In Transit September/October 2010

A Newsletter for Transit Employees

From the desk Marvin White, of the General left, waves Manager to colleagues and friends after learning Communicating he is Metro’s for success 2009 Operator of the Year. Good communication, with both internal Also shown is and external customers, is essential to East Campus our success. This is especially true Supervisor during service and weather emergencies. Michael List (right). Transit is customer-service oriented, so it’s critical that we focus on our customers’ needs, especially when things change unexpectedly. Whether we’re dealing with bad weather or other service disruptions—or adjusting to White named 2009 budget constraints—our customers need to know what to expect from us. Operator of the Year When we have our act together, we shine. When we don’t, circumstances n a surprise celebration at East Base in August, King County Executive quickly show us where we can improve. IDow Constantine, Councilmember Jane Hague, and a room full of Metro Consider the Aug. 3 collision between a colleagues, friends, and local media gathered to honor Marvin White as Metro’s Link train and a pickup truck whose 2009 Operator of the Year. driver had made an illegal turn. Link service was disrupted for several hours, White is known for his easygoing, friendly style of interacting with fellow inconveniencing many on-board and operators and the public. He joined Metro in 1979 because he “liked people waiting passengers. We had a “bus and needed to pay the bills.” A three-time Operator of the Month (in July 1987, bridge” in place within 30 minutes to November 1994, and November 2009), he also has a 23-year safe driving record. shuttle customers between Link stations, but neither we nor Sound Despite the mentally and physically demanding job of being a coach operator, Transit did a good job of communicating White’s dedication to Metro and his customers is apparent—he has missed only with our customers or addressing their one day of scheduled work since 2005. immediate needs. His excellent attitude and customer In this issue service make him a favorite among On Aug. 12, a network outage hit RapidRide begins ...... 2 the entire Link system, including the riders, and he has received more Downtown Transit Tunnel’s fire, than 40 commendations. To quote Short shots ...... 3 life, and safety systems. We closed one of those, “Mr. Marvin White Performance corner ...... 4 the tunnel to protect public safety. exemplifies everything that is good Continued on page 2 about the employees of King County Spotlight on pedestrian safety ...... 4 government.” CITRS at control centers ...... 5 Kudos ...... 6 On the move ...... 8 Continued from page 1 General Manager RapidRide Technicians and contractors fixed the problem overnight, and bus and rail begins! service in the tunnel resumed on time the next morning, but the incident is another fter four years of planning, preparations, illustration of how important it is to Aand hard work, the first RapidRide line provide accurate and timely information will begin service Oct. 2. to our customers. The A Line will run between the Tukwila I’m grateful for our efforts to meet International Boulevard Station and the these two challenges, but both Metro and know we have to do Federal Way Transit Center on International better in the future. Toward this end, we Boulevard/Pacific Highway S, replacing reviewed what went well and what did not Metro Route 174. in these incidents, and developed a Rail Incident/Service Interruption action plan. RapidRide is Metro’s brand of bus rapid transit (BRT), designed to provide frequent, fast, The plan focuses on increased training reliable, efficient, and environmentally friendly for field supervisors and control center bus service in six heavily used corridors. The and customer service personnel; program was launched with the passage of the checklists to keep response actions Transit Now initiative by King County voters in on track; improvements to incident November 2006. command practices, on-site information The first RapidRide shelter was lowered into place in August. for customers, and internal and external The RapidRide Coordination Team, made up of communications; increased attention to representatives from many different work groups, developed RapidRide’s vision and the needs of customers who are directly goals, service and operational guidelines, bus design, and passenger amenities from affected; and advance education of the public about service alternatives. the ground up. They researched other BRT systems in the U.S. and abroad, gleaning useful information that could be applied within Metro’s operating and budget realities. When the unexpected happens, decisive action and good communication promote “Creating RapidRide and launching the A Line have been made possible by the successful results. Our customers efforts of many, many people throughout Metro and the county,” said General understand when we’re faced with Manager Kevin Desmond. Some of these efforts have been highlighted in previous circumstances beyond our control, In Transit articles. This past summer, after the planning and design were complete, but they’re not as forgiving when we the focus shifted to construction, production, installation, and ironing out operational don’t give them accurate, timely, and details in the final push to get the service up and running. consistent information about what’s happening and what their alternatives are. Marketing and Customer Information produced many customer information pieces and signage for the corridor and buses, and promoted the coming service at many Predictions say the coming winter will be wetter and snowier than usual. We now summer events (see page 3). Power and Facilities worked through many details with have in place, or are developing, new Design and Construction and put in many hours preparing and installing shelters and improved tools to deal with adverse and sign pylons. weather. Our Customer Information Technological Resources and Solutions Transit IT, with support from the Office of Information and Resource Management, Group (CITRS) is now staffing a special has been working to get several new technology features—including the real-time console for alert notifications in the information signs, the bus on-board systems, off-board ORCA card readers, and Transit and Link control centers (see the transit signal priority system — up and running. page 5). Our emergency service network is ready to be put in place, should the Operations and the Metro Transit Police have developed training materials and need arise, and we continue to refine our trained operators, first-line supervisors, and fare enforcement officers. The snow plan. Department of Transportation’s Communications section coordinated an Oct. 1 pre-launch media event that will be attended by King County Executive Dow When bad weather hits, I believe we’ll Constantine, local and regional elected officials, and representatives of the be as ready as we can be. And good communication will play a central role in Department of Transportation and manufacturers, contractors, and city and transit our response. partners who have contributed to making RapidRide a reality.

