{"id":8774,"date":"2025-03-26T19:10:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T02:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/blog\/success-in-snow-or-shine-how-kansas-city-mo-is-improving-winter-operations-with-digital-technology-solutions\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T13:56:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:56:54","slug":"success-in-snow-or-shine-how-kansas-city-mo-is-improving-winter-operations-with-digital-technology-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routeware.com\/en_gb\/blog\/success-in-snow-or-shine-how-kansas-city-mo-is-improving-winter-operations-with-digital-technology-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Success in SNOW or Shine: How Snow Removal in Kansas City, MO, is Improving Winter Operations with Digital Technology Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kansas City’s Winter Challenge<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The City of Kansas City, MO, is no stranger to the cold and its changeable winters continue to keep the city on high alert. In 2024, for the AFC playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, fans suffered frostbite in minus -4 degrees \u00b0F weather, marking the fourth coldest NFL game in history.<\/p>\n

More recently, 2025 broke a record low temperature that had stood since 1935. This frigid -7 \u00b0F day was preceded by 11 inches of snow on January 5th.<\/p>\n

However, public works departments care little for records, as, no matter the severity of the weather, their snow removal teams head out into the cold to ensure that road conditions are as safe as possible for their residents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As many cities struggle to modernize their operations and rely on paper maps and radios, Kansas City leaders saw an opportunity to innovate with snow removal smart technology<\/a>. They were eager to find digital solutions to help their teams work more efficiently and effectively with their existing fleet while improving transparency and resident satisfaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting with Solid Waste<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Customer service and smooth operations are goals for the entire Kansas City Public Works department. \u201cIn Kansas City, we are constantly striving to improve public services, -and with them, quality of life for our residents,\u201d said Michael Shaw, Director of Public Works for the City of Kansas City, Missouri.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, Director Shaw\u2019s team implemented <\/span>smart technology digital solutions<\/span><\/a> in the City\u2019s fleet of 80 sanitation vehicles to optimize solid waste services to significantly improve resident satisfaction. In addition to driver-loved features like issue logging and turn-by-turn navigation, the City also utilized back-office features to digitize their entire operation and optimize routes with built-in route sequencing tools.<\/span><\/p>\n

By April 2021, digitization of the City\u2019s operations delivered over two million dollars in cost savings while increasing citizen satisfaction by 17 percent. In conjunction with this, the city was awarded the Smart 50 Award by Smart Cities Connect for being one of the most transformative examples of innovative global smart cities projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

Snow Removal Technology & How It Improves Operations<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After optimizing waste collection, the City turned its attention to snow removal operations in Kansas City, MO. However, clearing roads of snow and ice presents unique challenges to public works teams. Some considerations include:<\/span><\/p>\n