City looks to AI to get a jump on potholes By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 6:16 PM CDT Monday, Jul. 8, 2024

The City of Winnipeg will use artificial intelligence to pinpoint the locations and sizes of potholes, with the goal of speeding up that work.

The pothole imaging pilot project is one of a few new AI efforts the city will test to try to improve services.

“The pilot project that we are planning to do takes video images from any camera that’s vehicle-mounted. We’re planning to do (this on) buses but it could also be other city vehicles. It takes that image and it runs the image through an artificial intelligence… It uses machine vision, essentially, to say, ‘is this a pothole first?’ …and then it classifies it (by size),” said Tyler Gooch, the city’s director of innovation and technology.

Gooch said the pilot is expected to start at the beginning of the 2025 pothole season, with the exact date depending on weather conditions. He said the city has started planning the details.

“The vision is that, eventually, when a pothole appears, a city vehicle passes by that pothole maybe (as soon as) the same day and now we’ve identified that that pothole exists. We’d basically get… faster information about where the potholes are and better information about where the large potholes are … It gives us that information faster without requiring a human to report it, which lets us prioritize the work and plan better,” he said.

Citizens and city crews are relied on to report cracks and craters in the road now.

As of July 1, the city filled 179,630 potholes this year, including some repeat repairs after heavy rain washed out filler material.

Meanwhile, some residents have complained about craters they believe were left in the road for weeks or months at a time.

Gooch said earlier detection alone wouldn’t increase resources for pothole crews, which affect when repairs are completed. But the AI system could make Winnipeg one of the municipal leaders in quicker pothole identification.

“We think we’ll be one of the earliest in North America to do this. There are other cities that are exploring this (but not yet using it) as well,” he said.

A Winnipegger concerned about a deep pothole on Campbell Street welcomed the idea of using technology to keep better track of deep cracks in the road.

“That’s a brilliant idea. What’s happening now with the potholes, it’s passive reporting. If someone calls the city or calls 311 or sends an email, (the city knows) there’s a pothole at Campbell. If nobody calls it in, (the city doesn’t) know… But if you’ve got buses (or) other city vehicles with cameras tracking potholes, then there’s an active surveillance as opposed to leaving it to the public. If you’ve got an active surveillance program, that’s how you get things done,” said John Embil.

Embil said he and his wife first began asking the city to repair what he describes as a large and growing pothole on Campbell Street just north of Academy Road about two months ago. He doesn’t believe the crater has been repaired.

City of Winnipeg officials did not answer questions about how long that particular pothole has been in place, or whether any crews have tried to fix it, by deadline Monday.

Embil said he understands the city has budget constraints that can limit its road work. While he also doesn’t think potholes are the city’s most pressing issue, they still must be dealt with, he said.

“You’ve got ratty edges, people drive on it … The rebar is sticking through. At some point, there will be an MPI claim,” he said.

The AI pilot project is expected to cost up to $75,000, while its results would help determine the cost to use the technology on a permanent basis.

Gooch said the cameras could also potentially spot other city infrastructure concerns such as damaged bus shelters or road signs.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga