New partnership to help local councils combat potholes

Redtail Telematics have been appointed by Synaptiv to provide local councils with data to help combat potholes.

The data collected from Redtail’s black box telematics devices that are fitted to vehicles driving on UK roads, can be transformed into an assessment of the road surface, thereby negating the need for specialist equipment to survey roads once a year or employ inspectors to manually assess damage locations.

The Synaptiv solution can monitor defects as they appear, allowing them to be repaired before they pose a risk to drivers or deteriorate and become more costly to repair.

Dr Colin Smithers, chief executive officer at Redtail, said: “We are delighted that Synaptiv has appointed Redtail Telematics in their work to provide the data insights revolutionising the way local councils monitor and repair potholes.

“Our telematics devices and robust data capture technology ensures that Synaptiv has the most reliable technology to help support their ongoing initiatives with local councils to reduce the cost and manpower when it comes to addressing the plague of UK roads, the pothole.”

The analytics employed by the system also makes predictions on the rate at which a defect may deteriorate, to help councils prioritise repair schedules.

Matt Lewis, CEO at Synaptiv, said: “Working with Redtail has allowed us to accelerate the development of our artificial intelligence algorithms capable of transforming data from connected vehicles into an accurate assessment of road health.

“It is exciting to see our innovation help local authorities start delivering on the promise of the smart city, with data-driven insights dramatically improving public services and enhancing the quality of life for citizens.”

Synaptiv is a connected car platform that turns data from systems embedded on the vehicle, or from an installed telematics device into smart city insights using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques.

June to September 2021 saw the RAC deal with the largest proportion of pothole-related callouts in any third quarter since 2006.