Fix My Transport

CHARITY CAMPAIGNERS mySociety have launched a new transport-fixing website today called FixMyTransport which will work in tandem with their hugely popular FixMyStreet neighbourhood reporting website.

FixMyTransport, is a website specially built for public transport users in Britain who want to make public transport better for us all. The new website has the by-line Euston, we have a problem! which is taken from the famous words supposedly uttered by the crew of Apollo 13 when they had a life-threatening technical problem - but you don't need a degree in rocket science to use the new website.

In an interface which is easy to use, you can report (for example) a problem with the Withernsea to Hull route 75 by clicking on the relevant buttons which takes you to a page where you can tell the responsible people (in our case EYMS) about the problem.

You can use the website to report problems - or give compliments - about a particular STOP or STATION,  or a JOURNEY or a ROUTE.

We've had a browse around the site - the only fault we have found to date, is that the new EYMS service No. 74 does not yet appear on the site.

Now we just need to wait for the first problem - or reason to say something nice - about our local transport providers to materialise....

www.fixmytransport.com

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Fond of FixMyStreet? Well check out the improvements!

THE HU12 WEBSITE is particularly fond of FixMyStreet and encourages residents to use the service to report all manner of neighbourhood issues to the East Riding Council. You simply type in your post-code, find your local map and report your problem following the simple instructions.

We feature a local South Holderness report on our right-hand side bar if you have not looked lately.

Have a look at the Summary Reports from South West Holderness on FixMyStreet to see the service in action. Lots on there at the moment about the smells from the Yorkshire Water Waste Water Treatment Works at Saltend.

BUT DID YOU KNOW... FixMyStreet is now even better!

It has introduced new user accounts. So now you can:

» Report problems and leave updates without having to confirm by email each time;
» View all the reports and updates that you have made;
» See a summary map of your reports.

They have also added new zoomable maps allowing you to 'get your bearings', which should make problem reporting much easier.

Fixing Your Street has never been so good!

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Fix My Street works - but replies not always received

Typical FixMyStreet Map

THE FIX MY STREET website is becoming an increasingly popular way to report neighbourhood problems in the HU12 area. It was relatively unused in the area two years ago, but an article on the Hedon Blog in February 2009, and residents using it since then, have helped bring the website to wider attention.

However, following using Fix My Street, some users have said that they do not hear anything back from the Council. But an East Riding Council spokesperson insisted earlier this year that: "FixMyStreet certainly does remain a website that the Council continues to take seriously and we act on all requests as soon as we can."

Fix My Street is an easy-to-use website to report a neighbourhood problem - you simply enter your post code, then scroll along the map using the arrow keys until you find the location of your problem or issue (be precise as you can), then 'click' and a flag will appear and you can fill in a box with the problem details. You are asked for your e-mail and asked to verify it by clicking on a link sent to you - this proves you are a real person and not a 'spam' robot.

On this website

Minutes later your problem is sent to the East Riding Council and you should get an acknowledgement from them about receiving your notification of a problem. However, occasionally a reply direct to the customer is not always sent.

E-mails from FixMyStreet automatically go through to the Council's myeastriding website. Only then are they sent through to Customer Services to be actioned. But occasionally (due to an incompatibility issue with computer software) they are received by Customer Services with an automated message from the myeastriding website that says 'PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL' which staff comply with.

The council spokesperson said:

I can assure you that any contact we receive from FixMyStreet via 'myeastriding' is recorded and actioned as soon as possible and if a response/acknowledgement is not received, that can only be due to the (automated) message at the end, which really means to NOT reply to the 'myeastriding' web address! There should always be at least an instant automated response/acknowledgement back to the customer, pending a full reply from either Customer Services or the individual Service Department concerned.

A map of the South West Holderness area is used on the HU12 website to record the last 20+ issues reported on Fix My Street. It can be found by looking on the right-hand, side-bar.

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Potholes being repaired - but keep reporting them!

TEAMS ARE WORKING THROUGHOUT THE EAST RIDING to repair the damage caused to our roads as soon as possible, reports the East Riding Council.

Damage to the roads was caused by the third successive severe winter, which this year recorded the lowest ever temperatures. As a result more council staff than ever have been working to make the repairs needed to roads which are part of a 3,500km (2170 mile) highway network from Flamborough Head to Pollington and from Sledmere to Spurn Point.

The repair programme is expected to last until late March when it is hoped the weather will improve.

Councillor Stephen Parnaby, OBE, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said:

"In some areas, we have extensive damage on some roads and, in others, a small number of potholes. Our response is being led by the highway engineers' inspections and information from councillors and residents across the East Riding.”

Work needed ranges from repairs of a single pothole to full repairs of a route. The repairs are being prioritised based on how severe the defects are and how important the road is.

The repair programme is a two-pronged response and teams are set up to undertake two forms of repair. Responsive pothole teams are filling holes identified by safety inspections, reports from councillors, the public and others. Where roads are particularly affected by numerous defects patching teams are following up to undertake longer-lasting repairs.

Members of the public can report defects requiring repair using the highway customer care line on 0845 600 1666, by email to highways.customer.care@eastriding.gov.uk.

Residents can also report local potholes via FixMyStreet.

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More Resources to Pothole Repairs - but do they require potloads more money?

ROAD REPAIRS ARE SET TO GET A BOOST as the East Riding Council increases the number of teams carrying out work across the area following the Big Freeze. But not everyone is confident that the road system can be repaired in the long term.

From today (Monday, 10th January 2011) 14 teams of council workers, an increase of 4 teams, will be responding to reports of damage to the East Riding’s 3,500km (2,100 miles) of roads. 

Councillor Matthew Grove, portfolio holder for highways and emergency planning, said: “December’s weather was among the most severe on record and it has taken a toll on our roads. We are allocating additional resources in responding to the damage. Our highways engineers are continually inspecting the network and updating our schedule of repairs and including those reports from members of the public. To repair the entire network is likely to take some time, even if the severe weather doesn’t return and cause further damage and hamper the repair work." 

However, Driffield Councillor Paul Rounding has expressed concern to the Driffield Times that the scale of the problem is so massive that it is only a matter of time before the roads crumble again. “What they are doing now is only a temporary measure because it’s a specialist job and it’s expensive. You can go for a quick fix and just fill it in and that will be it for a few months but you can guarantee it will blow out again”.

Potholes or surface damage to roads can be reported to the council's streetscene team on 0845 6001666 or by email to: highways.customer.care@eastriding.gov.uk

They can also be reported very easily on Fix My Street.

Pothole Facts from www.potholes.co.uk

• Potholes are a major factor in causing axle and suspension failure, which counts for a third of mechanical issues on UK roads and costs British motorists an estimated £2.8 billion every year.
• Authorities currently pay out more than £50 million in compensation claims due to poor roads.
• Road maintenance in England and Wales is underfunded by around 50%, or £1 billion every year.
• At current maintenance levels, the average frequency for a road to be resurfaced in England is once every 65 years.
• If all authorities were given the budgets they need to fix their roads, it would take English authorities 11 years to catch up with the current backlog, and Welsh authorities 16 years.

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