Lawmakers are hoping Vermont can get the attention of the GPS companies that are routing truck drivers up the long, winding road through Smugglers’ Notch. A bill introduced this month would fine them $2,000 for failing to show drivers that Route 108, which narrows sharply and snakes through rock formations as it passes between Stowe and Cambridge, is closed to trucks and buses.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation has long reached out to companies such as Apple and Google that make way-finding apps as part of its efforts to curtail the hours-long traffic delays that can occur as trucks are slowly extricated.
Efforts to get the attention of app makers haven’t worked in past years. But Joshua Schultz, the operations and safety bureau director at VTrans, told lawmakers on Tuesday that Google got in touch with the state Agency of Digital Services a few months ago looking for ways it could work with Vermont. The agency notified VTrans.
“We were like, ‘Oh, heck yeah, we really would like to engage in this conversation,’” Schultz said at a hearing of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Specialized navigation apps designed for the trucking industry usually make it clear that the Notch is closed to large vehicles, said Todd Sears, deputy director of the VTrans operations and safety bureau. And a free Google app shows drivers that the Notch is closed in winter. But the free apps that most drivers use don’t go into the detail needed to keep trucks out of the Notch year-round, he said.
“We are intending to get into more talks with Google on their geospatial piece,” Sears said. “It’s something that is on our agenda to bring up and keep hammering home.”
That’s part of a larger strategy that involves signs and increased enforcement. Schultz said the agency is considering adding two roundabouts, one on either side of the Notch, that truckers could use for turning around and a structure that mimics the geography of the road as it snakes through the Notch. It would show drivers en route to the summit that “if you can get through this, you can get through the Notch,” he said.
Over the past several years, the state has boosted fines to get drivers’ attention. In 2016, Vermont started fining drivers $2,347 for impeding traffic on the steep road. Last year, it increased the fines to as much as $4,000.
Some truckers have proceeded up the mountain road anyway. For the last two years, five trucks have gotten stuck each season.
VTrans, which posted police officers to keep trucks out of the Notch for 10 weeks last year, asked the drivers who got stuck why they made the attempt. Many said they trusted their GPS when it recommended the route.
This year, Sens. Thomas Chittenden (D-Chittenden-Southeast), Andrew Perchlik (D/P-Washington) and Richard Westman, (R-Lamoille) cosponsored S.77, the bill that puts the onus on GPS providers to get their maps and directions right. The bill is unlikely to go further, at least this year.
Chittenden said he learned at Tuesday’s hearing on the bill that Google had approached the state.
“My intent was to start the conversation,” Chittenden said, adding that he plans to check back in with VTrans over the next year to see what headway has been made regarding navigation apps. “I think this is a simple fix. It’s not asking them to stand up a new platform or solution,” he said.
Schultz noted that in prior years, there have been eight to 11 trucks towed from the Notch each year. At five per year in 2021 and 2022, the state is seeing some improvement, he said. That’s why he doesn’t support more fines, particularly for Google.
“We would like to continue with the measures we’re implementing before we go to punitive measures,” he said.
This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2023.
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