The once-famous (since repaired) pothole on Majura Avenue, Dickson. Critics of Fix My Street want the website turned into an app to make it more user-friendly. Photo: David Murtagh.
The ACT Government’s focus is on improving the current Fix My Street model, rather than developing or introducing an alternative due to concerns around costs and ease of integration.
Government officials fronted the inquiry into the system, which has been described by some as “pretty much useless”, to explain what it’s been doing to change the usability and perceptions of the service.
The government had considered using Snap Solve Send in the ACT, but investigations revealed that issues reported through the app were sent to a redundant inbox and weren’t linked to government services.
City and Environment Directorate acting chief operating officer Yu-Lan Chan said third-party apps would send information through a generic email, and the government could not control specific categories or streamline where the information ended up.
“It needs manual intervention to then look at the email, work out which team it might [be suitable for], send it to the team, they then have to work out [if they have] the right information,” she said.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into making the frontend of Fix My Street a lot easier and clearer so that people understand what information the operational crews need.”
Some of these frontend improvements include more information about the appropriate place to make a report (such as EvoEnergy for downed powerlines, Icon Water for burst water mains, Telstra for issues with their infrastructure and changes to communications) so that people are told how their issue has been resolved.
City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne said consideration had been given to other models outside of Fix My Street and Snap Solve Send, but the volume of work coming through Fix My Street alone had given that idea pause.
She gave the example from the beginning of the year when it was either raining or sunny, meaning grass was growing quickly, but it couldn’t be mowed.
“There was a point where I did consider turning off Fix My Street entirely, simply because the backlog was so great, because of the mental health impacts it was having on our operational staff,” Ms Cheyne said.
On criticisms that Fix My Street isn’t available as its own application, Ms Cheyne said the website had been updated in recent years to make it more mobile-friendly.
“It’s a lot cheaper for us to do that than do an app, and I’d say the functionality is the same,” she said.
Another issue aired in inquiry submissions is that you need to log in to make a report.
This means you need an ACT Digital account, restricting reporting capabilities to Canberra residents.
Ms Cheyne said the system used to allow for anonymous reporting, but this led to many issues, particularly when a reporter didn’t submit the correct information.
“A whole lot of people, it turns out, might mean to select a footpath that’s down the road, but they’re programmed to select their home,” she said.
“Having non-anonymous reports allows us both to keep people updated [on their report] … and also, where there’s not a lot of information on what’s going on, [we’re] able to call.”
Anonymous reporting can be made by calling 13 22 81.
Ms Cheyne said the government had also implemented a better job-triage system to eliminate the perception that “the more people that submit a job, the more likely it’s going to get attention”.
“A lot of people submitting about [for example] a streetlight that’s broken is not going to help us do it any faster or effectively; in fact, it may slow us down,” she said.
“We now have much more sophisticated triaging and identification of simple jobs … but, probably two years ago, we did not.
“As much as Fix My Street, as a brand, can get a bad rap, the fact that we’ve seen requests from the community stay largely consistent over the last few years, I think shows … it still is trusted as a model for the community.”
Aside from the functionality of Fix My Street, many other witnesses at the hearing questioned why the government seemed to rely so heavily on the program to maintain Canberra’s assets.
“It should not be up to people who are moving about our city to be reporting absolutely everything,” Living Streets Canberra convenor Gillian King said.
“Fix My Street should not take the place of maintenance or compliance.”
Pedal Power senior advocate Jeff Ibbotson also questioned the point of reporting.
“Unless there’s finance to fix the problem … why [should we] bother reporting?” he asked.
“There’s no point in fixing the … interface if you’re not improving the end result.”
The Fix My Street inquiry report is due by December.
