Houston's new app a boon for residents Starting Tuesday, you can report public works problems

The new Houston 311 app, which is available for free downloads at the iTunes Store, will officially go live on Tuesday. The new Houston 311 app, which is available for free downloads at the iTunes Store, will officially go live on Tuesday. Photo: ITunes Store Photo: ITunes Store Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Houston's new app a boon for residents 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A pesky pothole in the street is a pain in the exhaust pipe for most Houstonians, but now getting help is just a click away on your SmartPhone.

The brand-new Houston 311 app will allow residents to file a complaint and then track its progress. The program officially goes live Tuesday, city officials said.

Here's how the 311 app works, city spokesman Chris Newport said:

"Say you see a pothole on your street. Before you even leave for work you can walk over, launch the app and type in 'pothole,' " he said. "You have the option of taking a picture, punching in the address and answering two other questions before you hit send."

The "really cool thing" about the new app, Newport said, is that the requests aren't sent to a generic email inbox at the city. Instead, the SmartPhone application "creates a work order that our public works department adds to their list of things to do."

'Just the beginning'

Houston city officials last August updated the 311 non-emergency website, allowing residents to report a variety of complaints on everything from garbage pickup problems to traffic signal maintenance to water line breaks. The city's hotline last year also expanded to 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week service. As of Jan. 13, it received an average of 5,311 calls a day for service, Newport said.

"This is just the beginning," Newport said of the expanded options. "We're not just launching this app and we're done," he said. The city plans to update on a regular basis.

Already, an interactive map has been added to the city's 311 website where users can click on an address for updates on their service requests.

Elsewhere, the 311 app already is up and running across the nation, including such cities as: Sacramento, New York City, Minneapolis and Philadelphia.

When Philadelphia city officials launched the 311 app last September, it became the 53rd-most-downloaded app at the iTunes Store, said Sheryl Johnson, operations manager of the Philadelphia 311 Contact Center.

The new service especially was useful last October during Hurricane Sandy, she said.

"It allowed us to communicate with our customers via the app. We were able to push (send) out safety information and where they could go for help," Johnson said. "We could also let them know how the storm was progressing, and if we (city crews) were on the streets and what we were doing."

For more about Houston 311 or to download the app, starting Tuesday, visit hfdapp.houstontx.gov/311/index.php.