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News release For immediate release April 2003 Ohio Department of Transportation Implements Snow Plow Route Optimization Software - "WinterPlan" (Snohomish, Washington April 2003) Cascade International announced today that the Ohio Department of Transportation has successfully implemented Cascade's "WinterPlan/AutoPlan" snowplow route optimization software on a state-wide basis. Faster and safer winter operations
"We expect WinterPlan to provide a common base for analyzing existing routes and new routes on a statewide basis to provide a uniform level of service across the state," said Keith Swearingen, Administrator of the Office of Maintenance. "Our long range plans are to use WinterPlan to evaluate our present maintenance facility locations, analyze new locations, and determine if any facilities can be abandoned. New snow routes will be developed as changes occur to the highway system." WinterPlan and AutoPlan are software planning tools for winter road maintenance. The programs represent one module in the Winter Road Management System or WRMS suite of products. AutoPlan and WinterPlan allow DOTs to integrate the on the road experience of drivers and managers into the route planning and automated optimized environment. WinterPlan uses Geographical Information System (GIS) data on road networks as a framework for planning all aspects of snow and ice treatments. Road network information such as speed limits and road width, as well as information relating to trucks and equipment such as application rates and speeds, material used, and distance or time traveled on individual routes may be entered. When this information is combined with GIS data, it provides a reliable, easy to visualize, but data driven basis for optimizing and economizing snow and ice operations. AutoPlan, an option of WinterPlan, takes the data collected in WinterPlan and applies a sophisticated, multivariable analysis to provide suggestions for routes that guarantee the most efficient use of resources. AutoPlan can quickly generate sets of suggested routes for different circumstances so that the level of preparation is consistent, even with unusual weather conditions or rare shortages of drivers or trucks. Due to the tight integration with WinterPlan, planners can alternate between automated and manual planning to guarantee that segments of road that require special treatment are handled properly. No other automated planning utility on the market has this capability. Based in Snohomish, Washington, Cascade International is a leading supplier of communication software tools. Cascade markets WinterPlan via ten different regional sales offices throughout the US. For more information contact: Ken LaBeau, Sales Manager Cascade International Copyright © 1998 Enera International AB. All rights reserved. |