Note as well— transit authorities are often balancing conflicting requirements from their political overlords. In particular, maximizing profit vs. access. Politicians (especially non users of transit) often want to see as many of their constituents as possible "covered" by the transit system, which leads to meandering, infrequently serviced routes of limited usefulness. But then when this is done, there are complaints that the transit authority hasn't done enough to "build ridership" and justify its own existence.

In a world where ride sharing is out-competing buses, perhaps there can be more attention given to straightening out bus routes and increasing service frequency accordingly.

More on coverage vs. ridership: http://humantransit.org/2015/07/mega-explainer-the-ridership...