Armstrong says the implementation of the Winter Weather solutions and ArcGIS Velocity has enabled them to take the data collected about their snowplow vehicles and conduct analysis, see what trail segments are closed, and obtain a high level of details like time stamps and history. “[Previously] you could see where things are and see if vehicles were speeding, or if they go outside of an area, but bringing all that data into GIS will allow us to do the things we're looking to do,” he says.
The use of Winter Weather Operations has streamlined plowing operations both in the field and the office. DesRoches says they can proactively work with operations staff to dispatch drivers to areas in need because they know when a trail was last serviced. They no longer need to wait for requests to come in. Also, operations staff can now look at the map at the start of a shift and more easily determine what needs to be completed.
“That real-time information and staff being able to essentially see a map and a dashboard, [lets them] respond to it in the field. We have 18 plow operators. They're not going to be able to communicate exactly what was done or what wasn't done,” says DesRoches. “But now, by having this, we can actually have folks in the office or drive around and be able to see that real-time service data.”
Along with Winter Weather Operations, MPRB also implemented the Winter Weather Outreach solution. Using this, the board established the public-facing Trail Plowing Status Map web page that allows the public to view the trail plowing live status and history, view a map of locations of MPRB services, and submit maintenance or plowing requests with an ArcGIS Survey123 form. Survey123 is a form-centric data-gathering solution. The public now has visibility into all requests and how the board has responded to them, in an approach DesRoches calls “radically transparent.”
“We saw this as a solution not only communicating and pulling in information for us and for our staff but also being able to communicate with the public. This solution allows us to provide information directly to the public that says, ‘This trail that you are going to take downtown was plowed 30 minutes ago’,” says DesRoches.
If there is a trail that is not currently being plowed, the pair added a map with requests from the public on trails they’d like cleared, which they’ll examine during the season to see if operations can be expanded.
“We want to get input from the public about what trails they use and would like to see plowed that we don't [currently] plow. We don’t want to hide the information [about how we’re working],” says Armstrong. “We show the areas in our operations that we need to correct too. We don't want to be afraid to share it.”