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iPhone App Aims To Help You Dodge Potholes

By Caroline Lowe, WCCO-TV

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A free iPhone app to report and track potholes has been created by a couple of Twin Cities men.

Scott Behmer and some friends were complaining about potholes last spring at a local dinner party.

"We were all feeling like we were driving on the moon with all the craters around and we all said there should be an app for that, a national tracker for all these potholes," said Behmer.

He and friend Cole Turnbow spent the next several months researching and developing an app and website called Pothole Scout.

"We found other cities doing similar things but they were city-based," said Behmer. "All the technology is there with GPS functionality, where you just drop a pin on the map and let entire country see what cities are most pot-marked and where the problem areas are."

The app also lets you report a pothole or check out an area by zip code. It works on both iPod Touches and iPads.

Behmer said he hopes the national tracking site will create some friendly competition between cities to see which cities get their potholes repaired first.

"I am curious to find out if Boston has a lot more potholes than we do. So these are things we think about as we watch these pins drop on our map," said Behmer.

Minneapolis city officials said they welcome the new pothole site, but they say the fastest way to get a pothole fixed in Minneapolis is to call 311 or go to the city's own website, which is similar to pothole sites in other cities and counties in Minnesota.

Related Links:
Pothole Scout
Minneapolis
St. Paul
Hennepin County
Ramsey County
Anoka County
Dakota County
Washington County
Scott County
State

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