—Kevin Desmond Next up: the B Line is scheduled to begin service between the Bellevue and Redmond transit centers in October 2011. Page 2 SHORT SHOTS IN TRANSIT News briefs in and around the Transit Division

■ Access provider wins safety awards from corporate parent — Metro’s largest Access Transportation provider, Veolia Transportation of King County, won two major 2009 safety awards from its corporate parent in May. The agency was honored for being the division with the best accident and injury records for 2009 and for demonstrating “the highest level of commitment towards safety.” Veolia has bases in Kent, Bellevue, and Seattle, and provides transportation to more than 70 percent of Metro’s The RapidRide posse gathers before marching in the Torchlight Access customers. Parade. ■ RapidRide takes spotlight in Torchlight Parade — The red-and- yellow RapidRide bus was hard to miss at the Seafair Torchlight parade in July. The balloon-decorated coach followed directly behind a bright red convertible Corvette carrying King County Executive Dow Constantine. The coach, driven by 2008 Operator of the Year Ineke DeBoer, was accompanied Metro volunteers hand out Rapid- by 65 volunteer Metro staff (and family Ride brochures to parade viewers. members) in RapidRide t-shirts. The volunteers waved to the crowd and Manager Park Woodworth. Seventy- passed out RapidRide brochures and nine paratransit professionals from other Metro information. Dressed as across the U.S. attended; sessions You won’t see this anywhere else. Metro superhero “RapidRide Man,” included legal issues in paratransit, operator Willie Middleton energized new technology, and elements of good ■ Bus/rail operation in tunnel is one the crowd by swooping ahead of the coordination. of a kind — As Link service bus. celebrated its first year of operation ■ Metro provides new Seafair hydro in mid-July, it’s worth noting that the ■ Metro hosts paratransit shuttle service — The implementation Transit Tunnel is conference — Metro and Sound Transit of last year encouraged the only facility in the world where hosted the 2010 Americans with Metro to use the Link Othello Station buses and trains share the same right- Disabilities Act (ADA) Roundtable as a major transfer point for this of-way and stations. Representatives Conference in August here in Seattle. year’s Seafair hydro shuttle service in from Metro’s Rail, Control Center, Organizers included Program Manager August. Shuttles were synchronized Vehicle Maintenance, and Safety Tricia Barbachan and Supervisor Bob with the train schedule. There were sections continue to work with Sound Sahm of the Paratransit/Rideshare some delays on Friday afternoon, but Transit on ways to improve the joint Operations Accessible Services group overall the service ran smoothly with tunnel operation and overall service and Paratransit/Rideshare Operations no customer or crowd incidents. reliability.

Page 3 Performance corner Accident rate keeps dropping

etro’s collision safety record is largely due to Collisions per million miles our professional Mis continuing to improve—and 80 it’s no accident. Every department operators, the at Metro is becoming more involved support of 70 management, in, and more conscious about, safety 60 issues and safe driving. and the efforts of Safety and 50 Take the number of accidents per Training. 40 million miles, on a 12-month rolling average. In June 2009, the rolling Transit Safety has 30 average was 34.5. A year later, it had held an annual 20 dropped to 30.9—a decline of 3.6 safety summit for accidents for every million miles. the past four years 10 (see article below), The bigger picture is even more and has teamed 0 impressive. According to data with Operations 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 collected since 1980, the accident Training to provide rate per million miles has seen a pedestrian awareness training for and many other active programs, steady decline (see graph). In 1980 all operators. This class focuses on including Safe Talks, and 8-Hour the rate was 75.8 per million miles. safe driving techniques, with an Refreshers, have helped us achieve Ten years later it had declined to 50.5. emphasis on pedestrians. The base this dramatic reduction in collisions. In 2000 it was 40.08, and last year safety awareness teams work to it was down to 32.4, a phenomenal heighten operator awareness of the 57-percent decrease since 1980. This daily hazards they face. These efforts

