Timely and behind the scenes information around incident response and events impacting travel.
How You Can Save Police from Roadside Injuries Police officers not only enforce Cone Zones, they are also protected by them. Sure, bright orange pylons aren’t usually present to announce when an officer is in a vulnerable position, but drivers should still approach with caution police and other emergency personnel working along roads. RCMP Staff Sgt. Pat McTiernan has been experiencing Cone Zones from the perspectives of both enforcer and roadside worker for 35 years. He has been struck,...
What Do You Want to Know More About? Are you looking for something on TranBC but can’t find it? Or have a question about what the ministry does and why we do it? Share your question with us and we’ll try to get you an answer. Who knows – your question could be our next blog! Thank you – we couldn’t do this without YOU.
We have an extensive inventory of signs in use along our highways – many of which you are familiar with. But let’s take a minute to highlight some of our emergency signs – signs which you might not see very often (or which you might notice, but not be familiar with the significance of), that could indicate a potential emergency situation for you while driving. For example, Road Flooded, Washout and Forest Fire signs let you know exactly what...
When winter hits, firefighters have to achieve a delicate balance between speed and safety. As emergency responders, their goal is to arrive on scene as fast as possible without putting themselves or other drivers at risk. This is Part 3 of a Shift Into Winter interview series exploring how various people, representing various professions, experience winter driving in B.C. So far, we’ve talked to paramedics and a road maintenance worker, and continue with Surrey firefighter and instructor, Reo Jerome....
Sometimes, the sheer power and raw beauty of nature (with a little help from us, for safety’s sake) are so overwhelming, you just have to sit back and say, “Like, wow man. Double avalanche! All the way!” (much a like a certain popular rainbow video) That’s exactly what we did when we received this footage from our avalanche team late last week after they finished up some control work on BC Highway 3 near Fernie. Pretty amazing stuff, eh?...
While we have close to 300 web cams offering a total of almost 400 views that motorists use for safe travel in B.C., there’s one web cam with a special job that you won’t see. You won’t see the web cam alongside Highway 31 north of Kaslo, on DriveBC, because its focus isn’t road conditions – it’s Lardeau Bluffs, which loom high above the road along Kootenay Lake. Avalanche technicians with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure use the...
We’ll never turn down a chance to plug emergency preparedness. So when the folks at TranBC asked us to help promote The Great British Columbia ShakeOut, we wholeheartedly said, yes! As Emergency Management BC’s Social Media Unit, disaster readiness is a subject close to our heart – and one we know will eventually matter to everyone. But getting that message across isn’t easy, which means we spend a lot of time thinking about how to get your attention. With...
With a broad name like Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, there are bound to be questions. Like small-talk at a cocktail party, those 13 syllables beg the question: “So, what do you do?” Our Way is the Highway When thinking about the ministry, the first thing that pops into your head is likely B.C. highways. That’s because about 80 per cent of what we do involves building, rehabilitating and maintaining provincial highways to keep you moving safely and goods...
Here at TranBC, we love technology, and we’re constantly looking for new ways to make things easier and safer for you to get around. This year saw a lot of interesting developments, and we’ve got a summary of some of the top tech tales of 2012 here for your reading pleasure. Going Mobile DriveBC went mobile in 2011, and it was really well received. So much so that we looked to offer more portable services in 2012. Enter CVSE...
Avalanches are mesmerizing – at least from a safe distance, whether that be via video, photograph, or directly from a helicopter. No one gets closer to the action than our avalanche control technicians. They trek to remote mountainside avalanche weather stations (all 58 of them) and trigger blasts with strange-sounding equipment such as Gazex Exploders and Daisy Bells. So, who better to capture the awe inspiring images of avalanche control work? In celebration of this weekend’s Avalanche Awareness Days,...
