After releasing the results of a survey that asked bus riders to rate the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s bus services, the Bus Riders Union found that the MTA is failing in a number of categories.

More than 2,600 local bus riders were asked to score the MTA on its fares, frequency of service, weekend and night services, accessibility, timeliness and overcrowding.

“There were seven categories,” said Esperanza Martinez, lead organizer for the Bus Riders Union. “And six out of those seven categories, the MTA received a ‘D’ and in one of them they received an ‘F.’”

But Helen Gilstrap, an MTA spokesperson, believes those figures may be skewed. “We also did a survey in June of this year and our survey went to 15,800 riders and out of that percentage the results came back and showed that 80.6 percent were satisfied with [their] bus service,” she said. “And of that same amount 73.3 percent reported that bus service was better than it was last year.”

Additionally, of those surveyed by the union, 67 percent gave the MTA a ‘D’ or lower on weekend and night service; meaning riders receive significantly poor service after 8 p.m. and on weekends. This, said Martinez, is due to the system being designed to only get the traditional worker to and from where they need to go.

Crystal McMillan, who has been riding the bus since 1996, uses it as her primary mode of transportation. Currently, she uses the Wilshire Line.

At her previous job in West Los Angeles, “I often worked at night. If I missed that one connection, I could easily wait an hour for another bus,” said McMillan. “It makes a big difference if the bus doesn’t come on time … [because if] I’m standing there at a shadowed bus stop by myself and I live downtown [near MacArthur Park], when I get off the bus I have to walk home past empty homes and parking lots. … That’s not a good area to walk past that late at night. … But I would find myself all of a sudden walking the streets close to midnight in an urban area.”

Timeliness was also a factor. The MTA, the third largest public transportation system in the country, has an average of 2,000 peak hour buses that make 18,500 stops on 189 bus lines on the street on any given business day. As of July 2009, according to the MTA’s Web site, there was an average of 1.1 million weekday boardings and 1.3 million weekend and holiday boardings systemwide.

According to the MTA, buses generally make stops at any given bus stop every 15 minutes. However, overcrowding can make those wait times much longer.

“There is no consistency because you can be going on for a week and the buses comes in a timely manner but then the following week when you are depending on it to be there, it’s not,” added McMillan. “I know that the Wilshire buses are often overcrowded. It’s not unusual for the bus, after a couple of stops, that they can’t pick up anymore people until people get off and that’s their comment. And that’s even during rush hour when you have several buses in a row and they will all be packed up to the [main] door.”

This inconsistency, she noted, has had a major impact on her life. Now unemployed, McMillan has been tardy to several interviews and engagements. She contends that each time she would get to her perspective bus stop an hour early and still reach her destination late. As a result, employers have found her to be unreliable.

“Service is based on demand and when you have a very heavy corridor the headway between buses is much shorter,” contends Gilstrap. “And when you are talking about waiting an hour to get another bus that is usually because there is not a heavy demand for service.”

Currently there are six lines that serve the Crenshaw Corridor. During the weekday, 76 buses operate in the morning, 50 during the mid-day, 89 at night and 2 owl buses that run 24 hours a day. On Saturday, 45 buses operate in the morning, 57 mid-day, 67 at night and 2 owl. On Sunday, 25 buses operate in the morning, 32 mid-day, 36 at night and 2 owl.

Lines 40 and 210 have the largest amount of riders, but because they are 40 feet can only hold a limited number of passengers. Lines 710 and 740, which provide rapid service, are 60 feet long and can accomodate more passengers.

“There really is substantial service in that corridor,” said Gilstrap.

When the Wave visited a bus stop on Martin Luther King Jr. and Crenshaw boulevards — a highly congested and transit-dependent area — Friday afternoon opinions were mixed about the MTA’s bus services.

Vanessa Long, a mother of two who was headed to Inglewood to pick her children up from daycare, struggles to transport her family during peak hours.

“When buses are overcrowded peoples moods change,” said Long. “It’s not very comfortable and you are stepping all over each other or get pushed into people when the bus stops. It can be dangerous, especially for my little ones.

“I remember one day I was on an overcrowded bus and I had one hand on the rail to hold on and another holding on to my daughter who was holding on to her sister and the bus stopped all of a sudden,” she added. “One of my daughters, who is less than 50 pounds, went flying into a group of people and as the bus shifted back and forth she got caught in between everyone and was smashed. I just remember being scared for her.”

Taesha Jacobs was headed to Hawthorne to pick up asthma medication for her son. “It’s not easy being a single parent with no transportation,” she said. “Like right now, my son is at home sick and I have to pick up medication for him before the pharmacy closes. I have been waiting here for more than an hour. They are supposed to come every 15 minutes but they either get held up or are full by the time they get here. Instead of being home taking care of my child I am sitting here waiting for a bus.”

Trina Harbor, who was headed to the South Bay Galleria Mall with friends, did not seem to be affected. “It doesn’t bother me too much, especially if I have friends to ride with because we just talk and pass the time,” she said. “But when I am by myself it can be intimidating trying to guess the correct routes and catch the right stops. If you have ever been on an overcrowded bus, you know it is hard to see and if you aren’t peeking under someone’s armpit, you may miss your stop and if that happens you have a walk on your hands.”

According to Gilstrap, the MTA is making the corridor a priority and has been considering several things to make service more accessible, such as the possibility of adding more buses, as well as a light rail line.

An increase in fares has also become an issue for bus riders, many of whom are unemployed or make an average of $12,000 a year. In 2003, a day pass was $3, but it spiked to $5 in July 2007. Weekly and monthly passes have also increased.

McMillan, who pays $62 for a monthly pass, said that it is more economical than paying $5 a day, “but at the first of the month trying to pay my rent and that $62 can sometimes really cause a problem.”

She now limits her grocery spending and cuts back on activities like going to the movies or lunch with friends to make sure she can afford the monthly pass.

Reggie Streeter, who picks up the bus on Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, also gets the monthly pass. “I look at paying $62 for a tap card monthly as a little too much but it doesn’t bother me because … if I did drive, I would be looking at gas, insurance and registration, which is more costly. With my tap card I can go wherever I want for the whole day.”