CONGRATULATIONS! Metro’s Operator of the Year says a West Seattle route is her favorite

(Photo courtesy Metro)

At center above is Metro bus driver Tamieko Cook, photographed with King County Executive Girmay Zahilay and Metro genneral manager Michelle Allison, as they presented Cook with the Operator of the Year award. A Metro spokesperson tells us that Cook’s favorite route to drive is the 128, which goes through much of West Seattle as well as the South King County areas where she grew up, such as Boulevard Park. Cook is a second-generation Metro operator – her mom Velda drove buses in the 1980s; Cook first worked as a driver in her early 20s in the mid-1990s. Then she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, working as an engine mechanic; after she got out, she earned degrees from South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) and Evergreen State College, and returned to Metro. “I like being captain of the ship,” she’s quoted as saying. Her advice for her counterparts: “Always try and lead with respect even if that respect is not mutual.” (Read the full announcement here.)

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