Getting Ready for Ike

As Hurricane Ike nears the Texas coast, members of the Capital Metro Emergency Team are conferring with other municipal, state and federal groups to help people stay safe.

This morning at 6 a.m., a Capital Metro radio dispatcher reported to the Emergency Operations Center for the Austin area to plan for the arrival of Hurricane Ike. When potential community emergencies arise, the Office of Emergency Management sets in motion a convergence of community leaders, first responders, hospital and social services staff, city staff, and transportation providers to the Combined Transportation, Emergency and Communications Center. CTECC is a high-tech facility designed to provide coordination between the dispatch units of 911, police, fire, EMS, Travis County sheriff and constable, Capital Metro, and TxDOT. The Capital Metro radio dispatchers work from this location.

Capital Metro’s involvement in the preparations for Hurricane Ike are twofold: we’ll provide transportation services to evacuees arriving from areas along the Texas coast, transporting people to/from shelters, hospitals and the airport; and, we must also prepare for the safe operation of our regular bus service, given that Austin may receive tropical storm-force wind and rain.

Our liaison to the emergency team sends out regular reports from the Emergency Operations Center to Capital Metro, alerting us to upcoming transportation needs. Earlier today he reported that more than 100 buses full of evacuees from the Galveston area would arrive in Austin this evening. Our buses will be “on call” to help transport them as needed to area shelters and hospitals.

Capital Metro helped transport Gustav evacuees with medical conditions. Photo by Austin American-Statesman Photographer Kelly West.

During the evacuation effort for Hurricane Gustav, Capital Metro transported evacuees with special medical needs from the airport to the Delco Center.

If severe weather comes to the Austin area as a result of Hurricane Ike, it is possible some of Capital Metro’s services will be suspended or delayed. Safety of our passengers, bus operators and our buses is our top priority. Current information will be posted on the Capital Metro Web site as it is available. Read more

Detour Drama

If you tried to get around downtown over the Labor Day weekend, you know firsthand how difficult it was to navigate. Several special events closed city streets and created transportation headaches for everyone, whether you were in a car or a bus.

To those who were relying upon Capital Metro, we apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Street closures are a big, big deal to us because they create detours for our bus routes and cause some bus stops to temporarily close—in essence they interfere with our business and make it hard for our customers to get around!

Don’t get me wrong. I love all the delightfully Austintatious events in this city, and a number of my friends and coworkers compete in the many foot and bike races in town. But speaking with my Capital Metro Employee Hat firmly in place, street closures are a real pain.

In order to effectively let our customers know about detours that will be in place for an upcoming event, we print and post signage for affected bus stops (and on the buses that run those routes) about a week and a half in advance, and then post the detour information to our Web site during the week before the event. We actually have a staff committee that meets every week to review and plan for special events detours. We also meet regularly with City of Austin staff (the city approves and implements the street closures for special events) so that we can develop bus route detours effectively.

Unfortunately the plans don’t always go smoothly, and the city closes additional blocks, or the streets are closed earlier than we anticipated, and our buses are forced to detour the detour, on the spot. When this occurs, our signage at bus stops and on our Web site is no longer accurate. During major events, Capital Metro’s field supervisors patrol the routes, looking for people who need help catching a detoured bus. With so many routes on detour this weekend, it was hard.

We will continue to work with the city to improve the coordination between them and us for street closures and detours. We have been monitoring closely the work of the city-sponsored Downtown Street Event Closure Task Force and are providing input to that group. Hopefully it’ll be a smoother ride for all of us in the future. Read more