Yet again, the City of Pittsburgh struggled with snow removal from its streets during this past weekend’s big snowstorm. Some would argue that “failed” is the better word.
While the vast majority of most city-owned thoroughfares had been cleared and/or treated by early Tuesday, an equally vast majority of side streets left much to be desired, many not even touched by the plows.
In fairness to city crews, snow accumulations were higher than forecast and single-digit temperatures made treating and removing snow quite challenging. That said, winter happens. And with it, so does snow.
But as the Post-Gazette reported Tuesday, one-third of Pittsburgh’s snow plows were unavailable for weekend use. That is, only 70 of 104-vehicle plow fleet were available, or about 67 percent. More than 30 plow vehicles were in the shop for maintenance. Other estimates are higher.
Simply put, city types say, more money must be invested in the snow-removal fleet (and, for that matter, just about all public safety vehicles, from ambulances to police cruisers).
But the fact remains that snow removal has not been the City of Pittsburgh’s strong suit for many years. And, no, no one expects all city streets to be snow-free immediately after snowstorms pass. But snow removal that lags so chronically, day after day after day, is not acceptable.
It’s time to consider a major change – contracting out snow removal to a private third party or parties.
As a spot-on artificial intelligence summary notes, in general:
“The case for privatized snow removal highlights benefits like efficiency, specialized equipment, reduced overhead for public/private entities, and shifting liability, offering quicker, more professional clearing for … cities facing manpower [and/or equipment] shortages.”
Further, the AI summary notes the advantages of privatizing city snow removal:
Efficiency & expertise: Private companies often have better, specialized equipment (plows, skid steers) and skilled labor, leading to faster and more thorough clearing than in-house teams.
Cost management: For municipalities … it’s often cheaper to contract than to buy, maintain, and store expensive equipment and hire permanent staff for seasonal needs.
Focus on core services: It frees up internal resources to focus on other essential duties.
Guaranteed service: Contracts ensure consistent service … and timelines.
The knee-jerking usual suspects – typically organized labor and those in bed with it — will recoil in horror at the prospect of “privatization.” For-profit snow removal will send public costs skyrocketing, they’ll wail.
If any private snow removal contract is poison-pilled with union-kowtowing, yes, it likely will. But the simple fact is the very profit motive that some will deride in privatizing snow removal will force snow-removal companies to be as efficient as possible – and keep costs reasonable — to ensure their profits.
The kind of generally lousy snow removal the City of Pittsburgh has delivered for years is an embarrassment and wholly unacceptable. It’s not only a public safety hazard but a drag on the economy.
The incoming mayoral administration must make one of its many priorities a plan to put snow removal out to private bids, balk at any union poison-pilling and dedicate itself to getting the snow-removal job done.
And while it’s at it, it should do the same with refuse collection.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
