It will provide information where the snow plows are in Md.
Hanover, Md (KM) If you have to head out during winter precipitation, you can find where all of the snow plows have been. The Maryland State Highway Administration has introduced STORM which stands for Statewide Transportation Operations Response Map. “Basically, it’s a mobile friendly web application link that will be prominent on roads.maryland.gov, and it will show the location of our snow plow fleet and our contractor fleet throughout the state,” says SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar.
He says it can show motorists who have to venture out during a winter storm where the plows have passed through. “It’s basically has to be any truck going over 10 miles per hour. We did so it eliminate a lot of ground clutter around the shops where they’re going in there just loading up and stuff. So that 10-mile-an-hour threshold is to depict a real time display of winter operations,” says Gischlar.
It can even keep track of pre-treatment activities prior to the arrival of a winter storm. “The technology is on our salt brine fleet as well,” says Gischlar. “So in the days before the storm–you know how we go out and pre-treat with the salt brine–you’re going be able to locate those tanker trucks out there so you can tell what’s been pre-treated.”
This new technology was used last week during last week’s snow storm. “It was very, very interactive,” he says. “You could use your mouse and zoom out. And the farther you zoom out, the more plows you’ll see come up in the counter.”
The STORM web application was presented to the media on Tuesday during the “snow show” which SHA puts on its Statewide Operations Center in Hanover.
Even though it’s called a web application, Gischlar says it cannot be downloaded to a mobile phone. But citizens can use their cell phones as well as their home computers to view this new program.
By Kevin McManus