First day

I kept track on my watch this morning when we arrived at all the various stops. I found that the bus is about 3-4 minutes behind by the time it picks me up near the beginning of the route. By the end of the route it is about 20 minutes behind. I walked from 3rd West and North Temple back to work. This will be the only day I have a long walk. The rest of the week I'll be dropped right off where I work since we're moving locations tonight. Anyway, I'll keep track on the way home to see how the schedule fares at night.

I found another route I think I will try, the 348. Not only does it have twice the number of buses, it also comes in earlier and leaves earlier in the afternoon. I'll definitely have to give that one a try. It may turn out being like every other inaccurate UTA schedule but I don't have first hand knowledge yet.

Comments I sent to UTA about route 356

I take the West Valley Fast Bus (356) daily. I think the
route works fairly well. I am concerned with having a new driver every
morning however. Seeing as the route is advertised as a "Fast Bus",
meaning in my mind that it only stops at designated stops, it seems
impossible for it to actually be a fast bus due to a new inexperienced
driver every morning. We do have a fairly regular driver at night on an
MCI bus. I was wondering if we might consider making this route a
little more regular in the morning by trying to schedule the same
(hopefully one that knows where and where not to stop) bus driver each
morning and afternoon. I know this will help the route and I will enjoy
it thoroughly.

Update:

Additional comments I sent yesterday (Wed 26)

I wanted to add some comments about the 356 again. I
commented a couple days ago and wanted to follow up.

First, the driver this morning was pretty good.

Second, I was talking with other bus riders at our stop and they summed
up what I said in my last comment. The bus drivers are new each day and
don't seem to get that it's a fast bus. I think the main problem is
that every day it's a new driver. I want that fixed. I want them to
know where the stops are and stop only at those stops. I think this bus
route has potential and the ridership is really growing since gas prices
are too. Please fix it.

Car to Bus to TRAX

I am the epitome of a weird bus traveler. I drove to a park-and-ride, took a UTA bus, and then transferred to TRAX this morning. I was surprised at how many people were on the TRAX train this morning and figured I'd never take it again. It was so crowded that people at the next stops down the line were unable to find room to get on. It looks like this wasn't a failure of UTA however, and simply an unfortunate early morning fire.

Insanity

Sometimes I think it's pure insanity why people in Utah take buses. Either we're green as can be or we enjoy punishment. Many of the bus routes that are available are pretty lousy alternatives to just driving in. For instance, we have a new route on the west side that takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get downtown. It takes me around 30 minutes using a similar route. What makes this route bad? I think currently it's just how much construction is going on and the freeway entrance at 21st south is fairly backed up in the morning, especially during rush-hour when this bus decides to meander its way downtown.