King County Council proclaims Bus Driver Appreciation Week
February 22, 2010
By Warren Kagarise
NEW — 5:35 p.m. Feb. 22, 2010
King County Council members proclaimed the week ahead as Bus Driver Appreciation Week — a measure meant to honor 2,700 Metro Transit drivers.
The drivers ferry more than 100 million passengers throughout the county each year. The council recognized drivers as “skilled employees who perform many functions, including providing safe, professional, and on-time transportation for the public; providing information about fares, routes, schedules and transfer points; and operating the coach wheelchair lift and fastening wheelchairs for passengers with disabilities.” The council issued the proclamation Monday.
Metro drivers must possess a commercial drivers license, learn to operate several types of buses complete many customer service programs and extensive training.
“I always appreciate how friendly the bus drivers are to passengers, and how they call out the stops so that when I am busy reading on the bus, I’ll know when to get off at the right stop,” Councilwoman Kathy Lambert said in a news release. “They have a demanding job, and they do it well.”
Lambert represents Issaquah, Sammamish, Snoqualmie and parts of unincorporated King County on the council.
Metro drivers worked more than 3 million hours, logged about 43 million miles, provided 112 million passenger trips and received more than 2,000 commendations from riders last year.
The proclamation stemmed from a Jan. 23 of a Metro driver in Tukwila. A 15-year-old boy beat the female driver unconscious. Prosecutors later charged the boy with second-degree and third-degree assault.
With the proclamation, County Council members sought to encourage riders to acknowledge Metro drivers and thank them for their work.
“Bus drivers are the heart of our transit system,” Council Chairman Bob Ferguson said in the release. “As a bus commuter, I appreciate the great job Metro’s drivers do every day.”
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