Here at Sound Transit, one of our favorite ways to help riders navigate through our expanding system is to talk to them in person.
By participating in our Ambassador program, employees can go out in the field to provide customer support while getting to know our customers, and their coworkers.
Sound Transit Ambassadors do outreach at community events, sports games and during service interruptions like next year's Connect 2020 project, which will disrupt Link light rail service for 10 weeks while we connect our existing service with the new line out to the Eastside.
When you see someone out there in a teal vest, we're out there to help, to answer your questions and get you to where you need to go safely.
All Sound Transit employees will be serving as ambassadors during Connect 2020, which starts Jan. 4.
Sandee Ditt, who helps manage the Ambassador program, is the subject of this month's "Inside Sound Transit," our regular feature on the people working to help you get to where you live, work and play.
Before joining Sound Transit a little over two years ago, Ditt did transportation outreach for the Bellevue Downtown Association. On the weekends, she works at the Mercer Slough Environmental education center as an environmental educator.
Ditt said she was interested in the Ambassador program and wanted to enhance it to "better reflect the needs of our riders and our internal staff."
"With our system going through a major expansion, a lot of changes were happening and the need for a more robust Ambassador program was apparent," she said.
Before learning more about Ditt, check out this video on the Ambassador program and Connect 2020:
Q: What do you tell your friends you do for work?
A: I tell them I manage a program that deploys our internal staff out to the public whenever we have major service system impacts. If you see someone in a teal vest, that’s one of my people.
Q: What’s your passion outside of your job?
A: My background is in Natural Resource Science and I’ve kept that part alive by working at the Mercer Slough Environmental for going on six years. Being outdoors and spending time with my family is a huge passion for me, which includes coordinating family camping trips of 23 plus people each summer.
Q: What attracted you to work at Sound Transit?
A: I have always wanted to work in the public sector and after being in transportation for the past year prior to starting at Sound Transit and understanding all the changes that were about to take place, I knew I wanted to be a part all of it. Being Asian American, I also wanted to see more people that look like me involved in the process of transforming this region.
Q: How do you get to work?
A: I take King County Metro Route 5 and then transfer to Link Light Rail at University Street.
Q: What three things would you take with you to a desert island (besides food and water)?
A: I would take an umbrella for shade, a solar lantern and a hatchet.
Learn more about Sound Transit and how to join our team here.