Celebrating Vaughan’s award-winning approach to patrolling roads
Vaughan’s roadways just got smarter! The City of Vaughan is always looking for ways to enhance its commitment to delivering high quality services to its residents – one way is through its Road Patrol Manager. This tool relies on artificial intelligence to identify road deficiencies, like potholes. Quick detection of road deficiencies means the City can complete repairs faster, extending the life of local road infrastructure and freeing up resources to be used elsewhere.
Last month, the City’s Public Works portfolio received the Peter J. Marshall Municipal Innovation Award at the 2023 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference for its Road Patrol Manager! At today’s Council meeting, the City’s Public Works portfolio was recognized for this achievement by Mayor Steven Del Duca and Members of Council during a special ceremonial presentation.
The Peter J. Marshall Municipal Innovation Award honours municipal governments that demonstrate excellence by using innovative approaches to work better, save money and be more effective through new ways of providing services and partnerships. This award is the highest honour that can be presented by AMO for the City’s innovative Road Patrol Manager.
Vaughan’s Road Patrol Manager provides many benefits, including:
Improved detection of road deficiencies. Since launching the Road Patrol Manager, crews have been able to detect 10 times more signs obstructed by branches compared to manual road inspections. Additionally, road crack detection has increased by 300 per cent.
Enhanced driver safety. The AI technology automatically detects deficiencies and opens work orders in the City’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system so the operator can focus on driving safely, rather than pulling to the side of the road to record the information.
Higher compliance rates. The AI technology’s automated deficiency defection and reporting, combined with an enhancement in driver safety, enables crews to patrol more roadways in less time.
System integration. Connecting the Road Patrol Manager to our CRM system has resulted in faster response times to initiate repairs. The AI tool is also paired to the winter Maintenance Decision Support System , which provides better insight into snowy and icy road conditions and a rapid response to deploy winter maintenance resources.
Better availability of data. All data collected by the Road Patrol Manager is stored in a cloud-based system and is easily accessible to help address claims and measure performance through analytics.
Vaughan is a municipal leader in incorporating this innovation into our service delivery efforts. Since adopting the Road Patrol Manager, several municipalities have contacted the City to learn more about this tool as they explore options to become more effective and efficient in their road patrols.
To learn more about Vaughan’s road operations, visit vaughan.ca/transportation.
QUOTES
“We are honoured to be recognized for our innovative use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Smart City planning as part of the City of Vaughan’s Road Patrol Manager project. This new automated system identifies an issue, creates work orders and assigns the repair to the appropriate technician. Using AI to find road deficiencies like potholes saves time and resources and will help ensure our local infrastructure stays in a state of good repair for a longer period of time. It’s a clear example of how innovation and a culture of continuous improvement support the City’s commitment to delivering Service Excellence. I want to congratulate our Public Works portfolio on receiving another award for their leading-edge approach and thank them for their steadfast dedication to putting our residents first.”
- Mayor Steven Del Duca
“Congratulations to the City of Vaughan’s Road Operations staff for winning the Peter J. Marshall Municipal Innovation Award. The team’s dedication to implementing the AI-based tool not only improves our city’s infrastructure, but also frees up valuable resources for other essential services. That is what delivering exceptional value for tax dollars is all about. This recognition further underscores our commitment to embracing cutting-edge technology for the betterment of our community.”
- Nick Spensieri, City Manager
“I am pleased to congratulate our Road Operations team on winning yet another award for their forward-thinking Road Patrol Manager. This award is a testament to the City’s culture of continuous improvement and confirms the potential benefits to other Ontario municipalities. Faster road fixes, smoother drives and more resources for the community – that’s innovation in action. Congratulations on this important recognition and thank you for your commitment to putting our residents first.”
- Zoran Postic, Deputy City Manager, Public Works
QUICK FACTS
- The City of Vaughan received the 2023 Peter J. Marshall Municipal Innovation Award from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario for its AI-based Road Patrol Manager.
- This is the first time the City has received this prestigious award.
- The Peter J. Marshall Municipal Innovation Award showcases municipalities that have implemented new, more cost-effective ways of providing public services and facilities.
- AMO is a not-for-profit organization representing municipal and regional governments across the province. It aims to make these governments stronger and more effective by bringing Ontario’s 444 municipalities together to achieve shared goals and meet common challenges.
- Transportation and Mobility, and Service Excellence and Accountability are two priorities outlined in the City’s 2022-2026 Term of Council Service Excellence Strategic Plan.
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