City officials this month unveiled a computer application called “Dayton Delivers,” which allows residents to use their mobile devices to alert the city to non-emergency problems, including hazardous potholes, malfunctioning traffic lights, clogged sewers, downed limbs, dead animals and illegal dumping.
The app should improve customer relations between the city and its residents, while also offering people useful links for dining, entertainment and recreation options, officials said.
“This is not meant to replace the city website — it’s meant to supplement it,” said Bryan Taulbee, city spokesman. “It’s mainly for customer convenience, and to some degree, it’s for the city’s convenience.”
The Dayton Delivers app, which can be downloaded for free on Android and Apple smart phones, has been in development for more than year.
The city of Dayton hired a company called PublicStuff to develop the software. The city has a five-year agreement with the company that costs about $11,250 per year.
The app was tested by a select group of residents in late 2013, and a soft launch took place in late January, when 110 neighborhood leaders were invited to use the app and provide feedback, Taulbee said.
But city officials first announced the existence of Dayton Delivers this week.
The app’s homepage has a variety of icons from which to choose. But the top two are expected to be the most important: New and nearby service requests.
App users can mark on a map where they encounter potholes, debris, dead animals, code violations, graffiti, flooding, overgrown grass and other concerns and hazards. Users can then provide a description of the problem, snap a photograph of the scene and upload it. Requests for service are transferred electronically to the city’s work management system.
Users can get updates on the status of a request by e-mail or by visiting the app’s “Nearby Requests” feature. Residents can also arrange bulk trash pickup using the app.
Taulbee said the city expects to see an increase in requests for service because the reporting process is now easier and more convenient.
The product was popular even among a limited audience. By the end of February, Dayton Delivers already had received 179 service requests.
Residents recently reported potholes on W. Third Street, a dead animal on Riverside Drive and illegal Dumping on Gilbert Avenue. On Thursday, these requests were “in progress.”
Residents can create an account when using the app to receive e-mailed status updates, or people can submit requests for service anonymously.
The city does receive any cellular number information when a request is submitted, said Richard Bailey, geographic information systems coordinator for Dayton’s department of public works.
“Even though it is using your phone as its launch point, the only real technology it is using from your phone is either your Internet capabilities to submit your request or the GPS on your phone,” he said.
City Commissioner Matt Joesph said he has used Dayton Delivers a few times and it helped set up a bulk trash pickup and remedy an overflowing trash can.
“If I can figure it out, almost anybody can,” he said.
The app also provides users with links to information about city officials, downtown entertainment and dining and local recreation.
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