Metro Transit prepping for winter travel – are you?

Bus riders should sign up for Transit Alerts, know snow routes & pick up new guide

“Here at Metro we are working hard to be prepared for winter weather travel, but we cannot do it alone,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “It is a real partnership between what we do to make our buses and drivers ready to go in the snow, and how bus riders prepare themselves for difficult travel conditions.”

Desmond said it is important that bus riders educate themselves and do some “snow-work” before the first flakes fall. He said Metro customers should realize the system cannot operate with normal routes, schedules, and reliability during bad weather. That is why it is so important for riders to sign up for Transit Alerts, know snow routing for the buses they ride most often, and to plan for longer travel times.

“Our customers need to expect and prepare for buses that are on snow routes, traveling at slower speeds, and encountering traffic delays along the way,” said Desmond. “That is why bus riders need to prepare in advance for winter travel just like we do.”

When snowy, icy conditions affect travel, Metro buses will go to snow routing as necessary given road conditions in a broad geographic area. All bus routes are now assigned into one or more of seven geographic areas within King County. The service status of each area is color coded and displayed on an online snow map. The snow routing for individual bus routes is displayed in the print and online timetables.

Here are some basic winter-travel tips for Metro customers:

• Sign up to receive Transit Alerts for the routes you use most often;
• Check the print and online timetables for snow route maps;
• Pick up the new Metro Snow & Ice Guide on buses and at Metro literature stands for general tips. Distribution of the guides begin the week of Nov. 7;
• If the weather is bad, check the color-coded status map on Metro Online before you travel;
• Be patient. Buses are not always on schedule in snowy or icy conditions. And, increased ridership during bad weather can result in crowded buses and a longer-than-usual wait on the phone for the Customer Information Office (206-553-3000);
• Know  that bus tracking programs lose accuracy when buses are rerouted or significantly delayed, so your favorite smartphone apps and online trackers may not be reliable during this time;
• Dress warmly for the walk to the bus stop, expect delays, and wear appropriate footwear for the weather;
• Head for bus stops on main arterials or at major transfer points such as park-and-ride lots, transit centers, or shopping centers; and
• Riders should wait at bus stops at the very top or very bottom of hills, because buses are often unable to stop for passengers on inclines.

Desmond said the agency continues to fine-tune its adverse weather plan. Customer communications are still centered on the color-coded map dividing the county into seven geographic areas. On the map, each of those areas is colored to reflect travel conditions: green = regular routing and service; yellow = some routes on snow routing; red = all routes in the area on snow routing; and blue = Emergency Service Network.

This year, there are significant revisions to the Emergency Service Network (ESN) to make it easier for Metro to operate and easier for customers to understand. When the ESN is used, bus service will be severely reduced to just 52 core bus routes serving only key arterials and transit centers. These will be existing bus routes, so bus riders should be familiar with them and where they travel. Some neighborhoods and areas of the county will have no bus service because of difficult travel conditions or geography.

Desmond said it is not practical for Metro to operate the majority of its existing 230-plus bus routes during extreme or prolonged bad weather. Transit operations become more difficult because some types of buses don’t do well in the snow, our terrain is hilly, and not all transit routes are plowed by the local jurisdictions. So, the ESN is designed to be reliable as possible in the most severe operating conditions.

As bus riders prepare for winter travel, they should start by signing up for Transit Alerts for the bus routes they use most often. If any of those routes begin operating on snow routing – which means some streets and bus stops may be missed – Metro will send an alert to route subscribers. The alerts can be received as email or text messages.

As the weather changes, customers should visit Metro Online before beginning their travel to see what is happening with their route. There could be new snow routing in some areas that is different from previous winters, so be sure to re-check all the routes you ride or might want to ride when it snows.

The best place to get information on transit disruptions is Metro Online’s Alerts Center, or by calling the Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000. If possible, check the web first for the most current information. If you don’t have access to the web, call the Customer Information Office. Be prepared for possible long waits on the phone lines because call volumes increase significantly during bad weather even with increased staffing assigned to the Metro call center.

You can also follow Metro on Twitter (kcmetrobus) and Facebook (kcmetro) for winter-travel updates, but the first priority for distributing updated information will be through the Transit Alerts, Metro Online, and the Customer Information phone lines.

Bus riders should also know that online programs like Bus Tracker and applications like One Bus Away become less reliable in bad-weather conditions, as more buses go to snow routing and service is increasingly disrupted. Also, the regional Trip Planner does not have real-time information once buses go to snow routing.