'Curious' About Boston Plow Routes

WBZ

When the snow does fall, plows are crisscrossing the state to keep the roads clear.

Daryl in Boston wrote in to WBZ's Curiosity page and asked, "During a storm, how are the roads and areas divided between snow plows? I'd like to learn about the organization required."

WBZ went out in search of an answer. Turns out for Boston, satellites are helping streamline the process and making sure work gets done quickly.

It's Elmo Badassari's job to oversee the city's streets getting cleared, and he and his team do it from a room with no windows. He says he knows where every piece of equipment is at all times.

Michael Dennehy showed WBZ the new GPS system used to clear the streets. It's called "Snow Cop" – and for good reason.

It knows where the plow drivers are and what they're doing.

"How much has the GPS system helped you or enabled you to be more effective and efficient?" asked WBZ's Jonathan Elias.

"We are light years from where we used to be," answered Dennehy.

Before a storm, plow drivers head to the lot to collect their work phones. If they don't have their phones, they don't get to work.

Their phone is their tracking device. If they sit longer than 10 minutes, then Dennehy knows there's a problem. If they drive away from their plow areas, he knows, so drivers have to keep moving in the areas they are assigned, or they risk not getting paid.

"Snow Cop" also helps Elmo address complaints quicker. "So what would have taken 20 hours now takes 10 minutes. And you would have had the guessing game of trying to find out where the piece of equipment is, and now we can track it down to the minute to where they are and what they did."

In all, there are 850 curb miles of Boston streets that need clearing after a heavy snow, and it gets done in less than six hours.

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