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Heads up: possible snowfall Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan 11-12, 2011

Heads up: possible snowfall Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan 11-12, 2011

A photo of a snowy #130 from March 9, 2009.

The meteorologists are predicting snow flurries today, Tuesday, and Wednesday (January 10-12, 2011), so I thought it would be timely to trot out some reminders for travelling in snowy weather!

As a quick overview of what might happen: buses generally find it hard to reach locations in higher elevations, and HandyDART may also be affected, since it typically goes to locations away from normal bus routes. And of course, heavy heavy snow can make it hard for all vehicles to travel.

So again, hopefully this isn’t news to you, but if you are planning on taking transit on a snowy day, there are a number of things you might do to prepare for your ride. We listed a bunch of them in the November 2009 print Buzzer, and they include:

  • Have a transit plan in place, so you know your options for alternate routes, if any
  • Check the weather before you go out
  • Leave extra time for your journey, in case of delays (start out early or leave early if you need to get somewhere)
  • Bundle up for cold weather and wear appropriate footwear so you don’t slip
  • Hit the bathroom before you travel, in case of delays (so important!)
  • Be aware that hilly areas may have delays as it’s harder to get through
  • Move to the back of your transit vehicle so others can board

For our part, we’ll try to get you the latest info on the transit situation through a number of channels:

  • A super-handy source right now is our TransLink Twitter account, which is heavily staffed owing to a November pilot project
  • Our Alerts page
  • Our media YouTube account — for audio clips, updated as needed (primarily for the broadcast media, but also available to the general public)
  • Customer Information at 604-953-3333 (may be very busy on a snowy day)
  • For info on West Vancouver Blue Bus, please call 604-985-7777
  • The big video screens on the Expo/Millennium/Canada Line platforms
  • The TransLink mobile site: m.translink.ca
  • Radio and TV announcements

You can also view our snow plans in these links: here’s a 2011 media release, 2010 media release, a 2009 blog post about CMBC’s snow plan, and a 2009 post about SkyTrain’s snow plan. (Also, here’s a 2009 Vancouver Sun article on how the municipalities are preparing for snow.)

Anyway, cross your fingers! Hopefully there won’t be snow tomorrow. But if there is, safe travels to everyone and we’ll be working hard to keep the system on track!

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