Joburg residents can now report road and traffic light problems quickly and efficiently using a smartphone application.
A mobile application that makes reporting road issues hassle-free has just been launched by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA).
The Find&Fix app – the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere – was developed in partnership with the City of Johannesburg and allows residents to report potholes, missing manhole covers, faulty traffic lights and any other road issues.
Proving that Joburg truly is a smart city that leads the way, the app forms part of a strategy to improve communication between residents and the City.
Currently the app is only available for Windows and Android phones, but it will soon be compatible with all devices as BlackBerry and iOS capability is added.
The Find&Fix app can photograph, report and send the precise global positioning system (GPS) location of an issue, all in real-time, enabling the JRA to respond and fix the problem speedily.
Johannesburg Roads Agency managing director, Skhumbuzo Macozoma, said that with the app’s help, potholes, missing manhole covers and problems with stormwater drains would be fixed within three days. Faulty traffic lights would be fixed within 24 hours.
The JRA manages and inspects a 10 000km road network and around 2 200 traffic lights. The app, however, will not replace the JRA’s road condition inspectors, but instead complement their work.
HOW DOES FIND&FIX WORK?
With an automated back office that collates reports and sifts through duplicated faults, all reported incidents are logged immediately. The reports are then automatically assigned to the corresponding regional team. Once the fault has been dealt with, the resident who reported the incident will be notified.
The Find&Fix app was developed by local information technology firm Intervate, which is a Microsoft partner and a subsidiary of T-Systems. The beta version was launched on Windows Phone with the help of Microsoft, which also assisted with developing the app through its Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
To download Find&Fix on an Android phone visit the Google play store. Get Find&Fix for Windows Phone here.
To continue to improve its services, the JRA encourages residents to email feedback, criticisms or suggestions to hotline@jra.org.za, follow the JRA’s twitter account, @MyJRA, or leave a message on its Facebook page.