Boston is taking to technology to help fix its bumpy pothole problem. One new tactics in the war against troublesome roads is an upcoming Android app.
Street Bump uses the device's GPS and accelerometer in tandem to detect, locate and report potholes as you drive. The developers claim it'll be sensitive enough to identify even small cracks and divots before they evolve into dangerous potholes.
It comes from the New Urban Mechanics, the software engineers who bring civic innovation to Boston through apps and software. In 2009, it developed the Citizens Connect app for iPhone which allows the public to report issues like graffiti, vandalism and potholes using the camera and GPS. You'll even get a push notification when the problem's been fixed.
Only about one in six potholes fixed by the city are reported by the public through services like this, but the developers want to make reporting problems easier.
"It's a new kind of volunteerism,'' Nigel Jacob told The Boston Globe. "It's not volunteering your sweat equity. It's volunteering the devices that are in your pocket to help the city.''
The team has launched an alpha version in Android Marketplace. It soon will ask aspiring app creators to help design the algorithms needed to convert raw data into helpful information and distinguish between a small divot and an axle-snapping crater. A prize of $25,000 will be awarded to the programmer who comes up with the best idea.
This post was written by Mark Brown of Wired UK.
Photo: Alan Stanton / Flickr
