Well, the powers that be say 5-10cm of snow will be coming tomorrow (December 19, 2012), so it’s time to dust off our 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:

• The most up-to-the-minute, detailed source is our TransLink Twitter account!
• See our mobile site for major alerts and the Twitter feed while on the go
• Visit our Alerts page
• 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
• Radio and TV announcements, like our transit updates on CTV Morning Live!

You can also view more TransLink snow plan coverage in these links: here’s a 2011 media release, and 2010 media release.

Safe travels to everyone! We’ll be working hard to keep the system on track!