City of Houston Selects Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud to Digitize Operations

The city of Houston has partnered with Samsara to digitize its operations with the aim to help increase service transparency and sustainability, improve community safety, and take data-informed actions.

“Samsara’s platform and range of solutions like cameras and equipment tracking were what we needed to improve our operations,” said Brian Blum, Assistant Director of Procurement, Fleet, and Warehousing at the City of Houston, Houston Public Works. “We’re excited to partner and work with Samsara’s team on several important initiatives that will further establish Houston as a world-class city.”

The Houston Public Works department is responsible for constituent services such as the operations and maintenance of streets, the production and distribution of water, among others. The city is leveraging Samsara’s real-time monitoring capabilities for its fleet of light and heavy-duty vehicles and equipment like water pumps and generators. This, in turn, is meant to improve efficiency outcomes and safety initiatives.

“Behind every clean street, safe passenger dropoff, and quick emergency response, there is a public sector organization that made it possible. They are critical for our local economies and are increasingly using real-time data to gain insights and innovate their processes,” said Rhonda Eiffe, AVP of Public Sector at Samsara. “Helping these organizations become safer, more efficient, and more sustainable so they can better serve their communities is what drives us. It’s exciting to be a part of their digital transformation and we’re just getting started.”

How Samsara is being utilized in other cities, states, and departments: 

State of New Jersey: The state maintains highways, bridges, and associated infrastructure that serve more than nine million people. NJDOT uses Samsara to provide real-time fleet management data that reduces costs, increases service efficiency, and maximizes utilization, particularly for winter operations. In doing so, it can operate more sustainably.

City of Fresno: Fresno is a prominent city in Central California with a dedication to sustainability. The city was drawn to Samsara’s easy-to-use platform and ability to support its sustainability strategy, including electric vehicle adoption and digital workflows.

City of Mobile: One of the most populous cities in the state of Alabama, the city of Mobile switched to Samsara for increased operational efficiency and safety. The city will use Samsara's platform to support maintenance and increase utilization across its fleet of light and heavy-duty vehicles. The ability to capture and pull real-time video footage was recognized as a key benefit for driver safety and exoneration.

Hernando County: Located on the central-west coast of Florida, Hernando County uses multiple Samsara solutions to drive efficiency and safety improvements through streamlined maintenance and driver coaching. As a result, it can create a better experience for employees and improve community services.

NJ TRANSIT: Providing nearly 270 million passenger trips each year, NJ TRANSIT is the nation's third-largest provider of bus, rail, and light rail transit, linking major points in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia. Samsara’s solutions and open ecosystem of integrations help NJ TRANSIT run safer and more efficient operations.

Samsara continues to build on its existing relationships this year through expansions, including with Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro), Memphis Light, Gas and Water, and the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The city of Allentown reported that it has realized a 25% reduction in vehicle incidents, a 95% reduction in citizen calls, and more than $1 million in taxpayer savings.

“Samsara has been a game changer for us,” said Daniel Steckel, fleet services bureau manager at the city of Allentown. “Across the board, it has saved us a lot of time and money—and we keep finding new ways we can use Samsara to inform decisions and optimize services across departments.”

In a recent study from the Center for Digital Government, 56% of state and local government leaders stated they will upgrade their technology solutions by 2025. Two of Samsara's top-five new customers and two of its top-five expansion deals were within the public sector. 

“The process of switching to Samsara was virtually seamless and has made our organization not only perform better, but sustain that higher performance level,” said Rusty McClain, Assistant General Superintendent at the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County. “Our operators have been amazed at how easy Samsara is to use. We have noticed a change in how our team embraces technology.”