Entrepreneurs’ pitch solutions for pothole detection

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - An entrepreneur received a grant Wednesday to implement an innovative solution to pothole detection and repair in Cincinnati.

Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub alongside the City of Cincinnati and Tire Discounters, took 68 applications to present solutions to the pothole issue facing the city.

Six finalists were selected to present their ideas in the hopes of winning a $5,000 grant.

A panel of judges that included City Council Member Evan Nolan selected Nate Weyand-Geise to receive the funds for his idea to use city apps to track bumps in the road.

“Have you ever hit a pothole so hard you thought your phone registered it?” Weyand-Geise asked reporters after receiving his check. “Well, it did. Your phone has an accelerometer and a GPS in it and we should use that to improve our city’s data collection.”

He explained that most smartphones can detect your speed and can detect a bump. He proposed a software that would record those bumps as users drive. By recording many bumps, they can establish a detection system that can reliably predict where potholes are.

Weyand-Geise said that by crowd-sourcing the data and coupling it with reported potholes from existing sources, they can establish which potholes may be the highest priority and immediately send workers to fix them.

He said that ideally the system would be in the background of existing city apps such as Cincy 311, parking meter apps and EZfare. He said by putting it in those apps, more users will be actively using the system because they already have those apps.

Weyand-Geise’s proposal included an incentive proposal that would see users earn “points” for reporting potholes and provide rewards for more reports.

Councilman Nolan said that city officials were already in contact with Weyand-Geise and the five other participants to look at their solutions as well.

Weyand-Geise said that with the money he was awarded, he’ll begin building his system. He said he hopes to begin working with the city to start implementing the program soon.

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