Are anti-graffiti drones the future of keeping WA’s roads clear of the vandalism?

The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has been testing a massive drone in the Tacoma area to combat graffiti. It has run 21 missions this year, and the results are positive.

In a report just filed to the legislature, WSDOT believes the state should allocate more money to program more drones and train more pilots for said drones. The report, called 2024 Graffiti Proviso, found that using drones is safer and more efficient than traditional anti-graffiti methods, especially in hard-to-reach areas or places that could put workers in danger.

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The pilot program for anti-graffiti drones is anchored and led by Michael Gauger, the superintendent for WSDOT, who argued using drones for this purpose just makes sense.

“Trying to come up with a way that works in multiple locations that provide hazards for my employees just made a lot of sense to me,” Gauger told KIRO Newsradio last May.

More on graffiti-battling drones: Has tagging met its match with WSDOT’s ‘graffiti-battling’ drone?

In its conclusion, the report found, “while drones are a cost-effective additional tool, graffiti removal is and will remain a challenge for the agency based on available funding, staffing and resources and the many other maintenance operations-required duties, such as guardrail and pothole replacement, storm response, etc.”

The proviso drone pilot program has a budget of $60,000 through June 2025, and has spent $22,000 of it so far. While it’s still expensive to remove graffiti, the report argued it’s more cost-effective using drones. Removing graffiti in the North Spokane Corridor and along Interstate 5 (I-5) in more traditional ways has cost approximately $170,000 combined.

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The state is also testing real-time graffiti detection systems. These cameras were somewhat successful in getting alerts to the Washington State Patrol (WSP) in time to catch the taggers, with the proviso providing evidence that the technology exists to detect graffiti taggers in real-time so traffic management centers can pass the notification to WSP for enforcement.

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Chris Sullivan covers transportation for KIRO Newsradio. Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints.

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