I don't even know where to begin.
I've never used the public transportation here in AZ until this year, and I probably won't bother using it again before my fiancé and I move.
The very first time we used the bus, we went into Surprise. The first bus was on time.
By the time we were done walking around and waiting for the second bus, it drove right past us. We were clearly standing on the side of the road, in the summer heat.
They didn't even slow down in a quiet residential neighborhood, mind you.
So it's not like they were unable to stop because of traffic as there wasn't any.
Since then we've used the bus system a few times here and there, none of the drivers passed us but they were consistently never on time.
The last time we tried to use the bus (until yesterday) we waited for 20 minutes then gave up and walked into a restaurant and saw the bus finally arrive about 10-15 mins later- a whole half hour late.
Recently my fiancé was applying for jobs in the East valley and was planning on getting a month pass for the bus to get to work.
We are both extremely glad we didn't waste the money or time.
Yesterday we decided to use 2 all-day passes to go to Scottsdale and walk around the Fashion Square Mall, then go to the Botanical Gardens.
We went to the first stop and the bus was late. Not too big of a deal since we don't expect them to ever be on time at this point.
When the bus finally arrived, about 10 minutes late, it flew right past us. I called it in and was told the driver must have skipped the stop since they were running late, but they should have stopped to let us on.
I think that's pretty obvious, but okay.
The next driver stopped and got us a half hour later.
This second bus however arbitrarily stopped its route halfway to Scottsdale road and said it was the last stop.
My maps clearly showed the route was supposed to go all the way, and when people started asking the driver which bus they needed to take to get to Scottsdale if this wasn't it they barely said anything and sounded irritated. We walked across the street and waited for the next bus, again another 20-30 minutes.
Finally the third bus showed up, vaguely on time, we got to the mall and walked around for a while before walking around Scottsdale Road for another few hours.
Then we decided to start going to the Botanical Gardens around 5pm.
So we sat and waited to no surprise for an extra 10 minutes as the bus was late. We get on and needed to stop at McDowell.
The speaker and the display screen never showed the stop for McDowell Road, so we missed it and had to get off in Tempe, and you guessed it- wait for another bus.
Around this time it's nightfall so it's pretty cold.
The next bus was again vaguely on time.
This one stopped at McDowell.
We crossed the street for the 17 West bus, and waited.
From around 6:15 until 7pm there wasn't a single 17 West bus. We saw several 17 East, and the 72 we were just on. Eventually the bus arrived, and we got off to the Botanical Gardens- which didn't let us in with our culture pass- so we walked back to the stop to go home.
Now my map route for the bus is saying the 7:49pm is the LAST bus until 5am.
Luckily, the 7:19 was late as we got to the stop at about 7:20 and waited a few minutes.
By some miracle, the bus didn't pass us and we got on, ready to be done with the day.
Of course it wasn't so simple.
After a few stops the bus was packed and filled with people coughing, playing loud music, shout-talking, on the phone arguing, quite a few smelling really horribly, and no one having any semblance of personal space.
Halfway through the route someone stood up by our seats, with me on the isle, and leaned so far I had to shove up against my fiancé so they didn't touch me.
The buses all have signs posted that they're "safe places", but I've never felt less safe.
People were talking about guns, someone cat called a lady sitting behind us, and an older guy was loudly exclaiming some sexist speech about "the American dream" to the whole bus.
I understand people have free speech, but there should definitely be some rule for disrupting other passengers on the bus, like there is in Japan.
There also shouldn't be a situation where people have to move in their seats to not be touched by strangers.
I shouldn't have to worry about our safety while on a public bus, that makes the whole public transportation system meaningless.
This *is* a paid service, so there should be some level of quality assurance.
We might as well walk everywhere and hope nothing bad happens to us, it's the same amount of risk.
And of course, this driver also had to be told by several passengers to stop for someone running for the bus.
If you need to find a way to work I would suggest carpooling or getting a bike.
Especially if you value your time and safety. read more