Brommie on First Bus

[diapsaon0]

Does anyone know what First Bus policy is regarding carrying a Brompton?  I'd prefer not to bag it as the bag is then a pain to carry.  I'm talking mainly about rural routes in Somerset, not the busy city services.
N

[fred the great]

Welcome back needs to be said I think.

[orienteer]

I think most buses will take them at the driver's discretion, but might be better covered so it looks like normal luggage. You can get a light Brompton cover that stows in a small bag under the saddle.

[Bromptoneer]

Big bin liner usually works ok in these type of situations...

[uphillbothways]

You can get a light Brompton cover that stows in a small bag under the saddle.

Absolutely the most useful accessory you can get for a Brompton. It's like some sort of Jedi mind trick - even if the saddle is jutting out of the bag and it's blatantly obvious that it's a folding bike, jobsworths treat a bagged Brompton as luggage 99% of the time.

[Biggsy]

Has anyone with an uncovered Brommie ever been refused on a British bus?

I'm disappointed if so.  The whole point of me getting a Brompton was to use it easily on public transport.  The only time I've needed to bag mine was for the Eurostar X-ray machine, but I've only used a couple of buses so far and they were in Greater London.

Note that some bags sold for folding bikes are too small for a Brompton with the "extended" seatpost.  Mine leaves the saddle sticking out (unless I fight with it for 10 minutes to do the zip up, which I didn't have time for at the station).  The Eurostar operators didn't care, fortunately.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

A friend of mine has been stopped from getting on a Birmingham bus with a folded but uncovered Brompton. Only once, from memory.

[diapsaon0]

Thanks - I'll be trying it soon.  I eventually 9after hours of hanging on) managed to speak to customer service at First Bus who told me that it was ok and emailed me to confirm as follows:


Good morning,

As per our earlier telephone call I can confirm that we allow fold up bikes on our buses.

Kind regards


Kyle Barr
Customer Services
First and Greyhound
283 Empress Road
Southampton
SO14 0JW
Switchboard          02380714800
Customer Service Direct Line    08700106022

First
registered in England & Wales no. 01999120
Registered Office: 283 Empress Road, Southampton, Hampshire SO14 0JW


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[diapsaon0]

Well, took her on the bus today.  No problems - driver hardly glanced at her.  Bus 'fare' was anything but, though