Snow and Ice Controls: Snowplowing Route Optimization considering both the road users' and operators' benefits


PI: Dr. Tae J. Kwon

Graduate Researcher: Shuoyan Xu

Funding Source: Alberta Ministry of Economic Development, Trade, and Tourism

Project Overview

Snowplowing is an indispensable part of winter road maintenance because it contributes to improving drivers’ mobility and safety. Due to its importance, optimizing snowplow routes has been a topic of interest for many researchers. Most prior studies, however, limit focus to operational aspects, such as minimizing plowing completion time and avoiding dangerous maneuverers, without considering interaction with road users. Since it is intuitive that plowing affects drivers as it shortens travel time and route selection, this project aims to investigate the effects of optimizing snowplow routing to minimize travel time in the traffic system while still maintaining the efficiency of plowing activities.