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SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns can now track in real time where snowplows have been and where they're headed.
The Utah Department of Transportation unveiled a new snowplow monitoring system Tuesday to provide locations of all 500 of the agency's snowplows as they clear roads.
"We still get the calls, every snowstorm: 'Where are your plows? Why hasn't my road been plowed? You guys aren't out there,'" said Jason Davis, UDOT operations director. "Now you can see all of the snowplows that are out there doing their best to keep the roads clear and keep them safe. It's fairly impressive."
As Tuesday morning's snowstorm persisted throughout the state, Davis demonstrated the new feature at www.udottraffic.utah.gov and on the mobile app, UDOT Traffic. Hundreds of orange snowplows dotted the online map of Utah's major roadways.
When Davis hovered his mouse over individual snowplow icons, a purple line appeared, indicating where the plow has traveled over the past 30 minutes.
"It's going to hopefully help people move more efficiently and safely throughout the state" by providing a tool to plan routes on clearer roads, Davis said. "When they're able to see where the plows have been for the last 30 minutes, maybe they will delay their trip a bit and allow those plows to get out ahead of them."
Excited to release our UDOT snow plow tracker on the @UDOTTRAFFIC app. More info coming on blog, local news #utwxpic.twitter.com/qqPzi2PmPI
— Utah DOT (@UtahDOT) December 22, 2015In addition to helping drivers make informed travel decisions, Davis said the new monitoring system will allow UDOT to manage its resources more effectively.
"If you can imagine, with 500 snowplows out there trying to make sure that they're getting the most critical routes and keeping good coverage throughout the state, it's a challenge," he said. "I think we've done a fairly good job using radios to communicate from truck to truck, but now with a click of a button, we'll be able to see where every one of those snowplows are throughout the state."
The system also generates real-time diagnostic notifications to UDOT on how plows are functioning, enabling UDOT crews to manage the fleet and keep more plows on the road by addressing mechanical issues as quickly as possible, Davis said.
"We have the resources to handle about an inch an hour, so if the snowstorm exceeds an inch an hour, it's difficult for us to keep up with that," he said. "But that's why we'd like to use this tool to move resources around and basically do a better job for the public."
Location information is fed over a cellular network so plows operating in areas without cellular coverage will not appear on the map, Davis said. Also, plows that have not moved for more than 10 minutes or plows traveling below 10 mph will not be visible.
With several storms forecasted for the holiday week, Davis urged drivers to not only take advantage of the new tool and plan their routes accordingly, but also remember snowplow drivers are working hard.
"They're out there," Davis said. "They're doing their best and keeping our roads safe."
Contributing: Sam Penrod
