Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck with Public Services in Topeka, KS
“What SeeClickFix allows the city to do, is to have citizens help report where the potholes exist citywide. The requests then populate our Cityworks system, and we’re able to develop a game plan on how to address the large number of requests in the most efficient and effective way. We’ve started out by addressing the high-traffic corridors, sending crews from one end of the city to the other hitting every pothole, and then sprinkling in any claims of damage to wheels or vehicles and promptly addressing those,” says Jaci Vogel, Deputy Director of Public Works Operations for the City of Topeka.
Vogel adds, “With limited resources, we’re trying to get the most value from our staff and available funds. The combination of maps, data, service requests and work orders offers us the foundation to make the best decision.”
Here’s Topeka’s step by step approach to making a short-term pavement management strategy:
- Use SeeClickFix to encourage residents in being the eyes and ears of the city by submitting service requests from wherever they are.
- Cityworks helps track equipment labor and materials, so staff can look up history at a particular location, as well as, the expenses and hours it took to address.
- City staff conduct field research to compare and contrast with other data sources.
- ArcGIS allows the city to overlay and visualize the data in order to identify hotspots and trends.
Strategic Planning Moving Forward
More recently, the city has begun to compare areas with planned projects with areas the city knows it has a high number of SeeClickFix and Cityworks requests. The goal is to see which projects will tackle the most requests and work orders at once in order to prioritize those projects. “This can be helpful in justifying a project’s priority and getting the most value for the time and money spent,” said Brandon Bayless, Project Administrator for the Public Works Department.
Here are the data sources Topeka consults prior to making a long-term pavement management strategy:
- Capital improvement projects plans
- Overlap of requests from SeeClickFix that flow into Cityworks
- Layers Cityworks work orders, requests from SeeClickFix (through Cityworks) into ArcGIS
- Field inspections based on past repairs
- Areas of lowest PCI (pavement condition index)
Want to learn how you can provide better public services by focusing your attention where it is needed most today, and have data to share all while planning for the future? Click here to learn more about SeeClickFix from CivicPlus®.