On Tuesday, the city of Houston went live with a 311 app for smartphones. Downloadable free from the iTunes store, the allows residents to submit complaints and track their progress on the go.
"Say you see a pothole on your street. Before you even leave for work you can walk over, launch the app and type in 'pothole,' " city of Houston spokesman Chris Newport told the Houston Chronicle. "You have the option of taking a picture, punching in the address and answering two other questions before you hit send."
The complaint goes not to some dead-letter email inbox with the city but generates a work order that's added to the to-do list of the city's public works department.
So. When's Dallas getting its own app? It's been four years since Councilwoman Angela Hunt first suggested it as a way to improve service in the wake of a 17-percent cut to the 311 program's budget.
"We've been working on it," city spokesman Frank Librio told Unfair Park in an email on Wednesday. The implementation is set for August, barring unforeseen delays.
Development has helped by the restoration of the city's 311 budget, which is $5.3 million. That's up some 43 percent since a recession-era low $3.7 million in 2009.
