I’ve been taking the same bus route to work for years, but lately the schedule just feels completely unreliable. The other day I waited nearly 25 minutes for a bus that’s supposed to come every ten, and of course three showed up at once. I’m starting to wonder if I should just bite the bullet and drive, even with the parking costs, or if this is just a weird phase. Has anyone else noticed their usual line becoming totally unpredictable?
The bus schedule has felt unpredictable lately I stand at the stop and wait a long time then three buses roll up together it really makes planning feel pointless.
If you step back the issue is headways not averages the gap between buses matters more when delays pile up you get bunching which shows up as long waits followed by a run of arrivals in the same way the bus schedule behaves poorly.
Maybe you are over reading the pattern the bus schedule can look wild yet the system is not broken perhaps you got unlucky with one driver shift or a temporary detour.
I am skeptical that the whole route changed for good until we see data maybe it is just a phase or your schedule memory plays tricks when you remember the bad days more than the good ones.
Rather than chasing a perfect bus schedule think about what you really want from the morning what is the value of time saved if you drive and how does that compare to parking costs it might tilt the decision.
Try a simple test like tracking a week of arrivals on the same route and note the times it might reveal a pattern and show if a particular time of day is worse than others and you can plan around it.
Sometimes a transit line becomes a stage for your own patience its rhythm shifts long enough that the frame of your routine changes and you learn to adapt with a lighter expectation of timing and more focus on choosing what to do with the extra time.