Province looking to improve tracking on plows, highway maintenance vehicles

The government of P.E.I. is looking to improve tracking information on more than 150 of its highway maintenancevehicles.

From crew cabs to snow plows, the information gathered with a new system will help dispatch know where equipment is and what it's doing across the Island, according to Stephen Szwarc, acting director of highway maintenance.

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Currently, Szwarcsaid, there are three service providers for their tracking system, but the switch to one singular tracking system may help response time.

"It will be great for our dispatch officers and our supervisors because they can see what's going on," he said.

"If they have an issue or a request where we need to get out there, they can see where the crews are and where the equipment is so we can get there efficiently."

Szwarcsaid the new system may one day provide Islanders withinformation on where the snow plows are when they're waiting for their road to be cleared.

The province recently released a request for proposals for the supply, installation and maintenance of thenewautomated vehicle location (AVL) system.

The RFP closes near the end of July. The province hopes to have the new system in place by the fall.

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