As to the purchases of buses, I would think that is something that an individual could bring up before the city spenders galore, and point out the mishandling of funds.
The agency which oversees public transit here is quasi-governmental. Presumably, it's part of county government, but the agency is unaccountable to no one. I have said all along that the agency should be subject to periodic independent audits since it's chronically broke and aways crying for more money, but the agency was set up to be independent and the firmly entrenched Democrats who rule in this region will not make any changes to the agency's setup. I'm guessing the powers that be get some share of the ones extorted from the taxpayers and trust patrons to preserve the status quo.
In a perfect world the taxpayers would have a say in the operations of the transit system, but the agency is ruled by a board appointed by the higher-ups. So we peons just keep paying for lousy service and tiny buses.
It's fun to live under a regime, isn't it?