Pittsburgh’s snow plows will again be fitted with fleet telematics and snow route optimization technology, including GPS and the technology behind the city’s virtual snow plow tracker, through a Minnesota-based company.

This comes despite concerns from some council members about the reliability of the snow plow tracker, an online tool meant to help residents see which roads have been plowed and where plows are.

Council on Tuesday voted to expand the city’s contract with Quetica through 2024, with a price tag of more than $220,000 per year.

Council President Theresa Kail-Smith voted against the contract, and Councilwoman Deb Gross abstained from the vote. All other council members supported the measure Tuesday, though some of them had voiced concerns about the snow plow tracker ahead of a preliminary vote last week.

The contract provides more than the technology for the snow plow tracker. It also will outfit snow plows will GPS and other technology meant to optimize snow removal efforts.

Kail-Smith last week said she wasn’t sure how useful the technology was overall. She questioned whether experienced drivers couldn’t map out better routes than the GPS-based system the city has employed. She also pointed out that the system routing drivers stopped working altogether during several snowstorms last winter.

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Other council members voiced concerns more specifically with the snowplow tracker. Several council members acknowledged that it has been known to show inaccurate information, and that glitches — like the fact that it can’t track trucks driving at less than 5 miles per hour or in reverse — can be confusing for residents who are watching it to see when their roads may be cleared. The tracker also can’t determine whether plows are actually clearing streets, or if they’re just driving by on their way to pick up additional salt.

Gross last week suggested that the tool may be more helpful for internal use, but said she wasn’t sure that the city should publicly share a tracker that may be putting out “misinformation.”

The snow plow tracker portion of the contract was estimated to cost about $55,000, though officials could not give a specific number.

City Controller Michael Lamb warned about the city’s snow removal technology in an audit first released in June 2020. His audit found that contractors tasked with implementing the technology didn’t consult with on-the-ground Department of Public Works employees who had years of experience with the routes.

The optimized routes suggested by the system, Lamb’s audit warned, were sometimes inefficient or hazardous for drivers. Plow drivers reported at the time that they felt the system was designed for flat, grid-based cities, unlike Pittsburgh.

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