i was very happy with my bus experience today - first and only, though it may be. I was up at a marriott on black canyon freeway and wanted to go downtown for some touring. besides the fact that everyone i asked said "but i don't understand why you want to go there" they also informed me that the bus was slow and rarely made it's posted arrival time.
though i walked the wrong direction i found myself at a transit center at the metro center mall and caught the red line eastbound, greeted as i entered by a jovial singing bus driver. and not the annoying kind. i showed him what the transit girl had given me by way of directions (more in a second) and he made sure i got to the stop i needed. when i transferred to the #15 bus, that driver was very nice and helpful too, and though he too didn't understand why i would be traveling to phoenix, he wished me well and let me know when he'd be on the return trip if i wanted a ride back.
and in fact on my ride back i got on the red line from central station and was greeted by happy singing bus driver #1 who remembered me!
so, i would give this whole day a 4 star score except that the website is stupid and it told me i needed to take the 122 to the 15 to the 19 to get downtown when all i really needed to do was take the red line the whole way. that would have saved me a lot of walking and waiting at a bus stop with crazy homeless men screaming at each other while i waited to transfer. that's all i'm saying.