My own experience has been that lugging a folding bike on and off a bus is tiresome, and much less feasible than I expected. I have a bike Friday and it zips into a carrying bag with a shoulder strap, and it is bulky and unwieldy. Also I try not to sweat on my commute to work, but it is impossible to avoid with folding and carrying the bike even for short distances, so I would have to add a shower to my timeline. Also the bus and subway are packed at rush hour and I might have to stand, making the clumsy bike even more of an inconvenience. It would be easier to load a standard bike on the bus bike carrier, but sometimes they are full, so that might affect my travel time.
How long are the segments at each end - is either walkable? Or how about a scooter?