Skip to main content

iPhone app for citizens to report highway defects

People in the UK county of Buckinghamshire can now use an Apple iPhone to photograph and report a pothole, loose paving, broken bollard or faulty street light. Developed by Masternaut for Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB), the app captures a digital image of the defect with its geolocation and transmits it back to highway maintenance teams. This gives highways managers important information direct from the scene, which helps with managing response levels and providing better service. "Using this app, i
April 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
People in the UK county of Buckinghamshire can now use an 493 Apple iPhone to photograph and report a pothole, loose paving, broken bollard or faulty street light. Developed by 748 Masternaut for 1880 Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB), the app captures a digital image of the defect with its geolocation and transmits it back to highway maintenance teams. This gives highways managers important information direct from the scene, which helps with managing response levels and providing better service.

"Using this app, iPhones provide much more detailed information than a standard telephone call or email. Buckinghamshire residents who have these smartphones are our eyes on the street. They help us to review the nature of the problem and see its location. We would normally have to visit the scene to get this level of intelligence before deciding on a course of action," says Marc Evans, ICT Systems Manager.

Transport for Buckinghamshire is a partnership between Buckinghamshire County Council and highway infrastructure services provider 4931 Ringway Jacobs. The app augments the TfB award winning online Service Information Centre, a special website that incorporates live data feeds from Masternaut's real-time vehicle tracking and mobile service management software

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tighten up on cyber security before hackers infiltrate ITS infrastructure
    October 19, 2015
    This year’s ITS World Congress in Bordeaux will have three sessions dedicated to cyber security and the issue will also be addressed under connected and automated vehicles categories. Jon Masters finds out why. American security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek attracted international press coverage recently when they demonstrated how they could hack into and take control of a vehicle from a remote laptop. While the implications are clearly serious for vehicle manufacturers, highway and transpor
  • ANPR shockwaves emanate from Royston ruling
    October 7, 2013
    Colin Sowman looks at how a ruling regarding ANPR cameras in a small English town could have wide-reaching implications. Superficially it was an easy decision: the local council and traders wanted, and were prepared to fund, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras installed to deter crime in Royston, a small town (population 17,000) in rural England.
  • The benefits of Lidar
    March 21, 2022

    While Lidar is gaining ground in the ITS industry, it has not yet reached the level of mass adoption where it shows up frequently in requests for proposals (RFPs) from cities and DoTs.

  • Georgia Yexley: Here's how micromobility can deliver public good
    June 27, 2023
    Georgia Yexley, founder of Loud Mobility, looks at the lessons on diversity, equity and inclusion which can be learned from the US and wider – and explores why it is a vital component for industry growth in the UK