Go-Sutton, Go

This will be a post that is not in the usual format, as it will be done completely in the first person experience. This reflects the personal experience of the blogger, and is not representative of the rest of the blog team's views:

MB5 stands at Sutton Station awaiting a request.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Transport for London, Go-Ahead London and ViaVan partnered to launch the first demand-responsive transit system within London. Go Sutton, launched on 28th May 2019 with Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibuses akin to the one shown above, based in Sutton Garage. I will take one though the process of booking one journey with Go Sutton.

Registering:

Downloading the application is not as easy, with the Go Sutton app not being within the first few results when searched on Google Play. Of course, one can use the link on the Go Sutton website, but I persisted with the search, and it came up as the 7th option. Eventually, as the application becomes popular, it'll rise in the search results.

View when first opening GoSutton App

A log in/sign up screen is shown once opening the application for the first time. It is easy enough for most people to input an email account, password and a profile picture. Then, one has to input their payment details.

There are a few ways to pay:

Payment through the application on a debit/credit card, details are entered as part of the profile registration. I used this method.

Entering the Freedom Pass Oyster Card number, allowing free rides using said Freedom Pass.

Email GoSutton if one has a ENTCS (English National Concessionary Travel Scheme) pass to activate free rides.

Calling the support number as seen on https://gosutton.co.uk/

Texting their mobile number as seen on https://gosutton.co.uk/



Booking a ride:

This is an example drop-off point.
Beddington Corner (Goat Road).

This is an example pickup point.
The Crescent, Belmont.

Once the method of payment is sorted, one is taken to the map and asked to pin a pickup point.

This example journey will begin within Belmont, just south of the rail station. This is the southern extremity of the Go Sutton area.

To test the scope of the service, I took a journey to the northern extremity of the Go Sutton area, at Beddington Corner. This is 7 minutes away from Mitcham Junction Tram/Rail Station, but due to arbitrary borough boundaries, the journey will end at the edge of the Go Sutton area.

Choosing the pickup and drop off places from a map is very easy to deal with, and can either be placed on the map close to the GPS location, or searched in the search bar. Once these places are entered (within the network area), the application will automatically find any drivers nearby that are able to make the journey, and will give at least one option within 10 minutes away from your pickup point.

It seems that this vehicle has
come from another residential
area, thus it could be moving
from a drop-off in another area
in Banstead.

I have blurred out my card details
for obvious reasons.

Usually the pickup point will be within a few minutes walk, usually at the nearest junction or open space from the requested pickup point. As shown here for me, the pickup is at the junction between two roads (The Crescent and Queens Road).

Once all details have been confirmed, the rider is asked to book the ride, as seen to the left. The cost for the ride is £3.50, which for some journeys, seems reasonable considering that multiple changes between rail and bus may be required to link between two places, which can make some journeys cheaper via Go Sutton. 

The vehicle that I will be using is tracked, and it is shown that BN17JFX will be my vehicle for the ride to Beddington Corner. I saw it moving closer to me as the map updated in real time, and a notification popped up when the vehicle was two minutes away or less.

Ride:

MB6 arriving at the pickup point to take me to my destination.
© Aubrey Morandarte

Promptly, the bus arrived. The driver asked whom my name was, just to confirm I was the passenger required, before hopping on. I took a seat at the rear of the bus.

The amenities included were:
Free wi-fi provided by Icomera.
USB charging sockets at every seat.
Leather seating.
Seat belts (mandatory by law).

MB6/BN17JFX itself is formerly a Evobus demonstrator, which has seen notable use in Cumbria with Stagecoach prior to use in the Go Sutton trial. All but two buses are demonstrators on loan to Go Sutton.

Interior of MB6 during my ride to Beddington Corner.
© Aubrey Morandarte

The friendly driver was to follow the directions shown by the tablet at the front of the bus, just by the driver's side where a ticket machine would normally be. It is a basic satellite navigation system which may change routing dynamically in order to respond to demand for people to travel to similar places e.g. Sutton Town Centre, St Helier Hospital.

