SAN ANTONIO – VIA Metropolitan Transit is putting safety first as it prepares for the heavy rain expected to arrive in San Antonio this week.
KSAT’s Japhanie Gray caught up with Tremell Brown, deputy CEO and chief safety officer, and he answered a few questions residents have during wet weather events.
How have you prepared for weather events like this in the past?
“With our buses, you know you are in a much heavier vehicle and much taller vehicle,” Brown said, “But we have procedures our operators follow so that they can detour while communicating with a dispatcher. The dispatcher also lets them know where there is a low-water crossing, but everything is about safety. We have an internal emergency operations command team that helps monitor the things that happen for our maintenance team, our operators and all of our employees.”
How does your maintenance team prepare the buses during rain events?
“Believe it or not, when buses go through rising water there is a lot of water that may splash underneath and sometimes there needs to be some augmentation for the frame so that water doesn’t remain inside,” Brown said. “The water can tread out easily so that way it can keep everything dry to keep the bus functional. They check the seals and make sure the windshield wipers work. Operators are required to go through inspection every single day.”
Is there a resource for your passengers to use if their bus routes are detoured because of low-water crossings?
“On our website and our app, you can check for detours specific to your route on your trip or destination for where you are going to,” he said. “So, if you happen to know that you normally ride a certain route, go on our website, look at service disruptions, take a look on the app and it will tell you exactly where the detours are at. If they have any other questions that that, they can call 210-362-2020 and someone will coach you through what you need.”
Based on what you have dealt with in the past, what are your usual trouble spots when it rains?
“There are a lot of places underneath overpasses where the road dips down so we see things that happen on I-35,” Brown said. “If you take a look at the South Side where St. Roosevelt and St. Marys are, there is a bridge there that has low water crossing. We have long-standing detours, even when it starts to rain, we will put that bus on detour, so there is no risk to the customer or the safety of the operator. Those buses will automatically go on a detour around that concerning spot which is why it is important to check the app or the website.”
For detours or to sign up for service alerts, visit viainfo.net. VIA said another good resource of information can be found on their social media pages.
“We always want our customers to be safe and feel safe,” Brown said. “We understand they have to get to work, to school or different situations they need to be. We want to get them there safely and we want to be there safely for you. Take your time getting to wherever that bus stop is. You can double check our website again or the app to find out where we are with that bus if it is on time or late. Just communicate with us and we will be there for you day or night.”
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