This Winter You’ll Be Able to Track PennDOT Snow Plows

If we ever get snow this winter — a big “if” — techies and good government types have a special treat waiting for them: They’ll be able to track PennDot’s snow plows in real time.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced the new program Monday morning. Computer users will go to www.511PA.com to track the location of more than 500 PennDOT plow trucks and more than 200 contracted rental trucks as they work to clear state roadways of snow.

Again, if the snow ever happens.

“This initiative will improve PennDOT’s operations by looking for efficiencies in how the agency’s fleet is operating during the winter months, while promoting transparency by allowing the public access to this information,” Wolf said in a written statement accompanying the announcement.

How much transparency truly results remains to be seen: According to the announcement, not all of PennDot’s trucks are being outfitted with the tags that allow tracking, and officials said other factors — storm location, staffing, etc. — could affect whether trucks even hit the road. So the picture offered by 511PA.com might be incomplete, at best.

PennDot is responsible for more than 40,000 miles of road across the state.