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Q&A
Council Member Abreu questions DSNY on commercial waste zone implementation data
1:21:54
ยท
4 min
Council Member Shaun Abreu questions DSNY representatives about data collection and analysis for the commercial waste zone program, focusing on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and waste facility usage in the Queens Central Zone. DSNY officials explain the challenges in data collection and analysis, promising more comprehensive information in their September report.
- DSNY is still working on analyzing vehicle miles traveled data, which will be included in the September report.
- The department is collecting telematics data from trucks but needs time to properly analyze and report on it.
- Information on waste transfer stations, recycling facilities, and composting facilities usage will also be included in the annual report.
Shaun Abreu
1:21:54
Getting back to commercial way zones questions.
1:21:58
DSNY's commercial way zone study concluded that the existing commercial waste collection system was highly inefficient and resulted in private waste collection trucks traveling more than 23,000,000 miles per year.
1:22:10
By dividing the city into exclusive zones in which only assigned carters could operate, the study found that vehicle miles traveled traveled could be decreased 49 to 68% with the largest reductions occurring in Manhattan and The Bronx.
1:22:25
Other beneficial outcomes include improved safety and reduced noise pollution and air pollutions.
1:22:30
Does DSNY have data on vehicles mile on vehicle miles traveled by designated haulers in Central Queen Zone before and after CWZ implementation?
Javier Lojan
1:22:41
So one of the things that I mentioned before is our annual report which I believe is due to be released in September of this year.
1:22:47
And those are one of the things that we will look to report on as the vehicle miles traveled.
Shaun Abreu
1:22:52
Yeah.
1:22:53
Why didn't the agency have that information ready for today?
Javier Lojan
1:22:58
Well I think one of the things that we're working through is on the technology platform.
1:23:06
We rolled out Queen Central, the main focus was making sure that customers were assigned carters, the billing issues, any customer complaints, the enforcement thing, the the enforcement issues as I mentioned that, you know, us being out there having our presence.
1:23:26
Not to say that vehicle miles traveled are not important because that is one of the things we want to highlight and we did look forward to improving once we rolled out all the zones.
1:23:36
But in parallel with doing all that, we were getting our technology platforms ready and that's one of the things that we're still making sure that we don't want to prematurely report on something that's still early so we will have it ready by the September deadline.
Shaun Abreu
1:23:51
So what technology are you guys looking into?
1:23:56
When will the technology be implemented?
1:24:00
And the data that's gonna be in the September report, would that be from the day that you use the technology moving forward?
Javier Lojan
1:24:10
I'll pass it on to commit deputy commissioner Eisenberg.
Neil Eisenberg
1:24:12
Hi, chair.
1:24:13
So the the technology is implemented in effect.
1:24:16
So we're collecting telematics data from the trucks that gets brought into our systems.
1:24:21
We have DS Already?
1:24:22
Correct.
1:24:23
So part of the NTP requirement was that all Carter's have that integration completed and ready to go before they can even sign on customers.
1:24:32
So that was all integrated into the system.
1:24:34
What the commissioner was referring to as far as the technology piece is that when we're getting all of this data in, that data now has to be analyzed and reviewed, and we're getting in daily data from trucks like pings and every all that data that has to come in.
1:24:47
We have to do an analysis of that data that has to be brought in, and we have reporting tools that we're working and we're tuning to identify, like, for example, if a truck were to travel outside of the zone, with one zone operational, when someone travels outside of the zone, is it because they were traveling outside of the zone legitimately or illegitimately?
1:25:06
So identifying false positives and knowing when we need to audit or review a carter's behavior.
Shaun Abreu
1:25:13
Look we just you know vehicle miles traveled is a huge part of the intention, legislative intent and so we want to make sure that the department has taken this just as seriously as it's taking up you know everything else that it did in the initial rollout.
1:25:31
VMT is just chief among the reasons why this happened.
Neil Eisenberg
1:25:35
Chir, we we agree with you.
1:25:36
It's a very important part of this program, essential, and it's one of our top priorities.
Shaun Abreu
1:25:44
So hopefully so we'll have that data by September.
1:25:47
Correct?
1:25:47
That's correct, sir.
1:25:48
Okay.
1:25:50
I wish I had it today but you know, I just want the advocates to know that I'm I'm I'm equally upset with you guys.
1:25:56
Is DSNY tracking which transfer stations, recycling facilities, and compost or digesting facilities waste from the Queen Central Zone is traveling to and recording tonnage or truck trips to each facility used?
Neil Eisenberg
1:26:17
Hi, chair.
1:26:18
You know, so the commercial vendors report quarterly average tons per day to DSNY and annual tonnage to DEC about all materials accepted at transfer stations in New York City, which are jointly permitted by both agencies.
1:26:32
We do not yet have access to the data regarding, the waste in the transfer stations, and so we will get back to you on that.
Shaun Abreu
1:26:42
Do you think you'll be able to get us that that information?
Neil Eisenberg
1:26:45
We will have that as part of
Shaun Abreu
1:26:46
our annual report.
1:26:48
Okay.
1:26:49
I'll let my colleague council member Salamanca to ask a few questions before I proceed.