Cincinnati officials say they're making some changes to snow response this winter, including a new company to administer the city's popular snow plow tracker and more stations monitoring roadway conditions.
Mayor Aftab Pureval says the city is ready for inclement weather this winter.
"Basic services are the core responsibility of our city government," he said Thursday. "As challenges come, we're committed to doing everything in our power to make sure we have the staff, the resources and the planning in place to respond."
That includes revamping the city's popular, but sometimes unreliable, snow plow tracker website. This year, the city has a new contract with a company called ETCH, which city officials say is providing upgraded GPS technology for the plows.
"Last year, we expanded capabilities of the trackers to allow for more detailed information sharing," City Manager Sheryl Long said of the website. "But we experienced a system that was overwhelmed by the number of visitors to the tracker."
The city has provided some form of snow plow tracking since 2016, although city officials revealed in early 2025 that the map was not actually tracking plow activity in real time — drivers were using paper maps in binders until about a year ago.
Even the new system had problems during a record-breaking snow storm earlier this year. Cincinnati Department of Public Services officials said staffing and technology issues contributed to lags in some streets being plowed and other issues.
The city is also adding 10 more roadway weather stations. The first 10 were installed last year. DPS Director Mark Riley says the technology provides vital information during inclement weather.
"These stations provide DPS leadership with real-time information on pavement temperatures, precipitation and road conditions, helping us make data-driven decisions to deploy resources more effectively and respond faster as conditions change," he said.
Read more: