Riders on the 27 line have been sounding the alarm about a maddening phenomenon: buses that simply never show up. The transit app says they came and went. The street says otherwise. One rider described waiting at a stop with several other commuters after work, all of them staring at each other in shared disbelief as their scheduled bus apparently passed through an alternate dimension.

And before you ask — no, the bus didn't blow past them. It just… didn't exist.

This isn't just a 27 problem, though the 27 seems to be ground zero. As one local on Reddit put it, "The 27 is especially bad about it. Muni does a bid system for routes so the ones going through the ghetto have the newest drivers. They're most likely to not show up." The same commenter noted the 19 is "basically worthless if you actually rely on it daily" and the 38 suffers from ghost buses too.

So what happens when you try to hold the system accountable? Exactly what you'd expect from a government monopoly: nothing. Riders report submitting feedback through official channels only to hear crickets. No follow-up. No changes. No acknowledgment that the problem even exists.

Meanwhile, SFMTA somehow has the resources to deploy fare inspectors targeting easy marks at busy downtown stops. Another SF resident put it bluntly: "Muni has the resources for inspectors who harass easy targets for fare evasion but they don't have the capacity to make it a safe environment for people to ride in."

That's the whole game in a nutshell, isn't it? San Francisco's transit agency can muster the manpower to collect revenue from paying customers but can't manage to put actual buses on actual routes at actually scheduled times.

SFMTA's operating budget is north of $1.4 billion. Billion — with a B. For that kind of money, the bare minimum expectation should be that buses exist. Not luxury seating. Not artisanal route maps. Just: the bus shows up.

Until riders start demanding real accountability — transparent performance data, consequences for chronic no-shows, and an end to the feedback black hole — ghost buses will keep haunting this city. And SFMTA will keep cashing the checks.