brighton & Hove (small world) but had transferred over to Compass and was now allocated to the 99 Flex. He’d only had two bookings that morning so had had plenty of time to drive over to Singleton for my journey.

Even though it was only 13:00 we set off as there was no point waiting and it turned out Deano’s tablet showing the booking and the route to take to Pulborough wasn’t working but he’d checked Google maps on his phone and saw the best route to take was along the unclassified road from Singleton through East Dean to the A285 and then via the outskirts of Petworth and via Fittleworth across to Pulborough.

It was quite a hairy journey along the narrow unclassified road and we met a few cars that led to the usual test of whether motorists can reverse. I understand a smaller bus isn’t being used as at the moment Compass Bus only have a short term contract so obviously can’t justify investing in a bespoke vehicle.

After that, we joined the A285 and heading north towards Petworth we passed the southbound route 99 I’d seen earlier in Chichester, waiting time at Duncton, so presumably it hadn’t had any route variations so far into that journey. The reason passengers have to book if they want to board/alight in Duncton, even though it’s on the A285 (as shown on the timetable above) is because the bus could have been booked to divert via Sutton, Bignor and Bury (villages to the east of the A285) and would therefore miss out the stop at Duncton Cricketers.

This happened when I travelled on the route a couple of years ago.

I wondered if I’d booked a journey from say East Dean to Chichester whether the algorithm would have transferred me from 99 Flex over to the ordinary 99 or send the 99 over to East Dean, as it used to be able to do. I guess that’s the idea of the flexible arrangements for the algorithm but it’s a bit unsettling for passengers unsure of what arrangements they’ll face on their journey.

It took about 35 minutes for us to reach Pulborough station. The journey using routes 60 and 1 with a very tight three minute connection in Midhurst would have taken 50 minutes and as much as 80 minutes with a more leisurely 33 minute connection.

As always with my DRT experiences it was nice to have my own personal chauffeur and a standard size single deck bus too, and Deano tells me the second bus to be used on both 99 routes was having the Book-A-Bus vinyls applied that day.

That will certainly help raise awareness of the new arrangements and Deano sensibly suggested there should be a leaflet drop around all the villages and hamlets now blessed with this new travel option with which I’d certainly concur.

Not surprisingly there had been little if any custom in the first week – Deano said he hadn’t carried anyone on the three days he was on the route – but as mentioned earlier, on Thursday he’d made two journeys with a passenger on each, one of whom travelled to Pulborough station and Deano was booked to pick him up again later that afternoon to take him home from the station, once again proving DRT often ends up being a very expensive-to-provide taxi service.

It’ll be interesting to see if more people in the catchment area cotton on to the possibilities of using 99 Flex to connect with the Southern rail service at either Amberley or Pulborough stations.

Obviously this new 99 Flex has no hope of becoming financially sustainable but like all these schemes, while the money’s flowing, why not go for it?

Just after we arrived into Pulborough station the hourly bus on Compass Bus’s route 100 arrived bound for Burgess Hill which, when something like that happens, is always a happy route number consecutive coincidence.

After my journey I noticed the Pingo app was telling me I had another ride from Duncton in 40 minutes, which was news to me as I hadn’t booked it.

I then received a message to say the “Vehicle has arrived” followed by one to say “your ride has been canceled” (sic).

Earlier, while travelling from Chichester to Singleton I’d noticed a message flash up on my phone to say “We’re working on your request. You will be notified when a vehicle is assigned to you” which isn’t very reassuring, although luckily it was shortly followed by another one telling me “Booking confirmed”.

I thought it had already been confirmed when I first booked it, but that left me with doubt about the whole booking arrangement and added to my lack of confidence in the app.

On Friday afternoon I checked the app out to see it it was showing sensible route options, but it seemed to have got worse. I tried a journey from Chichester to Flint Cottages in the hamlet of Bury. Once I’d managed to persuade it I wanted Bury near Pulborough and not in Greater Manchester or even Bury St Edmonds it came back telling me “On-demand service unavailable. Trip violates zone restrictions”,

I’m not sure why, and it also offered me non-sensical options to use Stagecoach route 60 followed by route 1 and then Compass Travel route 69 … but that only goes to Bury once a week on a Friday morning so I’m not sure why the app thought I could “leave now” (it was 15:41) and arrive by 10:27. Other options included taking the train to Billingshurst and picking up the 69 on a Friday morning from there. All very odd.

Perhaps it’s early days technology teething problems as Deano was also finding with his tablet.

However, technical glitches aside, It’s good to see route 99 continues as before with its semi-fixed arrangements and hopefully people will get to understand what 99 Flex can offer including some great opportunities to explore this lovely part of the South Downs National Park and connecting to rail stations while BSIP funding lasts, of course.

Next Sunday it’s over to Wiltshire.

Roger French

Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS and Su DRT extras