Spotlight on pedestrian safety

pedestrian is struck by a vehicle have an accident,” said Metro A every eight minutes in the General Manager Kevin United States. Each year, 5,000 of Desmond in his opening these pedestrians die. Recent transit/ remarks, “and no one can pedestrian accidents in the Northwest predict what you’ll find out on remind us that professional drivers the road. That’s why our safety are not immune to risk. Any driver officers stress that the most can mistakenly filter out important dangerous mile is the mile just information at a critical moment, ahead.” leading to a close call or worse. Many pedestrians these days To help reduce pedestrian accidents are “distracted walkers.” to the lowest level possible, Metro They may be listening to kicked off Wake-Up Call, its internal music, talking on the phone, pedestrian-safety awareness campaign, or even texting as they enter An “injured pedestrian” illustrates a point at its fourth annual safety summit in an intersection, with little at the safety summit in June. June. awareness of the traffic around them. Failures to see and “No bus driver wakes up in the process important sensory data, by morning thinking they’re going to Continued on page 5

Page 4 Continued from page 4 Customer information goes Spotlight full-time at control centers both drivers and pedestrians, are major factors in pedestrian-vehicle In addition to major commute fter the extreme winter storms accidents. Ain late 2008/early 2009, disruptions, the on-site CITRS staff Metro made several changes in members now inform customers Key safety concerns for transit how it communicates about service about a wider variety of service operators include: disruptions with customers. One disruptions—including traffic of these was a test project that ■ Reducing factors that affect driver put a member of the Customer attention, like low-contrast Information Technological Resources lighting, multi-tasking while and Solutions (CITRS) group in driving, and repetitive routines the Transit Control Center during ■ Using advanced eye techniques morning and afternoon peak with active scanning commute hours. ■ Strategies for navigating through intersections The CITRS employee learned about ■ Turning safety. incidents that might affect customer commutes and notified the Customer Once the Wake-Up Call campaign Information Call Center, which is well underway internally, Metro Analyst Michael Landon mans the plans to turn its attention to public made the information available to CITRS console in the Transit Control customers who call in. CITRS also Center in September. The Link Control education about pedestrian posted information to the “Eye on Center can be seen through the responsibilities. Your Metro Commute” blog, which windows and door behind him. is automatically posted on the Metro Metro created the annual safety summit to develop methods for Online home page. incidents, bus reroutes, mechanical continuously improving the safe- issues, single-rail track operation, and driving education of bus drivers. The test project was hugely successful, closures of the Downtown Seattle It allows attendees from different making the decision to expand it Transit Tunnel—as well as options agencies to network and discuss easy. In August, Metro and Sound for alternative service, such as surface common safety issues, and supports Transit began jointly supporting the routing and “bus bridges.” presence of a CITRS staff member at Metro’s commitment to reducing the Transit and Link control centers As disruptions happen, CITRS uses both vehicle and pedestrian accidents (which are side-by-side in the same a variety of traditional and new to the lowest levels possible. building) from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. every tools to produce and disseminate The 2010 summit had almost 100 weekday. “With joint bus and rail messages. These tools include public participants from Metro, including operations in the Downtown Seattle address systems on buses, trains, chiefs, supervisors, safety awareness Transit Tunnel, we find that the and platforms; variable message team members, and base safety addition of a CITRS person (to the announcements; subscription-based committee members. Other Link Control Center) has reduced our e-mail and text messages; prominent participants came from Sound Transit, emergency notification time,” said website postings; and updates to Metro Transit Police, and the Rail Operations Superintendent Tom automated phone systems. Jones. Washington State Patrol.

Getting ready for adverse weather Metro is well on its way in preparing for the coming winter season. An agency-wide team has been meeting biweekly since July to work out operations and communications issues, and we are collaborating with the Road Services Division and local jurisdictions. Staff members also participated in a snow response drill conducted by the City of Seattle in August.

