Winter readiness

Granted, the Spokane region experienced more than a foot of snow in 24 hours, an amount for the record books. And granted, individuals and municipalities have been lulled into complacency about winter weather this past decade. Mild winters – punctuated by just a few days of snow – have become the norm.

Granted, public servants who drive snowplows and buses deserve thanks for their hard work. And granted, many individuals help one another during extreme weather times, and they forgive lapses in those providing public services.

But with these “granteds” out of the way, here’s a reality check: Inland Northwest cities lie in the northern tier of the United States. Snow should be expected winter weather, no matter how much more like Seattle and Portland our winters have seemed in recent years.

For individuals, this means snow tires on vehicles, snow removal equipment to clear residential driveways and sidewalks and, most important, moving cars from streets to make room for city snowplows.

But individuals can do just so much. They can shovel their sidewalks, but not their side streets. That’s why they pay taxes.

The forecast for this week is less Seattle/Portland and more Buffalo, N.Y. This gives municipalities a chance to try out their weather emergency plans. And it gives them a chance to shine. Monday, reviews were mixed. Not only were side streets a mess, trapping residents in their neighborhoods, many arterials and bus routes were clogged and rutted too. Even some buses got stuck or ran late.

Municipalities, on their Web sites and in phone conversations, explain their plowing priorities: arterials, first; secondary arterials, next; all the rest of the streets – later.

And Spokane Transit Authority acknowledged problems with stuck buses in two areas Monday morning. The first was off of Sunset Boulevard, and the other was on 49th Avenue between Perry and Crestline streets. The reason for the stuck buses? The roads had not been plowed.

A long-range goal for Spokane Transit Authority, and other community transportation experts, is to get people out of their cars and hooked on a bus system that is already clean, affordable and efficient. Indeed, STA ridership increased 12.2 percent from 2006 to 2007.

This extreme snow week provides an excellent opportunity to entice even more riders to STA. But the bus routes, including side streets where buses travel, need to be plowed first, well and often. If a commuter trying the bus for the first time remains stuck, unmoving, on that bus for 30 minutes because of an unplowed or poorly plowed street, it’s unlikely the commuter will try the bus again.

Let’s adopt a Buffalo, N.Y., frame of mind – year-round – and make it a priority to be prepared for extreme winter weather.