One big difference between this winter and last – Metro has added more ways to get the word out about bus trouble, if and when necessary. With the possibility snow might affect the morning commute in some areas of the county, Metro’s Linda Thielke has just sent out a reminder about its new alert systems – read on:

King County Metro Transit is monitoring the weather and preparing for the possibility of snowfall disrupting the Monday morning commute in some areas.

The forecast calls for a chance of snow in the county, particularly on the Eastside up until noon Monday. While the accumulations are not expected to be deep, Metro has put extra communication and vehicle maintenance crews on standby should significant amounts of snow affect transit service.

Metro is urging bus riders to make a few preparations of their own tonight and in the morning.

Customers should visit Metro Online – kingcounty.gov/metro – before beginning their travel to see what is happening with their route. There is new snow routing in many areas that is different from last winter, so be sure to check the snow routes for all the routes you use most often.

There is also a new system of alerts and online info to help customers be “in the know” about riding Metro when it snows, or when transit service is disrupted by other significant events. The best place to get info on transit disruptions is Metro’s new Alerts Center – or by calling the Customer Information Office at (206) 553-3000.

When you visit Metro Online, you can sign up to receive email or text messages about widespread service disruptions or weather events impacting your individual bus routes.

Last week, Metro launched a new Twitter account – twitter.com/kcmetrobus – to help distribute that information. When snow is on the way or on the ground, Metro will use Twitter to point followers to the changing info in the Alerts Center and phone lines.