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News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:
Dec. 23, 2008
Limited Metro
service again for Dec. 24
Holiday adjustments planned
for Dec. 25 through Jan. 2
Due to still-icy
streets in many areas and the possibility of more snow overnight,
King County Metro Transit
will be operating approximately half of its regular weekday service on
Wednesday, Dec. 24.
Please check the Metro Online website
and click on the
“adverse weather” link before you travel to see if your
bus route is operating and if it is on snow routing.
Reduced service is expected to continue
through at least the end of the week, since Metro had already planned to
operate a Sunday schedule on Christmas Day and a “partial holiday”
schedule on Friday, Dec. 26. Schedules for those two days may be
adjusted, if the weather and driving conditions don’t improve.
A partial holiday features more bus
service than on weekends, but somewhat less than normal weekdays with some route
or individual trip cancellations. It is the schedule Metro offered this
year on the day after Thanksgiving, and will be used on at least 10 days
in 2009. It is denoted by an “H” in both the online and paper
timetables.
Because Metro traditionally has low
ridership during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, there
will be some service adjustments next week as well. If the weather
cooperates, most of next week’s service will be on the partial holiday
schedule. The exception will be Thursday, Jan. 1, which has a Sunday
schedule. Detailed information on service for the week for Dec. 29 will
be available late Friday afternoon either
online, or by calling
Metro’s Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000.
Throughout this long stretch of bad
weather, Metro took a cautious approach to providing the safest bus
service possible by focusing on serving cleared highways and arterial
roads, and major transit centers and park-and-ride lots. This approach
has so far proved successful in limiting injuries and vehicle damage,
and kept the agency from having to shut down all routes.
Also, the number of buses available for
peak service has decreased each day over the past week due to
difficulties some coach models experience in the deeper snow or in
prolonged icy conditions. As the storms hopefully end and we head into
next week, Metro Vehicle Maintenance staff needs time to do a thorough
safety review of all of the buses that have been on the road during the
bad weather.
“I know these past two weeks have not
been easy for our customers or our employees. I hope our customers
can be patient for the rest of the week, while we work to get our system back to
normal,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond.
“I've heard many
stories of Metro employees who have gone the extra mile in making sure our
passengers get to their destination safely," said Desmond, "and I've heard from many of
our customers about their appreciation for the service we’re were able
to provide during these extreme weather conditions."
No matter what schedule is in effect,
bus passengers should be aware that travel conditions can change
quickly. Service may be revised at any time due to weather and road
conditions.
Currently, information about bus status
is available on the Metro Online’s
ice and
snow page. You can also call the Metro Customer Information Office
at (206) 553-3000, but call volumes are high and there may be a wait to
talk to a CIO representative. People should closely monitor the latest
weather and traffic reports for information about travel conditions.
When snow and ice affect transit
operations, passengers should be prepared to board buses at major
transit centers, cleared arterials, or at the top or bottom of hills.
Please dress warmly, wear appropriate footwear, and be prepared to wait.
The buses that are running can be significantly delayed.
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