Trying the First Bus Solent Electric Buses as a Plus Size Passenger – Last week I was kindly invited by First Bus Solent to try their new electric buses. As a regular public transport user I was interested to see how the new buses would be in terms of size, accessibility and comfort. The buses themselves are brand new and being introduced to the fleet of buses that cover the Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport routes.
In April 2024, the company introduced the first of 62 new zero emissions buses as part of a £28.6m project with Portsmouth City Council and Hampshire County Council. As the buses are so brand new & ultra-modern addition I wanted to see how they compared to other buses – and I was pleasantly surprised. Traditionally I have been a public transport user, although since moving in with my partner a few years ago I do get a lift to lots of places. That said, when I go to places like London, bus travel features heavily in my travel plans – so it was exciting to see what the new First Bus Solent electric buses would be like.
Trying the First Bus Solent Electric Buses as a Plus Size Passenger
Public transport can be a bit daunting as a plus size passenger – especially if you’re travelling at busy times of the day. There is no time you’re more aware of your size then sat on a busy bus, trying to take up as little space in the seat as possible. Although the First Bus Solent electric buses I tried were busy, they were never jam-packed full of people. This could be the time of day and it could be how regular the buses are. That said, I found space on the bus to be really good.
I’ve posted a video on my Instagram of the aisles and as you can see, even with a backpack on, walking to the back of the bus wasn’t a struggle at all.
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We travelled the Gosport to Fareham route – and back again. Both journey’s were smooth, on time and comfortable; what more could you want from a bus journey? One thing I noticed is that there are loads of buses around, which means that bus travel throughout the Portsmouth area doesn’t need to be a struggle at all – we even spotted these electric buses later on during the day outside the Portsmouth Historic Dockyards.
What’s So Good About the Buses?
Although I can’t speak for people with disabilities, the features I noticed on the bus seemed to be a positive move forward. We saw a gentleman in an electric wheelchair get on and off the bus – there was plenty of space for him to navigate to where he needed to be on the bus and the ramp at the doorway was easy for the driver to operate. The bus also lowers down when it stops, which means that stepping on and off the bus is made as easy as possible.
There are screens and audio announcements to tell you where you are and which stop is next – the screen even tells you how many stops to go until you reach the end of the route; which was super handy.
There are even USB chargers at every seat – which I thought was a lovely addition to these new First Bus Solent electric buses!
We took the E1 and the E2, to and from Gosport to Fareham. We thought the journey would take a while but the journey route goes via the Rapid Bus Transit roads between Fareham and Gosport and that seemed to make the journey go much more quickly that we imagined. Both the Gosport and the Fareham stops are smack-bang in the middle town which means nipping in to get your shopping is easy enough. You can even take further transport links such as the Ferry to Gunwharf Keys in Portsmouth; which for us meant I could check out the Lindt Chocolate shop there!
Over all, we found the whole thing super easy – tickets on the First bus app, routes planned via Google maps and plenty of bus routes to choose from meant that bus travel around Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport was easy, cheap and convenient. On top of that, as a plus size traveller everything felt comfortable and accessible, which is always a winner.
What are the buses like in your local area?
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Debz Louise is a plus-size blogger based in Yorkshire. Behind many nationwide campaigns such as #WeaAreTheThey & winner of Best Blogger at the UK Plus Size Awards, she talkas about life as a plus-size 40-something woman in South Yorkshire.
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