If you've ever used the bus system in Miami-Dade, you probably know how unreliable it could be at time. For some, they’re a lifeline connecting neighborhoods, workplaces, and leisure spots. For others, they’re a source of frustration, leaving passengers angst and drenched in sweat from the Miami heat. Here are some of my pet peeves with the bus system currently in place:
Waiting for the bus can feel like waiting for your always late friend. Each route has their own "schedule" (if you could even call it that) that tells you they should roughly pass by your stop every 30-40 minutes, which is admittedly already a pretty long wait time.
Screenshot of Bus Arrival Times at Dolphin Mall
Unsurprisingly, the buses never arrive at their scheduled time. Using the app isn't a guarantee either, which leads to my next issue.
The Miami-Dade Transit app promises real-time updates, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way (or for me, practically every day).
Imagine this, you wake up and check the app before getting ready for the day to check on the next bus: 60 minutes until the next bus. As you near finishing, you check once more to be sure you haven't missed it: 20 minutes until the next bus. As you finish up a couple minutes later, you check one final time before walking out the door: 75 minutes until the next bus. What the hell happened?! It's been less than five minutes but now the bus from earlier is nowhere on the map, where did it go?
To make matters worse, the next bus won't come for more than an hour (sometimes nearing two hours). Now you're forced to use a rideshare app and pay somewhere around $10 upwards to $30 depending on your destination. Thankfully, I am able to afford the cost of that but many individuals out there are unable to pay or even use such apps due to their financial situation (which is why they rely on the transit system!).
If you ever find yourself waiting for the 7 bus at Dolphin Mall between 5PM and 7Pm, good luck. You might just see your bus pass by, drop people off, and leave with no warning. To add on to this, the transit app tells you beforehand that it's arriving and leaves you expecting a bus that won't be taking you anywhere.
Sometimes you'll get lucky and get on a bus that either has food spilled, pee in a corner (or on a seat), or just foul stench lingering in it. You'll be there trying to cover your nose to block the intrusive smell but it just won't help it. Most people though, in the U.S. at least, expect public transportation to be dirty. Hopefully that can be changed one day.