New Apps Allow Drivers To Track Potholes

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago filled 350,000 potholes last year and this year could be a bumper crop, or bumpy crop, created by cold freezing nights and mild melting days.

Dixie is from downstate Chatsworth. Asked if she notices a lot of holes in the street, she responded, "Every one of them."

Dixie was surprised that the road would be bad near a tourist attraction.

"This close to a zoo should have been better road," she said.

To fix a hole, the city has to know about it. And though Stockton Drive, along Lincoln Park Zoo, is getting to be like the surface of the moon CBS 2 decided to report one with Chicago's app called Chicago Works. Use it to report anything from grafitti to rodents.

The app allows users to send a photo and maps the location automatically but takes some time to use.

The city of Boston has developed an app called street bump, at a cost of $45,000. It automatically detects potholes and sends a report into the city. CBS 2 used it in Chicago and, although it won't submit a report, it registered every pothole.

By using the accelerometer in your smartphone, it plotted potholes on a map and even showing the g-force endured.

Several cities are testing the street bump app.

Maybe you could put one on every Chicago bus?