The barely two year-old, 14 mile-long Metro Busway that runs through the San Fernando Valley is being dug up again.

According to the Daily News:

” Metro and its contractor, Shimmick-Obayashi Joint Venture, ended a more than yearlong dispute and agreed to split the $1.5 million costs of the repaving. The dispute arose when the transitway’s pavement began rutting shortly after the Orange Line opened for operation in Oct. 2005. Metro claimed that the pavement had been improperly laid, while SOJV claimed that Metro was running more buses with more passengers than expected.”

Metro is spending an additional half million dollars on “super paving” asphalt that may improve the durability and longevity of the roadway.

This screw-up seems to not only be an inconvenience for riders of this system, but a scandalous waste of tax money.

Imagine that a road which only hosts buses (no trucks, cars or other vehicles) is somehow so badly built that it must be repaired after only months of operation.

I am an enthusiastic supporter of the Busway and ride it regularly, but this is just bureaucratic and institutional stupidity.