City auditor recommends mapping software and one additional patch truck to boost pothole productivity

The City Auditor's office presented a re‑review of the 2013 pothole repair audit on Sept. 30, telling the council that implementation of additional operational changes could increase productivity and improve equity of repairs. "We found that by using a mapping tool, crews could have responded to 27% more pothole requests and driven 40% less miles compared to the actual work completed that day," said Danielle Kish, a performance auditor on the project.

The audit team recommended three priority areas: 1) maximize resources through routing software and adding at least one patch truck (auditors estimated a one‑time cost of about $174,000 and projected an 11% increase in responses over five years for only a 1% budget increase); 2) strengthen data management by standardizing data entry and adding IT controls so crews enter data directly into Blueworks; and 3) add efficiency metrics and assess equity across council districts so proactive repairs and underreported areas are captured. Kyle Elser, principal performance auditor, said transportation has agreed to implement all ten recommendations.

Transportation Director Bethany Bizak said the department has already adopted program changes — a 10‑hour workday for crews, a Hot Roads program and before/after photos for customer closeouts — and reported an average response time of about 3.3 days. Councilmembers pressed for pilots of routing software and asked for updates to the audit committee in January on procurement and implementation plans. Public commenters suggested drone inspection pilots and highlighted the need to better maintain the patch trucks themselves.