Transportation leaders in Washington are using drones to help address the state’s graffiti problem. Oregon is also considering doing the same. The Washington State Department of Transportation started a drone pilot program on Monday. The program aims to address graffiti in Tacoma and Olympia.
The agency said that the state has six trucks specifically designed to remove graffiti in difficult-to-reach places. However, these trucks are primarily used for important bridge maintenance and inspections.
WSDOT focuses on removing graffiti that has profanity or offensive images because they can distract drivers. However, officials find it frustrating to take workers away from maintenance projects to deal with graffiti.
The agency said that sometimes crews see new graffiti just a few hours after they have removed it. In 2023, the transportation department spent a lot of time and money, around 10,300 working hours and over $815,000, to remove graffiti.
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Tacoma maintenance crew leader Mike Gauger started the drone pilot program about two years ago. He got the idea after his team had to go cover graffiti on the Capital Boulevard Bridge twice in one week.
“Gauger was part of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge team and they were using drones to inspect the bridge,” explained WSDOT in a blog post. The drones, which have high resolution cameras, were reducing the need for crews to physically inspect underneath the girders. This means that there was an improvement in employee safety, less time spent on inspections, and overall cost savings.
The maintenance crew leader worked together with manufacturers to create a prototype of a drone that can remove graffiti. The first prototype arrived earlier this spring.
The program will receive $1 million from House Bill 1989, which was approved in March by WSDOT. The funding will be used to pay for the labor and paint needed to cover graffiti, as well as to support officials in their research on camera technology for finding graffiti. According to Washington’s transportation department, they are the first in the world to implement this program.
The Oregon Department of Transportation spokesperson, Don Hamilton, said they are considering using drones. ODOT has partnered with Washington officials who are leading their own program. Portland has taken steps to address graffiti by approving an emergency ordinance to speed up removal in February.
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