Exciting news for fans of municipal utilities!
Public Works recommends accelerated implementation of an automated side loader truck system for garbage collection in St. John's ( page 171 of
http://www.stjohns.ca/sites/default/...%28R%29pdf.pdf ). Here's one of Mount Pearl's, for example:
Twenty-three of the twenty-seven current garbage trucks can be retrofitted with hydraulic arms. The other four would be replaced. The automated system requires just a single operator per truck and reduces injury risk. Costs for the trash bins could be offset by renting them to residents for, say $20 per year. The bins will do away with the need for our lovely trash nets.
The total cost for the project is around $4.8 million. The accelerated plan adds an additional $1.4 million by purchasing now new trucks that would otherwise have been purchased later under the existing fleet replacement program. Accelerated plan would be ready to go September 2018, a year ahead of the non-accelerated plan.
As a disadvantage, the aesthic of our municipal waste collectors is expected to decline. And maybe we should just hold out for a fleet of Google garbage collectors?