Haven't used the Cretan bus service recently, but on mainland, and even on smaller islands, have been pleasantly surprised by Hellenic service, re frequency, timeliness and price.
Whilst the saving, relative to a taxi, is a nice 'extra', as discussed elsewhere on this forum, it can be a pleasant part of the journey when time permits.
We have used the bus to/from Rethymno, however, some years ago. Even then, very happy and if frequency has increased then I assume that would be even happier now. Worth a try in my opinion.
Richard