Public transport in Palermo? How do you locals manage?

I have read previously on reddit and elsewhere, that some bus lines in Palermo are unreliable, but I honestly haven’t experienced a situation as bad as in anywhere else I have been. There has been multiple occasions where I arrived at a bus stop about 5 min before the scheduled departure time and waited there like an idiot for 20-30 minutes without a bus to be seen. As the taxi is ridiculosly expensive (for a short ride with uber it costs over 20€!?!) and trams don’t cover the areas i want to go to, it has limited my options so much. Only reliable bus I have found is the 101 bus. But there too it was once stopped in the middle of the ride and everyone had to get out because one of the locals started shouting with the ticket control lady about not having a ticket. So basically my only option has been to cover longer distances by walking in this heat for like 1,5-2 hours just to maybe get to the beach from the place i am staying in.

I mean I am from a small city myself and used to busses being on time, but I have also visited much bigger cities than Palermo (even in Italy) where the public transportation is good.? I just want to love Palermo so bad but the public transportation has somewhat ruined my trip a bit because it is just such a hassle to get from point A to point B here without a car. Really don’t want to use those bikes or scooters too cause i have experienced a lot of accidents with those. So basically my question is how do you locals manage to get around here and be on time when you do not have car or bike at your proposal?