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Citizens Click to Fix

From Next American City

“Through a new service called SeeClickFix, Bostonians and anyone else can go online to report pothole sightings and any other non-emergency problems in their neighborhoods. Boston drivers have already marked dozens of potholes from Revere to Waltham to Jamaica Plain.

Started by a group of New Haven techies and community advocates, SeeClickFix allows anyone to start up a “watch list.” Using Google Maps technology, the service pulls up a map of your area. Once you’ve located the problem, you can insert a “ticket” to describe the problem and suggest how to fix it, then you share it with the rest of the online public. So far, Houstonians have reported broken curbs, New Yorkers have complained about inefficient traffic lights, and DC bikers have reported bus lane violations. But so far, potholes are the number one complaint. This is most likely because contributors recognize that even if the city government won’t fix the problem, cyclists and drivers will at least know which roads to avoid.”

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Ironically, only one problem has been reported in the pothole-capital of New Orleans. We are not sure if that is a testament to the exhaustion New Orleanians feel about the sisyphean task of getting things to work here or the fact that people are simply not convinced Public Works Director Robert Mendoza would be any better at responding to SeeClick reports than he at responding to SeeCall or SeeEmail reports. Even so, it’s time we New Orleanians began showing them Bostonians who the real pothole experts are. True to form, the lone New Orleans ticket provides a clue into the nature of the beast we face here in the city that care – and streetlights- forgot.

Filed Under: citizen participation, seeclickfix 

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