Mayor Sylvester Turner's plan to respond more quickly to pothole complaints might engender goodwill in neighborhoods, but the change in focus wouldn't necessarily lead to more potholes being repaired.

After a campaign in which street conditions were a prominent issue, Turner drew applause when he promised more rapid action on potholes during his inaugural address Monday. He said pothole complaints would be "assessed and addressed" by the next business day, adding that the goal would be to fix the pothole within 24 hours starting Jan. 18. The current goal is 30 days.

Only a fraction of the potholes crews tackle today, however, are fixed because of a citizen complaint, public works officials say. Most repairs result from problems crews spot as they roam the city. A more complaint-driven process wouldn't necessarily reduce the overall problem, experts said, although it might focus resources where they are most in demand.

The approach reflected in Turner's promise is similar to programs in mostly northern U.S. cities that face a spike in potholes during winter months, when streets and the ground beneath them freeze. In Houston, potholes are a year-round challenge, although a spike in complaints is common after heavy rains when water exacerbates cracks and faults in pavement.

Frank Peterson, 60, said his short commute from the Montrose area along West Gray into the central business district became a pocked mess after heavy rains and flooding last May. Some of the holes remain, Peterson said, and he is glad the new mayor is taking the issue seriously.

"It's good he wants to do something about it," Peterson said. "Now let's see him get it done."

In 2015 the city received around 8,000 pothole reports, according to a database that tracks complaints online and via 311 calls. The figure does not include other road problems reported, strictly those classified as a pothole complaint. The database can also have duplicate complaints if numerous people report the same pothole and it is cataloged differently.

Reports of potholes are most common in some of the oldest, densest parts of the city that are also among the most affluent. A roughly 10-square-block area just north of Rice University, for example, filed 53 pothole reports in 2015, while a much larger area on the north side reported 27. High concentrations of complaints also came along major streets west of the city core, such as Kirkwood south of Lakeside Country Club.

Yet those reports represent only about one-eighth of the 62,000 potholes the city filled in fiscal 2015, which ended June 30. Most were repaired with one of four machines that enable a single worker to fill most holes in the street, said Alvin Wright, a spokesman for the city Public Works Department.

Public Works has a goal of filling all potholes reported to 311 within 30 days. In the first three months of 2015 - the most recent verified data available - it achieved that mark 75 percent of the time, taking an average of 20 days to fill potholes.

Complaints in 2015 increased 45 percent over 2014, when the city logged around 5,500.

Improving the turnaround time is possible, experts said, though they cautioned that this metric is not a complete assessment of whether road conditions are improving.

"Whatever statement you make or promise, implied or not, has to be backed up with the public works department having the resources to go out there," said Dave Bergner, former public works superintendent for Overland Park, Kan., and co-author of American Public Works Association materials on pothole maintenance practices.

Turner said the city would accomplish the one-day turnaround with existing resources, meaning crews could shift from roaming to find potholes to responding to citizen-driven reports. It's unclear, Bergner and others said, whether that would mean Houston could fill more potholes.

Still, aggressive response to citizen complaints has merit, Bergner said, because it focuses resources where people are most likely to feel relief.

"We didn't get that many calls from people saying 'Gee, when are you going to overlay my street?' " Bergner said, recalling his time in Kansas. "But we did get a lot saying 'When are you going to fill that pothole?' "

In cities that experience heavy snow and frequent ice storms, quick response to potholes can be vital to keeping the road from deteriorating further. Many cities have so-called "pothole patrols" during winter months and shortly after to stay ahead of the work during a time of year when more significant construction is unlikely because of the weather.

Buffalo, N.Y., established a 24-hour response to potholes in 2007, and in the first year filled 5,500 potholes, according to city officials. Buffalo maintains a street network about one-tenth the size of Houston's. The Buffalo program specifies that workers will respond within 24 hours - similar to Turner's plans - and if substantial work is needed, complete repairs within 48 hours.

"We try to be realistic with that," said Buffalo Public Works Commissioner Steven Stepniak, saying the program is successful.

Houston might face challenges reacting as quickly. Often, pothole complaints spike after heavy rains, such as the May floods. In a 10-day span from May 27 to June 5, Houston residents reported 367 potholes. During October's 31 days, residents reported 372.

During the campaign, Turner noted that Harris County can often move from assessment to repairs in 24 hours. The county, however, differs from the city in some important ways.

"We don't have that many pothole problems because we are extremely aggressive in our overlay program for streets," said Harris County Engineer John Blount. "The thing is we've kept them up."

Harris County also operates slightly differently in terms of structure. The four precinct commissioners oversee road crews that repair and maintain roads, with help from a central county government and contractors. When they receive a complaint, they have discretion to just do repairs or even repave an entire stretch of road.

"We have on-call contracts for everything," Blount said. "I can do anything in 24 hours or less. Or the commissioners can. When they say they want something done, we get it done."

Blount said he's optimistic the city could quickly tackle potholes, provided leaders are serious and focused.

"I think it is a fundamental, lean, mean atmosphere," he said. "It is going to have to take the new mayor getting in there and saying 'We're going to do it.' "