Streetbump: Keeping Your Car Safe By Identifying Potholes

March 15, 2012 1:54 pm ET

Although this winter has been particularly mild, winter storms typically wreak havoc on streets in the Northeast.  From January to late March winter storms pound the pavement, depositing ice and water into cracks which freeze and refreeze widening already gaping potholes.  Cities like New York and Washington DC are no strangers to punctured pavement but in Boston, they’re putting the power to fix the potholes in your smartphone.

There is no way for public officials to mark and fix every pothole on the street, by the time they began filling holes, new ones pop up so officials in Boston are asking for the public’s help.  The Mayor’s New Urban Mechanics office has accelerated the growth and production of revolutionary software called Streetbump.

Streetbump is an app that local commuters can download on their smartphone that uses the internal accelerometer to measure the severity of potholes as well as their location during a commute.    The employees within Boston’s inspectional services department are using the beta version of Streetbump with hopes of public use later this year.

App Screen Shot

Click HERE to read the original story by wired.com.

Featured photo from wired.com