Comments on: Seattle City Council Puts Metro GM in Hot Seat

By: Al

Al — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:13:27 +0000

I was listening to NPR this morning and they broadcast some of yesterday’s meeting. I was particularly interested in the discussion of the bus tunnel. Apparently, no buses were running in the tunnel at one point, yet the tunnel was open, no notices were posted and people waited for hours and hours.
Whomever was speaking for Metro said that there was no logistical way for someone to post notices in multiple locations for thousands of people. Really? In the bus tunnel alone? No way to do it?
I was in NY and there was a major service change in the subway connection to the airport. Notices were printed out on bright pink paper and posted at every stop along the line notifying passengers of the change. Every stop. This lasted only ONE DAY. The tunnel was longer than our tunnel. Certainly someone armed with print outs and tape could be dispatched.

By: Kari

Kari — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:46:24 +0000

That’s a great idea, Sam. You guys may have noticed the garbage cans on the side of some stops. Those are sponsored by people who own the property on which the stop resides. My husband and I maintain “our bus stop” (mostly taking out the garbage, but we shoveled our sidewalks and pad frequently during the storms). If someone from Metro e-mailed me in emergency circumstances, I would be glad to post a notice. I’ll suggest it to the KC Metro rep for the program and we’ll see where it goes. That only covers some stops, but some are better than none.

And if anyone else reading this happens to live at a bus stop, join the program at http://transit.metrokc.gov/prog/aas/adopt.html.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:35:09 +0000

A few thoughts …

Desmond also said that during the height of the snowstorms, SDOT did not return Metro’s calls. This is why Metro needs the authority and ability to plow and salt sections of their bus routes. They can’t just rely on SDOT, and other agencies.

Another thing he said: “We have some 9000 bus stops in the system and trying to get information to each and every one of those bus stops is obviously a challenge.” Why not think outside of the box? How about recruit neighborhood volunteers beforehand? People who would be willing to print out and post snow route info. People who would volunteer to go out and clear bus platforms for disabled people. Things like that.

How about volunteers who will, on their own, create sort of an unofficial Metro adverse weather website. I bet, in many cases, they would do a better, more accurate, and more timely job of updating information than Metro does themselves. Information would come from eyewitness accounts, Metro, phoned in tips, people with scanners, people monitoring the upcoming GPS tracking system, etc.