Anyone who drives in Pittsburgh knows the annoyance of a random bump as your tire falls into a pothole. If you take the same route most days, you may even have a system of avoidance. Before the city had mercy on the stretch of Forbes between Shady and Braddock, I spent the 5-minute stretch switching lanes half a dozen times to get around missing chunks of pavement.
Pothole-like problems are bound to happen in any city. Although some concerned citizens may call the non-emergency services 311 line, most of us go frustratingly on our way.
Well fellow suffers, YinzCam just made telling officials about city-related issues easier. iBurgh is a free iPhone app that enables users to take a photo of whatever is getting in your way, slowing you down, or generally causing amuck in the city. The site is then geotagged and sent to the city’s server. iBurgh is also on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, and the city hopes to make it available on other mobile devices soon.
Pittsburgh is the first city to have its own iPhone app, beating out other interested cities such as Boston, New York, DC, and San Francisco. The launch falls in line with Councilman Bill Peduto’s initiative of partnering with local tech companies to make the city the first e-democracy.
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