By Susan Jarvis
March 6, 2006

The Municipal Waste Management Association, the environmental affiliate of The United States Conference of Mayors, hosted a conference call March 1 for its public and private sector members to learn about San Diego’s innovative use of GPS systems to streamline operations, improve customer service and save money.

The city’s Collection Services Division collects more than 374,000 tons of refuse annually and covers more than 8,000 miles of streets. Management wanted to find ways to reduce air emissions and reduce mileage traveled. Elmer Heap, Environmental Service Director for the city, and his colleague, Nader Tirandazi, gave an overview of the strategy. “When the city used the GPS system to re-route refuse collection, 70 percent of the population had a change in day of collection,” said Heap. In the first few months, there was a rise in the number of missed stops and an increase in overtime, but once the “kinks” in the system were worked out, more than $900,000 has been saved in reduced overtime, and the amount of miles traveled. Additionally, with a more efficient trash collection system, both financial and human resources could be re-assigned to recycling, which allowed the city to increase greenery collection from 150,00 homes to 200,000 homes. This increased the city’s overall diversion rate.

The city garnered support from the union by emphasizing that the human resources needed to be coupled with the new technology. The city understood that it was ultimately the drivers who would make the system work. The GPS system allowed the city to balance the workload to a seven and a half hour workday and track the number of arm lifts per route hour. The information collected by the new system proves that the city can be competitive with the private sector. “We know every time a truck picks up a bin,” explained Tirandazi.

The Department of Environmental Services isn’t finished yet, concluded Heap. “Collection Services rated 97 percent on a customer satisfaction survey, administered earlier last year. We had high a standard to begin with and through some innovative thinking, long term planning and ongoing community education, we’ll continue to meet and exceed both our internal and external benchmarks.”

For more information about MWMA, log on to the website usmayors.org/mwma or call Susan Jarvis at 202-861-6760. Conference calls are offered quarterly for MWMA and SWAC members.