Towing Division Data

Highlights

The Towing Division is responsible for towing vehicles that are illegally parked, abandoned, or that are impeding the flow of traffic. The Division’s goal is to tow vehicles accurately and in a timely manner.

Completed Tows and Tows in Queue

As noted above, the Towing Division receives various types of requests for towing, including: 

• Abandoned/Derelict Vehicles
• Booted Vehicles 
• Vehicles Blocking the Right-of-Way
• Other (includes accidents, emergencies, and City vehicle breakdowns)

The graph below shows the total number of tows that were completed in each quarter. The graph is further broken down by request type, showing the number of each quarter’s tows that were for abandoned vehicles, booted vehicles, and other types of requests. The Towing Division recently restarted towing of booted vehicles in March 2026. 

Takeaways

The Towing Division focused additional attention on Abandoned Vehicle requests beginning in Q4 of 2025. In Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, the Division nearly doubled the number of abandoned vehicles towed quarterly. In Q2 2026, the number of abandoned vehicles towed has decreased slightly as the number of booted vehicles towed has increased. 

“Other” vehicle requests make up the majority of tows. Typically, these requests are high priority because they are related to vehicles that are blocking roadways or impeding City work.

Citizen's Service Bureau Tow Requests

The graph below shows the number of citizen requests related to vehicle towing that were received in a given month and their status (“Closed” vs “Open”). Open requests are being investigated by the Street Division. Currently, “Closed” does not necessarily indicate that a vehicle has been towed, but rather means that a final disposition has been reached regarding that vehicle (ex., “Vehicle Not Found” or “Dispatched to Towing Division”). Once a vehicle is dispatched to towing, it may still take several days for it to be towed, depending on the number of requests that the Towing Division has received.

In future quarters, the City plans to implement process changes around the closure of service requests such that requests are only closed once a vehicle is actually towed. This change will also allow for a more complete understanding of the amount of time it currently takes for towing requests to be completed. This process change is one example of how CityStat aims to mature city data practices over time, helping to produce actionable insights for Department and Division leaders.