There's just no way to efficiently ship that many people on that route virtually simultaneously.
So many people finish work around the same times that you get this massive spike of people on the hour, and then it's dead quiet once that on-hour spike has been fulfilled. You don't want to be trying to get on the 545 at 5pm or 6pm. Shift your leaving time so you're at the bus stop 10-15 minutes earlier and it's a whole other story. Although I no longer do the 545 any more, for that, and for my current route I switched to arriving early in the office and leaving 4:30ish. I'm almost always guaranteed to get a seat and have less rush hour traffic slowing down my return home.
One thing that the city could do to help, and has helped elsewhere, is to encourage city businesses to shift their starting and finishing hours, especially those businesses that are a bit more regimented. This spreads out the peak over a bigger period of time and allows both more overall flow and less disruption.
So many people finish work around the same times that you get this massive spike of people on the hour, and then it's dead quiet once that on-hour spike has been fulfilled. You don't want to be trying to get on the 545 at 5pm or 6pm. Shift your leaving time so you're at the bus stop 10-15 minutes earlier and it's a whole other story. Although I no longer do the 545 any more, for that, and for my current route I switched to arriving early in the office and leaving 4:30ish. I'm almost always guaranteed to get a seat and have less rush hour traffic slowing down my return home.
One thing that the city could do to help, and has helped elsewhere, is to encourage city businesses to shift their starting and finishing hours, especially those businesses that are a bit more regimented. This spreads out the peak over a bigger period of time and allows both more overall flow and less disruption.