Potholes could now get fixed faster than ever, thanks to a new app launched by the City of Boston. According to Boston.com, the Boston Public Works Department has implemented City Worker, a smartphone app designed to alert and direct the Department’s street team to various spots across the city that need repair like potholes and graffiti.
City Worker was first deployed by the Parks Department’s arborists in March 2011, according to the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics website. The app, developed by New Hampshire based software company Connected Bits, helps workers manage their to-do lists and tell officials when problems are resolved.
“This is really the other side of the coin,” Eric Carlson, co-founder of Connected Bits told Boston.com. “It creates some immediacy that wasn’t available before.”
The City Worker app functions in conjunction with Citizens Connect, an award-wining app that allows residents to report discrepancies in their neighborhood by snapping a photo, writing a description and submitting it to the city through the app. We’ve stumbled across some gems from the Citizens Connect app, including a dude who reported an ox as graffiti and the person who reported Pawngo’s Butterfingers publicity stunt which resulted in a $1,000 littering fine. Hilariously awesome.
In all seriousness, the City Worker app is a step in the right direction to bring the City of Boston into the 21st century and make the Hub a more beautiful place. Plus, with the lack of snow this winter, the Metro reports that city workers will use the dry weather to their advantage and fill potholes in need of repair via a giant machine called “Potzilla.” We dig it.
