Madison launches naming contest for snow removal equipment
Voting for your favorite plow names ends Feb. 3 at 8:00 p.m.
MADISON., Wis. (WMTV) – After plowing through an avalanche of nominations, the Madison Streets and Engineering Division is ready to find the name of the newest equipment dedicated to making sure the city’s roads are clear all winter.
With days remaining the people have spoken and there are certainly some fan favorites stealing the show including Giannis Intent-to-Scoop, Barbara Salters, KeaNo Freeze and Saltimus Prime to name a few.
More than 1,200 names were submitted for the four new trucks and tractors and staff members with the Streets and Engineering Division have whittled that list down to 61 finalists.
Originally, they planned to narrow the top choices to ten per vehicle, but the names were just too good, the statement announcing them pointed out.
As of Tuesday morning the frontrunner for the Quad Axle Brine Truck is Saltimus Prime, followed by Brinestone Cowboy and Barbara Salters. The Bike Bath’s most voted for names per the latest poll is Snowbi Wan Kenobi, Austin Plowers and Plowdy Doody. The Double Wing Plow Truck is resonating with Dolly Plowton, Blizzo and Snowsferatu. Last but not least the Loader: Seymour Pavement, Scoopy Doo and Giannis Intent-to-Scoop sit in the top three spots.
Now, they are asking everyone to join them in picking the final winning names. Voting opened on Monday, Jan. 23, and will run through 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 3. People who want to weigh in do not have to worry about picking just one favorite. The balloting is set up as ranked choice system where voters select their top five picks.
| Quad-Axle Brine Truck | Double-Wing Plow Truck |
|---|---|
| Snowdium Clearride | Dual-wing Banjos |
| Saline Away | Dolly Plowton |
| Brinestone Cowboy | Blizzo |
| KeaNo Freeze | Plowie Walnuts |
| Albert Brinestein | Pushy McDriftyflakes |
| Barbara Salters | Willem DePlow |
| Pavement Pickler | Snowsferatu |
| LaBrine James | Justin Timberflake |
| Sweet Carolbrine | Kung Plow Chicken |
| Haline Dugan, PhD | Winged Victory |
| Saltimus Prime | Bring Da Truckus |
| Brine of Tarth | Drifity Do Dah |
| Eb-brine-eezer Scrooge | Robert Plowney, Jr |
| Deputy Briney Fife | Wing Crosby |
| Brine Cranston | A Plow Me to Introduce Myself |
| Master of Brine Arts |
| Loader with Plow and Wing | Trackless MT7 Bike Path Plow |
|---|---|
| Giannis Intent-to-Scoop-Snow | Polar Troll |
| Slyvester Snowlone | Icecycle |
| Scoopy Doo | Plowdy Doody |
| The Shovin’ Scoopful | Slush-a-bye, Baby |
| Flakemingo | Snowbi Wan Kenobi |
| KaPlow | Aldo Leocold |
| Jean-Luc Plowcard | Plowaton |
| Mustard Sidewinder | Pennyfarthing McChuckalot |
| JD Plower and Associates | Spokes’man |
| Speed-the-Plow | Peddle Plower |
| Plowedly Whitford | Cycle-Ops |
| Brrrrt Reynolds | Clyde Shovelfield |
| Cindy Plowford | Claire DeWay |
| Fighting Bob La-PlowIt | Snow Pesci |
| Seymour Pavement | Austin Plowers |
In announcing the opening of the voting window, the Streets and Engineering Division explained how it would work. Rather than simply picking the one that gets a plurality of votes they will keep counting until a majority of voters wins.
They start by counting all the first-place votes. If one of the names has a majority at that point, then everything is done and city workers will know what they are going to be calling their new vehicle. However, if no name hits that 50% threshold, the one in last place is dropped and the voters who picked that name will have their next choice counted instead. They will keep doing that over and over until one of the name hits the majority of votes. The city also included links to a few videos to explain further how ranked-choice voting works:
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