[NFBSea] Fwd: King County Metro Response to COVID-19

Sat Mar 21 00:10:16 UTC 2020

Reduced KC Metro schedule starting Monday.

Anna Zivarts
Program Director, Rooted in Rights

Pronouns: she/her

Disability Rights Washington

315 5th Ave S, Ste 850

Seattle, WA 98104

206.324.1521 x 242 (office)

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Rooted in Rights tells authentic, accessible stories that create change.
Disability Rights are Our Rights!

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Relations, Community <Community.Relations at kingcounty.gov>
Date: Fri, Mar 20, 2020, 4:49 PM
Subject: King County Metro Response to COVID-19
To: Relations, Community <Community.Relations at kingcounty.gov>

Dear Community Partners,

At King County Metro we’re dedicated to providing safe, equitable, and
sustainable transit to our region. We value your partnership as a channel
to our communities and want to keep you informed about measures we are
taking in response to novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

*Reduced Schedule*

To protect customers and employees, Metro will move to a Reduced Schedule
<http://kingcounty.gov/reducedschedule> starting Monday, March 23. Buses
will run less frequently throughout the day. Bus service may also start
later in the morning and end earlier in the evening.

·       Riders can see changes to their trips by visiting the Reduced
Schedule <http://kingcounty.gov/ReducedSchedule> page. Suggestions for
alternate options for riders of routes that
are temporarily discontinued are also shown.

·       We urge your communities to sign up for the most up-to-date
information through:

o   Transit Alerts
<https://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/alerts-updates/signup.aspx>
(email
and/or text)

o   Text for Departure
<https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/text-departures.aspx> –
text your bus stop ID # to 62550 for next bus info

o   Trip Planner <https://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/>

Please be aware the Reduced Schedule means that online customer information
planning tools and third-party apps may not reflect all temporary schedule
changes. While these systems may be inaccurate, they still provide useful
information such as maps and bus stop information.

If you have clients and community members who need help planning their
trips, please ask them to call Metro Customer Service at 206-553-3000 (WA
Relay: 711) for assistance.

·       If you require an interpreter, please call 206-553-3000 and select
the interpreter option (Press 1) from the menu when prompted. Please let
the Metro representative know which language is needed. It will take a
moment but an interpreter, in the requested language, will join the call.
Nearly 200 languages are covered by the translation line. Please note that
interpreter calls may take longer.

*Fare Collection and Bus Boarding*

Starting Saturday, March 21, riders will not be required to pay fare when
riding King County Metro services, including buses, water taxi and Access
paratransit, until further notice. Riders will also be directed to board
and exit at the rear doors of buses, reserving front-door access for
customers using mobility devices or who require use of the boarding ramp.
This change is aimed at minimizing the interaction between the operator and
passengers to promote social distancing for everyone on the bus.

*Temporary Closures*

Metro will also be closing the following in-person customer service offices
from Thursday, March 19 through at least Friday, March 27:

• Pass Sales at 201 S. Jackson Street in downtown Seattle

• Lost and Found at 201 S. Jackson Street in downtown Seattle

• Vanpool Distribution Center at 18655 NE Union Hill Road in Redmond

• Access Transportation Evaluation Center at Harborview Medical Center

For more information on these reduced schedule, fare collection, rear door
boarding, and temporary closures visit the Metro Matters Blog
<https://kingcountymetro.blog/>.

*COVID-19 Community Response Fund*

And finally, we want to make sure you saw the important announcement from
King County Office of Equity and Social Justice about the COVID-19
Community Response Fund that will provide grants to community-based
organizations and other stakeholders serving impacted communities.  Please
see the notice pasted below, and the website to look at funding
requirements and apply for funding: <
https://www.kingcounty.gov/elected/executive/equity-social-justice.aspx*>*

We did not take these decisions lightly but know that each decision was
made with equity at the forefront. We seek the least negative impact upon
our communities and try to ensure at-risk populations are prioritized. All
decisions at this time, however, are difficult but our community is strong,
and we will get through this together.

If you have any questions or comments, please reply to this email
community.relations at kingcounty.gov. We commit to continuing to
listen, gaining a better understanding of mobility needs during this time,
and seeing if there are ways we can respond. We will also follow up with
accessible materials once those are available. Please let us know if there
are certain formats or languages your organization needs, and we will
distribute as soon as possible.

Thank you for your work in keeping our communities safe.

In Community,

King County Metro’s Community Engagement Team

Robyn Austin

Cindy Chen

Tristan Cook

Shelby Cramer

Michelle Huynh

Maha Jahshan

DeAnna Martin

Gunner Scott
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