B-Line Snow day
As everybody probably knows, we were on snow routes across the entire Metro system today. While I must admit I was skeptical about the B-Line snow route, I’ve never been able to come up with a better route that I could picture driving and things actually went pretty smoothly this morning so I’d call it a success. (At least with the road conditions we had today which were a little slick but manageable)
Here are some quick thoughts about the snow route:
Trouble spots
- The hill coming down NE 31st St to 152nd Ave NE was a bit dicey. I lost traction a couple of times in this stretch and had to crawl along even more carefully than other areas
- The right turn from 148th Ave NE to Redmond Way, heading toward Redmond Transit Center, still had quite a bit of snow and ice on it. While I didn’t lose traction this turn involves crawling down 148th heading toward the traffic light pole as you are turning right. If right turn lane isn’t kept free of ice, I could easily see losing control here no matter how slow you go.
- Once the coach leaves normal routing, the automated stop announcements no longer work. At the stop immediately before going onto snow routing, I made an announcement about the route I was going to take just to be sure passengers knew why I was turning right at NE 24th. It would be great if OBS could be modified to make a similar announcement as well as announcing the stops down Bellevue-Redmond road.
- The B-Line map on the schedules has the snow route. However, it doesn’t show the 245 route which could be used by passengers travelling to Crossroads.
- Providing alternative stop locations along Bel-Red road for the various NE 8th stops with suggested walking routes between the stops would also be helpful.
I’ll be out on the B-Line tomorrow with road conditions that are predicted to be much worse so I’ll update this post if I have more information. Wish me luck on that right turn from 148th to Redmond way. That pole looks like it’s been hit at least once or twice although not by a bus… yet…
Knock a streetcar off its tracks – Got coverage?
The Seattle Times has the story on a collision that knocked one of the streetcars off of its tracks. Go read the story and look at the picture and then stop and think: How much is it going to cost to put that Streetcar back on the tracks and repair all the damage? While there were likely no injuries to passengers or the operator, it’s not impossible so add in a couple of trips to the hospital to check people out if they fell during the collision. Now, go check your automobile insurance policy, or if you use ZipCar, go read this. ZipCar’s coverage only provides $300,000 of coverage for any single incident. Many lower cost auto policies do the same. Using today’s streetcar/automobile collision as an example, you can see that it is easy to exhaust a $300,000 policy pretty quickly.
This week would be a good time to call your insurance agent and check up on your policy – Or, if that car of yours hasn’t been getting used as much, maybe consider ditching it. But if you decide to use ZipCar, be sure to check with your insurance agent about an additional liability policy to cover you above ZipCar’s measly limits.
PSA Recycling to help speed RapidRide – What PSA would *you* add?
With the upcoming demise of the Ride Free Area in Seattle, there will be at least one opportunity for a bit of recycling… Of a Public Service Announcement. Yes, I know Metro could simply add more PSAs to this list, but just for fun, lets assume the total number of PSAs bus drivers can choose from is limited. (After all, do you really want your bus driver searching through a long list to find the PSA he or she is looking for?)
When the Ride Free Area is discontinued later this year, the “Have your fare ready before exit” PSA will no longer be necessary. I’d like to use this slot for an educational message on RapidRide routes that explains how to speed boarding at RapidRide stops. This announcement would encourage back door use for exiting and for boarding when you have a valid fare – such as a transfer or an ORCA card that has been tapped at the curb. Even several months after the start of Rapid Ride service on the eastside, I *still* have passengers crowding to get onto the front door so they can tap their ORCA card or show me a transfer. The whole point of RapidRide, especially at crowded stops, is to get passengers to use ALL of the doors.
At stops where passengers “get it”, things work well – I stop, open 3 doors, and 10-30 people stream on and off of the bus in less than 20 seconds. (140th Ave NE & NE 8th in the morning is a great example) Adding this PSA would also allow announcements in other languages although choosing one or two from the diversity of languages spoken along the B Line might be tough.
But that’s my view from my little slice of the world, how about you? What PSAs would you like to hear?
