It’s big, red and British, has traveled eight months and 7,000 miles to Phoenix, and it’s the newest way to party around the Valley.

Phoenix-based charter service Real London Bus Company drives groups to and from local bars in a British double-decker bus, owner Jonathan Pring said.

“We’re a quaint English double-decker bus, including a picture of the queen herself on board,” he said.

Pring said he and his business partner were inspired to start the business after arriving in the U.S. last year and visiting American bars.

“The bars were full of drunk people and the car parks were full of cars,” he said. “Ninety percent of the bar [customers] are going to be driving home, and it’s just a number game as to who gets arrested.”

The pair decided to purchase a vintage London double-decker bus because U.S. laws only allow the importation of brand-new vehicles or ones more than 25 years old, he said.

“A brand-new double-decker bus costs about a million dollars. I’m not that rich yet, so we opted for a second-hand one,” he said. “Fifteen years ago when I was a schoolboy in London, I took a bus exactly like that to school every morning.”

The partners purchased the bus in London and drove it to Liverpool. It was then shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific Ocean to Los Angeles, Pring said.

“It’s easier than you think to buy a double-decker bus,” he said. “The trouble is shipping it to America.”

The total cost of getting the bus was about $30,000, Pring said, which included the six months of repairs it had to undergo after its engine-cooling system broke down near San Diego.

“And just when we were good to go, the economy took a nose dive,” he said. “Then summer came along, so we were really kicked when we were down.”

When the bus arrived in Phoenix in March, Pring and his partner had to decide whether to launch in March for exposure or wait until October and avoid a tough summer. They decided to launch in March.

“Summer was slow, but we did survive,” he said. “We always — at the very least — covered our costs, and although business was slow to start, we were getting the brand out there.”

Since then, Pring said the Real London Bus Company charters one to two times a week, catering heavily to ASU students. The bus has hosted formal dinner parties, sorority outings and birthday parties for students, he said.

“Our bus can carry 70 people,” he said. “It just makes it a very cheap way to get around, particularly for a lot of sororities and fraternities.”

Nic Kelly, general manager of the Tavern on Mill, said the company has charted groups that stop by his bar multiple times and called the service a great idea.

“When college kids or a large group of people want to travel together, this is really the best way for them to do it,” Kelly said. “They are able to be on the same source of transportation, they are allowed to drink on the bus and it allows them to get to and from each location rather safely and still have fun in between.”

Finance senior Jesse Robinson had his 21st birthday party on the bus Sept. 13 and said it was a blast.

“It’s two stories and it’s a legit London bus, which was bomb,” Robinson said.

He said it was the unique double-decker bus that made the experience fun.

“People stop and stare at it because it’s not your average run-of-the-mill bus,” he said.

Pring said he makes sure the company offers a personal touch.

“We try to be flexible in terms of what the clients want,” he said. “Customer service is key in America.”

Pring said he started a weekly “double-decker dating” event on Wednesdays. The company is interested in buying a second bus, which would allow it to have a sightseeing service based out of downtown Phoenix, he said.

“Phoenix isn’t particularly known for its culture or its landmarks, but there [is] a lot of stuff there,” he said. “You just need to look a little closer.”

Christmas will bring the company’s next big event, Pring said, promising the double-decker will be the most Christmas-themed vehicle in Phoenix.

“It’s just going to be disgustingly Christmas-y,” he said. “So if you want a Christmas party in style, jingle on the bus.”

Reach the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu.