The City of Dallas is revamping its trash collection service with a new app that will help drivers navigate their daily routes.
During Wednesday’s Dallas City Council meeting, officials approved a $839,812 three-year purchasing agreement with Rubicon Global for “digital route management and navigation services” for the Sanitation Department.
The new software is intended to make trash collection routes more efficient in Dallas.
“The Rubicon mobile app-based service will enhance Sanitation’s service delivery efficiency by providing digital route management and navigation for Sanitation’s 156 daily garbage and recycle collection routes,” according to City documents.
Trash collection routes are currently managed with paper maps given to truck drivers each day, but the Rubicon app will provide drivers with updates to their routes that may change throughout the day.
“The Rubicon mobile app will display route details to drivers, provide turn-by-turn directions, alert drivers, and supervisors to potentially missed stops, and allow supervisors to modify routes midday to provide coverage where the department may be short on staff or equipment,” according to City documents.
The program will also allow drivers to document violations from residents, including overflowing trash containers and garbage cans obstructed by cars. City staff said truck drivers may begin using the software in March, per The Dallas Morning News.
City staff said that residents’ collection days will not be affected but that collection routes may be altered to be more efficient, but the changes would be minimal. Additionally, the program may be expanded to other services such as brush and bulk collections, according to staff.
Previous efforts by the City to make trash collection more efficient have not fared successfully, however. As previously covered by The Dallas Express, an alteration to the trash collection schedule last winter resulted in some residents having their trash go uncollected for over a month.
The route change was intended to improve collection efficiency.
Furthermore, a satisfaction survey from the City of Dallas last summer found that a plurality of residents believe the City does a “poor” job at its street cleaning service.
“Downtown is filthy,” one resident said as part of the survey. “Clean up the city!”
Meanwhile, some local volunteer groups have taken the initiative to clean up trash and litter at various locations throughout Dallas, as previously covered by DX.