However, problems struck the directions, as the satellite navigation directed us to go out of the operating area, and out of London. It told us to take the second exit of a roundabout with the main road out of Belmont, instead of the first. However, the driver managed to turn us around at the next intersection to get us back on track. She apologised for the error numerous times, with a clear level of sincerity, and I appreciated that she apologised. It did not affect the journey too badly, and it was understandable as teething problems.

The welcome message to the wifi.

The ride itself was fairly uneventful, ignoring the initial mishap. I had to try the in-built amenities. The USB charger started to charge my phone well, managing to add 5% of charge with a poor wire. A decent wire would be able to charge a phone slightly more with the approximately 28 minute journey (well, 20 minutes without the diversion).

The wi-fi has a limit mandated by Icomera with a 50MB limit. This allows for basic internet, including sending messages. Sending images are limited due to bandwidth. It had no problem running applications including Spotify, and sending messages to Discord. It cannot load a video well in YouTube.

Anyway, closer to the end of the journey, a text was sent automatically from Go Sutton, telling me that my drop off was coming up, and to check for all of my belongings. I felt this was a nice touch, especially as one could be consumed by being on their phone during the short ride.

MB6 dropping me off at Beddington Corner.
© Aubrey Morandarte

The drop-off was slightly off my original drop-off pin, as the driver was slightly unsure where I should be dropped off, but it was very close, and at a safe grass verge at the green around Beddington Corner. 

Verdict:

Honestly, the experience with Go Sutton was pretty good. Yes, there were some teething problems, but overall, the experience seemed to be overwhelmingly positive. The ride of the Mercedes Sprinter City was as good as a van derived bus could be. It wasn't the greatest, but it was expected. Driver was well presented, and provided great service. I expect the teething problems to be ironed out over time, but the experience is good considering the relative unknown quantity of demand responsive transit in London.

Once the service gets more custom, it is expected that journey times will increase as buses will divert slightly in order to hook more people up with fellow people heading in a similar direction. Worst case scenario would be where the £3.50 could make it not worth the extra fare from the fare of the bus/train. It is not intended for the service to be a cheap taxi, but it fulfilled that role for me on the day of the ride. It does provide an alternative that rides between a taxi/minicab and public transport, where it is priced between the two, but also has the convenience level which is between the two. It will take time to whether the service becomes either a glorified Dial a Ride, or an actual alternative to low demand, low frequency bus routes in hard to serve residential areas, and supplementing the existing network.

As the whole thing is a trial, along with the Ealing DRT later on this year, it will not be integrated with the TfL ticketing systems. Hopefully this will be addressed after the 12 month trial, if TfL decide to continue with this experiment. It certainly seems that Go Sutton is used though.

Comparison:

OM20236 with a broken display on Route S1 enroute to Banstead, at Mitcham Junction.
© Aubrey Morandarte

To compare, the alternative was the direct bus S1 between Beddington Corner and Belmont Station. I took the S1 between those points and the journey was less than impressive, even ignoring the fact that it was a bus route, and had to go through Sutton Town Centre. The Go Sutton ride took me via Carshalton, avoiding the traffic around Sutton.

The journey took nearly 50 minutes, and the bus was certainly busy. Especially around the Sutton area, the bus was notably crowded with 3 buggies taking the wheelchair area notably. The bus comfort was not great, with idling vibrations being a key downside to the bus ride. It is £1.50 though, and good value considering what is on offer in terms of bus fares in other parts of the country, even though the fares do not reflect the actual costs at times. Go Sutton is quicker, albeit more expensive, hence there is the trade off to think when planning a journey. Also, as the Go Sutton service is restricted to within the London Borough of Sutton, Mitcham Junction Station is not included in the area even though it is only 7 minutes walk from Beddington Corner.

Later on this year, there will be a trial of DRT in Ealing with the partners being MOIA and RATP, and it will be interesting to see the differences and similarities between the two DRT operations.

Post by Aubrey Morandarte

Screenshots are from the Go Sutton application

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