Oftentimes when I am driving on Dallas streets with my wife, I will encounter a pothole in the road. My joke with my wife who is from the UK, is that the potholes are Dallas' traffic calming program. They get the cars to slow down, weave into another lane, and do all sorts of maneuvers in order to avoid them. Let's say that I was to actually make an effort to report a pothole on a Dallas street to Dallas City Hall to come and fix. Unfortunately, last week when I clicked the links on its website, I came up with an error message. No matter how I tried to electronically report it, cyberspace and Dallas City Hall were not cooperating.
One thing economic development experts will state that corporations want in order to relocate to and sometimes stay in a city is good quality infrastructure. Well maintained streets fit into that category. So what is a good tax paying citizen who desires a greater degree of economic development in his city supposed to do when he looks at the quality of his streets?
One thing one could do is import the solution that Boston is initiating. According to a recent Fast Company article, an app, referred to as the Street Bump app will be available to Bostonians in a few months. This app will use a smart phone’s accelerometer and GPS to find and automatically report potholes to City Hall. How does it work?
Can this app work in my city? Boston has received hundreds of requests from other cities wanting to partner with it on Street Bump. Their collaboration with The New Urban Mechanics and Innocentive has had the goal to make Street Bump a stage for cooperation across cities.
Will you want to use it? As this was being tested last year, one negative was that it appeared to be a battery killer. Hopefully the app has been or will be tweaked to not demand as much juice.
The coffee houses, restaurants, wine bars, retail and entertainment venues want to locate where people live and work. Smart citizens and corporations desire to be in places where the exterior environment is valued. Cool and vibe don’t last forever if their surroundings are not maintained.
If you are tired of driving over an excessive number of potholes, phone or email your city council person in your city and tell them you want a smart approach to solving your community’s problems. In today’s cash-strapped municipal budgets, our leaders need to be considering every application of technology that makes sense to conduct city affairs more efficiently, while maximizing the quality of life for their current and hopefully future citizens. Your tax dollar deserves that consideration.
High Technology Potholes
Posted: February 28, 2012 by Chuck DeShazo
