Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

Waterloo Region, where I currently live, is having problems with its buses [link will evaporate tomorrow]:

Grand River Transit is stranding some passengers at bus stops because so many buses have been taken off the road for repairs.

When buses show up late they are sometimes overcrowded.

"It's not a reliable service right now," said Rick Lonergan, of the Canadian Auto Workers, representing bus drivers and mechanics.

"An awful lot of people are upset out there, naturally. They're late for work, etc. etc., and the drivers are taking real flak over this."

Local politicians insist the the solution to traffic and transit problems in the region is a light rail transit line that runs from one end of the city to the other, at a cost (estimated in 2004) of $260 million. Buses will then carry riders from that central corridor to their intended destinations.

That still leaves the buses as the weakest link in the proposed system. If they can't even keep the buses running currently, how will spending an additional $260 million on an LRT make it better?