How the D.C. Department of Public Works Got More Operational Efficiencies Out of their Street Sweeping Program

In 2006, DCDPW launched a three-phase initiative to revamp and streamline their street sweeper routes. Phase one was a situational overview, during which the team set benchmarks and chose equipment. Route optimization software from RouteSmart Technologies was chosen to implement phase two, which focused on determining and creating routes and schedules. Finally, phase three was where the rubber hit the road, literally – the reassigning and implementation of new routes. For DCDPW, existing street sweeping service data was integrated with RouteSmart for ArcGIS software to establish baseline routing calculations from which to generate new routes. RouteSmart’s route balancing and sequencing solvers were then utilized by DCDPW staff to create new routes that met goals for both productivity and safety. After field validating the routing results with an actual drive-through, further adjustments were made to accommodate for local area knowledge of the crews and to account for constraints such as long traffic lights and congestion factors that were not initially modeled in the City’s GIS data.