Page 5 KUDOSIN TRANSIT

were involved in improvements reduce energy use by delivering service an estimated 30 percent and save on the day of the Metro about $100,000 each year. event. Metro’s contributions ■ Metro passes first Link system included a new safety audit — Sound Transit did its post-parade first annual system safety audit of loading zone on the Link light rail operation, which Third Avenue Metro operates, in July. Metro’s Rail between Pike and Operations and Maintenance teams Union streets that passed the audit with high marks. expedited rider ■ Schedulers deliver savings and boarding on three efficiencies — Using some of the high-volume more advanced features of their ■ Metro Wins 2010 APTA AdWheel routes and minimized crowding scheduling software, Metro’s Service Award — Metro won first-place at other downtown stops. Thanks Development schedulers have honors in the prestigious 2010 APTA to thorough preparation and extra delivered more than 80,000 annual AdWheel Award competition for efforts by many Metro employees, hours in scheduling efficiencies its interior transit advertising series our customers were well served, and through the fall 2010 service featuring tips for a better ride. A the City of Seattle recognized Metro change. This represents a savings of special ceremony during the October for outstanding support of this annual nearly two percent of Metro’s total APTA Annual Meeting in San community event. platform hours—equivalent to pulling Antonio, Texas, will honor Metro and five typical routes out of service. other first-place AdWheel winners. ■ Transit “energy heroes” The group has targeted another APTA has been honoring members’ named — On July 7, King County 20,000 annual hours in scheduling marketing and communications Executive Dow Constantine efficiencies for the spring 2011 efforts for the past 31 years. Entries announced his Energy Plan and service change. are judged on clarity of message and recognized three transit employees as “energy heroes” for their roles on information; attractiveness and use The software also gives the schedulers several transit projects that helped of design, layout and type; attention- the ability to rapidly develop improve energy efficiency. Syd getting and holding qualities; overall schedules for the Emergency Service Pawlowski, supervisor of Metro’s impact and impression; effectiveness Network, which will be operated Rideshare Operations group, was in achieving purpose/goals; and in severe adverse weather or other recognized for his role in building production quality. emergency conditions. the largest publicly owned and ■ Torchlight preparations pay operated vanpool and rideshare Key tasks that previously took days off — According to Ruthic F. Allen, program—a program that eliminates or weeks now take only hours or even supervisor of service quality, this more than 23,000 tons of greenhouse- minutes, enabling schedulers to meet year’s Seafair Torchlight Parade gas emissions and reduces fuel operations deadlines, improve the events went “as smoothly as any I consumption by more than 2.4 million Emergency Service Network, and help can recall.” Allen had high praise gallons each year. Phil Johnson, Metro do a better job of delivering and thanks for the efforts of staff building operating engineer, and Ron services to customers during members from Service Quality, Metro Quist, supervising engineer (recently emergency situations. Transit Police, Base Operations, the retired), were recognized for their Transit Control Center, Training, and work to improve heating and cooling Vehicle Maintenance, all of whom systems at several Metro bases. These

