• The PotholeFixGP app now allows Gauteng residents to report faulty traffic lights.
• The reporting system is incredibly simple, but it remains to be see how quickly the provincial government attends to these reports and conducts repairs.
• The app has fewer than 10 000 downloads which could mean fewer reports from residents.

While there are some plans to keep traffic lights working during loadshedding, for most of Gauteng, constant power cuts often lead to traffic lights being vandalised. Of course, sometimes the constant toggling of the power supply can just damage the road signals.

At the weekend, the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport updated its PotholeFixGP app (available for free on iOS and Android) which allows motorists to report faulty traffic lights. The big problem we see here, however, is scale.

The app has 8 300 download on Android and just 950 on Apple smartphones. With so few folks using the app we’re not sure how effective it will be at having traffic signals repaired. With that having been said, 7 418 potholes have been repaired thanks to reports made from the app since it was launched in 2022 and MEC for Gauteng Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela is encouraged at the amount of downloads of the app.

“We are encouraged by the rising numbers of downloads. The Department further urges Gauteng residents to download the app and report road maintenance issues that need attention,” Diale-Tlabela said in a statement.

We used the app to report a faulty traffic light near our offices this afternoon and it was incredibly easy allowing us to submit a report in just two steps.

The PotholeFixGP app allows you to report a faulty signal using either your current GPS location or by placing a pin on a map.

Once the pin has been placed or you have confirmed the GPS location you will be asked to choose from one of four options: Signal not functioning, signal malfunctioning, signal missing, or poles knocked down.

One you have selected one of those options you can then choose whether you want to receive an update when the repair status has changed. In order to receive these updates you will need to provide an email address

You can then submit the report and hope that the repair actually happens.

The PotholeFixGP app is not be confused with the Pothole Patrol app which is the product of a partnership between Discovery Insure, Avis and the City of Johannesburg. Since that app was launched in 2021 some 178 000 potholes have been repaired. We recommend giving Pothole Patrol a download on your iOS or Android smartphone, especially as we head into the rainy season.

[Image – WikimediaImages from Pixabay]