SPATIAL MATTERS, INC.

State, County, and City governments, Roadway maintenance contractors.

Reduce fleet size while improving your level of service?

Necessity being the mother of invention, Kevin Munro, the founder of Spatial Matters, has developed a remarkable solution to the question: "How can we make the most efficient use of our snow removal fleet?" Facing declining tax revenues many DOT maintenance budgets are being cut. A typical response to budget cuts may be to increase route cycle times or delay until 'cleanup' the treatment of lesser traveled routes.

Kevin developed an analysis procedure using a variant of the Dijkstra algorithm for a mid-western state DOT. This intensive computer process levels demand (where to treat) with capacity (resources available). The model allows for parameter variations (below) that provide flexibility in performing 'what if' scenarios.

• Multiple service level classes
• Deadhead speed
• Service speed (treating)
• Salt/Sand/Brine application rate
• Vehicle capacity
• Gang plow, Multiple lane, and single lane treatment
• Start-up costs
• Cost per unit of time
• Cost per unit of distance
• Cost per unit of overtime
• Ability to benchmark optimized routes against the 'current' plan

By the time the snow flies, two or three districts in this state should be using the optimized routes, with the balance of the state's snow operations to implement for the 2011-2012 snow season. Early figures indicate a savings between 15-25%, and with annual state snow removal budgets are in the 30-80 million dollar range the savings are far from trivial.