My experience after a full year of riding the bus.
Wish I didn't have to take the bus to work, but can't afford the parking downtown. Typically in the morning the buses are more on time--afternoon buses going from New Haven towards Hamden are NEVER on time. Do not trust the schedule.
Some of the bus drivers are very nice; some of them are meh--this I don't care about too much.
More irritatingly, I've had buses pass me (on the opposite side of the road where the stop was), have them go off route (resulting in my having to wait yet another 30 minutes for the next bus), and even had a bus driver force me off the bus at a random street because she didn't want to finish the route, and proceeded to drive down a different street in a random direction. Yep.
Disclaimer: I spent all morning today waiting for two buses. read more