Page 6 ■ Unsung heroes: Infrastructure Support Services (ISS) team — Transit operators For about seven hours on July 22, of the month starting at around 4 a.m., Metro computer systems were affected by August 2010 a malfunctioning storage device for Atlantic Base: Abdeslam Sabry transit data. Local Area Network staff Central Base: Mark Haggerty and the Server Team methodically Eastside Campus: Joseph Calloway Transit Operations Manager Jim eliminated various potential causes, North Base: Stephen Ford O’Rourke describes his health while Network staff ruled out a Ryerson Base: Marcy Leikam wake-up call in a Health Hero video. network issue. By 8 a.m., the problem South Base: Timothy McCuistion had been isolated. The teams spent ■ Online video features Transit the next three hours working with the September 2010 health hero — Transit Operations storage device vendor to diagnose Atlantic Base: Elias Garcia-Ortiz Manager Jim O’Rourke got his the problem and try various low-risk Central Base: James Davis health wake-up call in 2005, when solutions before a higher-risk solution Eastside Campus: Walid Semaan a Saturday morning phone call to fixed the problem. North Base: Jason Turley the consulting nurse line led to Ryerson Base: Edgar Lyons him receiving five stents to open Throughout this effort, the ISS team South Base: Alan Calimlim clogged arteries. This inspired kept Transit staff members up-to- him to make a few changes to his date on the status of the event until life. “I definitely think that stress service was restored. “We recognize played a factor,” O’Rourke said. To the impact this outage caused the In Transit hear his first-hand account, watch agency,” said ISS Manager Michael the video at www.kingcounty.gov/ Berman. “I assure you that the ISS employees/HealthMatters/Newsletter/ team did its best to diagnose, isolate, August2010.aspx. and implement a solution as quickly as possible. We truly appreciate the If you have any questions, comments or story ideas, patience of the business groups and send them to In Transit, KSC-TR-0824, or contact Anna Clemenger: 206-263-6482 or their understanding as we worked [email protected]. through this issue.” 35-year Produced by Transportation Office of Communications Editor: Anna Clemenger service In fact, it was the Transit Division Transit Coordination: Bob Simpson that appreciated the effort of the ISS Staff Photographer: Ned Ahrens Graphic Design: Jackie Phillips awards team. Christine Anderson, special project manager (General Manager’s 10118/dot/comm/ac/jp In Transit congratulates the Office) said it best: “I just wanted following employees on to pass on my appreciation to your In Transit online completing 35 years of service (ISS) folks for their quick and level- Current and past issues of In Transit in the third quarter of 2010: headed response to this problem. are available on the King County I was particularly impressed with Patricia Overby, transit engineer website at: your team’s communication efforts. III, Design and Construction, www.kingcounty.gov/InTransit It seems that just when folks around Sept. 22 me were starting to wonder what was Lynn Wright-von Scheele, going on as far as the status of the administrative specialist III, problem and the fix, we would get an Sales and Customer Service, e-mail sharing your progress…you Aug. 1 (retired Aug. 31) and your folks did an excellent job in handling a difficult situation.”

Page 7 ON THE MOVE Transit Division retirements, promotions/job changes, new hires, and remembrances

Retirements Susan Whitmore to project/program manager III (Commute Trip Reduction Services) from acting Operations assignment as communication specialist IV (Marine Division) Don Burkholder, part-time operator (North Base) – August 31; 25 years Service Development Ileen Weber, part-time operator (North Base) – Katie Chalmers to acting transportation planner III September; 30 years (half-time trolley study lead, August-December); Sales and Customer Services backup for Chris O’Claire (maternity leave) Jamie Lacey to acting scheduler (trainee in Scheduling) Lynn Wright-von Scheele, administrative specialist III from first-line supervisor (Operations) (Customer Information Office) – August 31; 35 years Dan Wells to transportation planner III from acting Promotions and Job Changes transportation planner III (Transit Route Facilities) Vehicle Maintenance Information Technology Deb Stenoien to supervisor (Non-revenue Vehicles) Mike Berman to IT services manager II (Infrastructure from lead mechanic (South Base) Support Services) from systems management and analysis supervisor (Infrastructure and Integration) New Hires Stephen Bell to IT services manager II (Business Solutions Group) from systems management and Power and Facilities analysis supervisor (Transit Systems Support) John Teernstra, facilities utility laborer – August 9 Operations Sales and Customer Services Robin Taylor to first-line supervisor (Service Quality) Mardi Spahr, administrative specialist III (Customer mid-October from acting senior scheduling planner Information Office) – August 17 (Service Development) Vehicle Maintenance Paratransit/Rideshare Operations Charles Arthur, electronic technician – August 23 Gail Tanaka to admin specialist II (Rideshare Nicholas Baker, mechanic – July 19 Operations) from (term-limited) customer service Kurtis Bennett, equipment service worker – July 19 coordinator (Accessible Services) Lee Biggs, electronic technician – July 19 Power and Facilities Dylan Guay, mechanic – July 19 William Haber, mechanic – July 19 Tecle Ghebremichael to transit lead custodian from Vincent Hargrave, sheet metal worker – July 19 acting transit lead custodian Jeff Irby, mechanic – August 23 Walter Green to facilities utility laborer from rail Joshua Jones, equipment painter – June 21 facilities Kelli Kaufman, mechanic – July 19 Craig Hall to lead signage specialist from signage Aaron Maneenoi, equipment service worker – July 19 specialist Mark Riley, mechanic – July 19 Bobbi Thompson to signage specialist from utility David Rosales, mechanic – August 23 laborer Carl Thomas, equipment service worker – July 19 Dan Thorne to acting lead utility laborer from facilities utility laborer Sales and Customer Services Terrie Kennedy to functional analyst IV from functional analyst III (Revenue Processing Center/ Lost and Found)

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