City HallFriday, November 6
Cincinnati rebuilds its snowplow tracker with a new vendor before winter hits
The 5AM Cincinnati team
If you remember the snowplow tracker going down during winter storms, the city has partnered with a new vendor and says it expects the tool to hold up. Mayor Aftab Pureval, City Manager Sheryl Long and Public Services Director Mark Riley laid out the updated winter plan Thursday under a warm, sunny sky. A new third-party vendor now runs the tracker. “Last year, the Snowplow Tracker experienced occasional outages during winter weather events and the city did not accept those results,” Long said.
The plow tracker has struggled in big storms before
- Dec. 2016Cincinnati introduces real-time plow tracking through its CincyInsights dashboard.
- Jan. 2025Nearly a foot of snow leaves some residents stranded for up to a week.
- Dec. 2025The tracker has service interruptions once snow piles up and web traffic surges.
Source: FOX19
The tracker stays at the same web address with a redesigned interface, and Riley said it works with upgraded vehicle GPS. Operators spent the warm months training in classrooms and on obstacle courses. Asked if snow response improved between winters, Christy Barton, whom WCPO spoke with during the January 2025 storm, said, “They did a better job.”
- Tracker: new ETCH Snowplow Tracker, same web address, new look
- Pureval's benchmark: all streets cleared within 48 hours of snow stopping
- Trucks also have in-dash tablets so drivers can log treated streets
65trucks and drivers per shift when winter weather hits
That's how many the city plans to put on the road per shift.
Source: WCPO 9 Cincinnati
Sources: WCPO 9 Cincinnati, FOX19