The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) this week unveiled a new monitoring system for its snow plows so the public can find out where they are during blizzards.
The new Automated Vehicle Locator (AVL) system provides location data on the CDOT's entire snow plow fleet, with 860 of the fleet's 970 snow plots wired for the system so far. The rest should be hooked up soon.
The system aims to help CDOT deploy its fleet more effectively throughout the winter, as well as give the public a heads-up on which areas have been plowed so they can adjust driving routes to their destinations.
“We are dedicated to helping the public to where they need to go during our winter storms,” Kyle Lester, CDOT director of maintenance, said. “We are constantly looking for ways to use technology – like this AVL system – to help improve our operations and therefore provide better service to travelers.”
“One of the most frequent comments and questions that we get from the public is ‘Where are the plows,' ” CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt said. “This tool will help the public understand where we are and how we are working to keep the traveling public safe.”
The plow-monitoring app can be found at http://cotrip.org/snowplow.htm#/snowplow (also on upper righthand corner of cotrip.org menu).
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