In Praise of FixMyStreet

I have been using FixMyStreet  since May 2013 and can highly  recommend it.

I have made 51 reports to the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) on a wide range of issues, and to date (24-NOV-2014) there are 17 still outstanding, although a few of those were submitted only recently.  That equates to a success rate of very approximately 65 percent. To be fair, a handful of the unresolved problems, for instance dog fouling and pavement parking hotspots, are hardy perennials that may never be satisfactorily fixed. Incidentally, perhaps my most memorable FixMyStreet report, because I was on the spot when the incident occurred,  was this one sorted in record time by CEC.

For me, FixMyStreet has three major advantages: (1) is the invaluable ability to add as illustration photographs that are routinely blocked by the CEC email server and a hassle to have unblocked; (2) the facility to add updates on any progress thus providing a history; and (3) the online FixMyStreet report can be linked to in emails and on social media and therefore readily referred back to. FixMyStreet is in my view infinitely superior to poorly designed web reporting forms that go unacknowledged and indeed seem to  evaporate leaving no trace.

One drawback, however, has been the refusal of some utility companies to accept reports made in this way as FixMyStreet is not recognised by them as an official reporting tool. An example of this from Virgin Media here. Whilst I accept that FixMyStreet is primarily a tool for reporting to local councils, it is frustrating and a real nuisance having to start over from scratch if it is not deemed to be a council responsibility to sort an issue. Compared to FixMyStreet the reporting facilities at certain  utility companies are neither state of the art nor easy to use?

FixMyStreet is though merely a reporting tool and not a silver bullet. Seemingly more complex cases, like this one that remains open because I do not know whether the job has actually been completed and  ownership of the Lucy box  has still not been properly resolved, are however more straightforward to deal with using FixMyStreet.

All in all, I have found FixMyStreet to be an easy to use digital tool that can be effective in getting local issues sorted expeditiously. My comments apply only to the web version of FixMyStreet as I have not used the mobile app.

Footnote: CEC has not yet integrated with FixMyStreet, and is sticking with the proprietory CLARENCE telephone/email/online reporting form setup meantime.

Van breakdown St John's Rd EH12 5.30PM 31-OCT-2014

On the evening of Friday 31st October a vehicle broke down during the rush hour on the busy St John's Road, Edinburgh EH12 - not an uncommon occurrence. The van was dark-coloured, unlit and in the outside lane - see photograph - so clearly a hazard as well as an obstruction. Traffic quickly backed up over a quarter of a mile to Edinburgh Zoo and beyond.

Walking along St John's Road, my attention was first drawn to this incident by very loud shouting which turned out to be the driver of the vehicle attempting to summon help on his mobile phone. He seemed to me to be saying that he had been stuck for "30 minutes" and was quite irate. He and someone who appeared to be his mate did a sterling job directing traffic, although they were dressed in dark clothing, including when an ambulance on an emergency call came along St John's Road west-bound, past the traffic tailback, on the wrong side of the road at speed. Two cars travelling east were involved in a very minor bump as the ambulance passed at the nearby Post Office, presumably because one or other or both car drivers were not paying full attention to the road.

I sent a tweet to Edinburgh Travel News @edintravel - see below - from the foot of Clermiston Road where I noted that the CCTV camera appeared to be facing westward, that is in the wrong direction (Murphy's Law?). The camera had been turned around when I looked up shortly after sending the tweet. Help did then arrive within minutes, first someone in a private car, and then according to Twitter a Police van. The vehicle was apparently shifted to the inside lane and shortly afterwards fixed and moved off.

My concern is that this incident might have been picked up earlier on the CCTV camera than it seemingly was, and some of the resultant traffic chaos avoided, not to say the potential risks to life and limb of those involved?