A hopeful start
The Johannesburg Roads Agency has entered a new error and has taken a leap forward into the 21st century.
At a media briefing on 24 April, the roads agency announced the launch of a Find & Fix mobile app, that will allow road users to send photos and report potholes, storm water issues, traffic lights that are out of order and so on. This is very exciting stuff, but do they have the manpower to fix all that is reported? My guess is not, but I am hopeful that this is the turnaround we have all been waiting for.
Residents always say reporting an issue to the municipality is a mission, and most – not all – could not be bothered to go that extra mile. It’s strange that it’s normally those that complain the most, are the ones that are the most apathetic… Well now you’ll have no excuse. According to the simple demonstration presented at the media briefing, reporting an issue should take a user no longer than two minutes. Gone (well, almost – the agency is still in the testing phase) are the days of sitting on the phone and listening to awful music while a voice repeats ‘All our operators are currently busy, please hold.’
The roads agency has said it hoped to make the new app live mid-May and I for one, am very excited. I will be watching this project closely and truly hope it is a success. While I understand that not all issues can be sorted out overnight, I do believe that the roads agency can do better. I hope the launch of the new app is a step forward and a promise of things to come.
