 Metro, Roads bolster winter weather and communication tools
Narrator Says: It was a tremendous challenge, and one that King County Metro Transit and the Road Services divisions hope will serve as a lesson for winters to come. The snow and flooding of late 2008 and early 2009 did much to snarl transportation in King County. The lessons learned from those events have prompted both Metro and Roads to respond with better communication tools and more equipment to keep the region moving. King County Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond Says: We realize that we could have done better, the problem that we were trying to operate more than we were really capable of doing. And we certainly had a lot of problems communicating with the general public and our customers. So, our focus of all of our efforts this year, culminating in where we are today with this presentation, is to focus on where and how we operate bus service. During snow service, snow events, or other major adverse weather emergencies and how we communicate. Narrator Says: On the transit side, metro online now features this map. It’s broken down by seven regions in the county, and like other traffic maps, it will either be green, yellow, or red depending on how much transit is impacted by weather conditions. Green means normal operation, while yellow will signify some buses are on snow routing, and red will mean all buses in the entire geographic area are on snow route and heavily impacted. In extremely hazardous conditions, Metro may activate its new emergency service network. King County Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond Says: The emergency service network is intended, during a prolonged event, where arterials and streets throughout the county are impassable or in very difficult shape throughout. When this plan is activated, we'll limit our service to only about 70 pre-identified routes, and that's what's on this map. This has also been coordinated with the jurisdictions. These are arterials largely, and some other secondary streets where we know that they will be able to manage or at least we expect they'll be able to manage the plowing the de-icing. These are largely areas where we know we have a large level of demand. They're largely flat areas. These are the areas that are priorities for the jurisdictions to make sure they are plowing. Narrator Says: The Metro Online website has also been improved, with better design and easier navigation to inform riders of the latest information. Riders are encouraged to sign up for the new transit alerts, which were launched in early November, that deliver email or text messages about service disruptions system-wide or about specific routes. The Road Services division is on the same track. Last winter’s challenges have prompted King County Roads to increase its capacity to fight winter weather and forge stronger relationships with other county jurisdictions. King County Road Services Division Director Linda Dougherty Says: The reason that this is important of course is that roads don't observe city/county boundaries, they just go continuously. And many of our citizens travel through several jurisdictions to and from work or to and from school every day. And so it's really important that the routes that we and our cities decide are the top priority to keep clear, to keep well plowed both for Metro Transit and all of the other folks that use our roadways, we need to make sure we're coordinating those closely. And so we've created our updated snow priority route map. And our commitment and the commitment of the cities that have participated in this effort, our commitment as public works agencies is that those will be the first and highest priorities for all of us to keep them well cleared and sanded, de-iced that kind of thing. Narrator Says: The roads division has also bulked up its fleet of equipment to fight snow and ice. It has added four anti-ice applicators, as well as four new devices that pre-treat sand before it’s applied to roads for extra traction, and five dump trucks equipped to carry both snow plows and sanders. This pushes the total to 45 vehicles the county has dedicated to keeping roadways passable during winter weather. King County Road Services Maintenance Superintendent Tony Ledbetter Says: So what we've done is we've doubled the number of sites that we can keep product at; our anti-icer product. And then we've also doubled the number of applicators, to get the product on the road. And it's kind of two-fold. Having more sites it cuts down on travel time to refill. And then having more applicators throughout the county really has improved, we've actually already started putting product down this year. Narrator Says: Part of the effort by the roads division is not only to add, but to subtract. Subtract cost that is, and become more efficient. Roads has teamed up with the Washington State Department of Transportation to cooperatively purchase what’s called ‘bulk salt’, which is cheaper than bagged salt and comes in larger quantities. Despite all the preparing the county can do, roads maintenance superintendent Tony Ledbetter reminds residents that their input is very valuable during winter weather events. King County Road Services Maintenance Superintendent Tony Ledbetter Says: Our eyes and ears out there are our citizens. So if they do see something that's a problem, it's really good to call it in. We can't be everywhere; we just don't have the staff to travel every roadway every minute of every day. And so, we depend on the citizens' input on where they need services. It's a great value to us. So what we'd ask them to do is call in the 296-8100, or 1-800-KCROADS, which is our 24-hour-a day, seven-day-a-week number. Narrator Says: Remember that the web is easiest way to access all the new tools available. Visit Metro Online at kingcounty.gov/metro. And visit Road Services at kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/roads.
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