Press release, 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan.18

King County Metro Transit will keep its buses chained up and on snow routing for a fifth straight day on Thursday, Jan. 19, as the region recovers from significant snowfall. But, transit operating conditions could change throughout the day and bus riders should watch for updates from Metro.

Depending on the roads and traffic, bus service will probably still be significantly disrupted and delayed on Thursday.

Metro plans to operate the same level of service it had today with up to 30 routes canceled on Thursday. If travel conditions improve overnight, service on these routes could be restored either early or during the day on Thursday. So before traveling, riders should check for the most current status of Metro service.

Bus riders should sign up for Transit Alerts to receive notification of route cancellations, but also check the service status before traveling at www.kingcounty.gov/metro/snow.

For travel on Thursday, check Metro’s snow web page before leaving. Updates to the online information begin as early as 4 a.m. and continue as needed until travel conditions improve. Also, it is important to sign up for Transit Alerts so you can be alerted when bus service status changes.

Even though weather and road conditions in the morning may not be bad in your area, delays and service disruptions can occur in other parts of the county that affect bus service in your area. Buses will also be chained, which means they have to travel at slower speeds.

Here are some tips for bus travel during these conditions: 

• Know the snow routing for your bus route. Check the timetables on 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. Be sure to check the snow routes for all the routes you use most often; 

• If you haven’t already, please 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/alertsto subscribe; 

• Metro uses an 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. Blue is used when the Emergency Service Network (ESN) is in place; 

• People without online access can call the Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000 from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. Due to the volume of calls, there may be longer-than-normal waits on the phone;

• 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.