"Three years and it's finally coming to fruition now," says Youngstown commissioner of buildings and grounds Kevin Flinn of a new feature on the city's snow and ice removal trucks.

The next time someone in Youngstown asks "where the heck are the snow plows?", technology will have the answer. All of the city's snow plow and ice trucks have been outfitted with real-time GPS tracking.

 

The equipment and tech cost the city about $12,000.

 

"We partnered with Verizon who does the GPS for our police cars," said Flinn. "We found SnowPaths that's actually managing our platform."

 

All you do is enter your location on the city's website.

There is a 30-minute delay to ensure driver safety.

We rode along with one of the trucks from the city garage to our downtown studios and back - and the website followed our route at every turn.

 

"We are confident (it will be effective), but like anything else there will be glitches along the way,," Flinn said. "But we do think it is going to be a good tool for the residents to be able to see what we're doing."

 

There are also more plow trucks on the way. The city expects to get three more come January.

 

Flinn says the crews cross check their routes and know which areas have and haven't been cleared. But you can still call the city at 330-744-3179 and let them know if your street needs done.

 

"I'll personally check the messages and be making sure that gets done," promised Flinn.

 

The website to follow the plow trucks can be found HERE.