King County Metro

King County Metro - As Seattle braced for a possible snowstorm Wednesday, transportation officials were asking commuters and transit riders to be prepared and to check on the latest conditions before embarking.

Buses in most parts of King County were expected to be running normal routes Wednesday morning with no chains. But buses could switch to limited snow routes if temperatures drop during the day, which they’re expected to do.

Weather forecasters are predicting cold temperatures and snow will increase during the day on Wednesday. King County Metro Transit advises bus riders to plan ahead for rapidly changing travel conditions on Wednesday, and into Thursday.

Wednesday’s snowfall may start out light in some areas, but transit users should plan ahead for bus trips that could be disrupted, delayed, and on snow routing. Even though weather in the morning may not be bad in your area, you should leave from a bus stop or park-and-ride that also has service when buses are on snow routes in case travel conditions deteriorate by the afternoon commute.

At 4 a.m., SDOT plans to deploy 10 plows in North Seattle and eight plows in South Seattle, the agency said in a news release. At 9 a.m., SDOT will shift to a 24-hour snow response plan, deploying 30 trucks with plows in trouble spots. SDOT also start pre-treating streets Tuesday with salt brine.

Wednesday’s forecast could create challenges for all vehicles, especially if the snow begins to fall during the afternoon commute. Other areas, particularly in the Snohomish-King County convergence zone area, could see snow in the morning. Bus operations could change rapidly depending on traffic and travel conditions.

Here are some tips for bus travel this week:

-. Know the snow routing for your bus route. Check the timetables at Metro Online for snow route maps for each route. Not every bus route has snow routing, but most do;

-. When buses are on snow routing, some streets and bus stops may be missed and there are often delays due to travel conditions. There is new snow routing in many areas that is different from past years, so be sure to check the snow routes for all the routes you use most often;

-. If you haven’t already, sign up for Transit Alerts to keep up with any major changes to bus service. The alerts can be received as email or text messages. Go to www.kingcounty.gov/metro/snow to subscribe;

-. Metro is using a new online color-coded map to keep riders informed of the status of its bus service, which can be found online at: www.kingcounty.gov/metro/snow. All bus routes are assigned into one or more of seven geographic areas within King County. When there is snow or ice on the roads, the service status of each area will be color coded and displayed on the online map. Green indicates buses are operating on normal routes; yellow that some – but not all – routes in the area are on snow routes (primarily in higher elevation areas); and red tells you that all bus routes in the entire geographic area are on snow routing;

-. People without online access can call the Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000. General information about service will also be sent out via the kcmetrobus Twitter account;

-. 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;

-. 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.