Use AI to solve Britain’s £5.5billion pothole crisis, says Citroen

French carmaker Citroen has called for greater use of artificial intelligence to tackle Britain’s escalating pothole crisis.

The manufacturer says AI should be deployed nationwide to monitor and report road defects, while utility companies should face tougher oversight to ensure roads are properly reinstated after excavation works.

Citroen estimates that repairing Britain’s pothole-riddled roads could unlock savings of at least £5.5billion by reducing accidents and improving efficiency.

Latest Department for Transport data suggests road defects contribute to 6 per cent of fatal or serious collisions. 

With crashes costing society an estimated £54.7billion annually, eliminating pothole-related accidents could save around £3.3billion.

The Chartered Insтιтution of Highways & Transportation also believes introducing longer-term funding programmes could save local highways authorities a further £2.2billion.

French carmaker Citroen has published a manifesto calling for greater use of artificial intelligence to tackle Britain’s escalating pothole crisis

As part of its newly launched Better Roads Manifesto, Citroen has outlined six recommendations for local highways authorities and councils aimed at improving road conditions.

The proposals were developed with the support of Dave Gaster, a qualified highways engineer with more than 25 years of local government experience who has been researching pothole reporting for the best part of a decade.

Among the recommendations is the use of AI-powered technology to improve road inspections, reduce costs, generate better-quality data and enable more targeted repairs.

Citroen also wants local highways authorities to be given stronger powers to ensure utility firms properly repair roads after carrying out works, alongside the introduction of a rolling five-year government funding settlement.

The company is also calling for a national road repair standard to ensure consistency in repair quality and enable authorities to be measured against common benchmarks.

Other recommendations include greater use of volunteers to help identify road defects and a more comprehensive road-cleaning strategy to remove potentially dangerous debris.

Greg Taylor, managing director of Citroen UK, said: ‘Simply calling for more funding isn’t realistic, so we are suggesting practical, cost-effective and logical steps that national government, local highways authorities and the public can support to improve the quality of roads across Britain.’

The proposals were developed with the support of Dave Gaster, a qualified highways engineer with more than 25 years of local government experience who has been researching pothole reporting for the best part of a decade

Citroen wants local highways authorities to be given stronger powers to ensure utility firms properly repair roads after carrying out works

The study also found that only a quarter of local highways authorities sweep roads at least once every three months to remove potentially hazardous debris, while some do not carry out routine sweeping at all

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How potholes are affecting motorists

Citroen’s report found that more than a quarter of drivers (28 per cent) have lost control of their vehicle while avoiding a pothole, as a result of debris from a pothole, or a combination of both.

The research also suggests motorists are prepared to help fund improvements. 

More than half (56 per cent) said they would pay higher council tax for better roads, while 49 per cent would support an increase in Vehicle Excise Duty – also known as car tax – if all proceeds were ringfenced for road maintenance.

A Freedom of Information request submitted to 154 local highways authorities exposed how they identify, ᴀssess and repair potholes, as well as how often roads are cleaned.

One of the most worrying findings from the investigation is that there is no national definition of what consтιтutes a pothole – as was revealed in a Channel 4 Dispatches report last April with information provided by the RAC.

Some authorities classify a pothole as being at least 40mm deep, while others require a defect to be 80mm deep before action is taken. Elsewhere, some define potholes by width, ranging from 75mm to as much as 300mm.

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Some authorities classify a pothole as being at least 40mm deep, while others require a defect to be 80mm deep before action is taken, Citroen found 

Councils warned they could lose millions in funding if they fail to fix potholes

The study also found that only a quarter of local highways authorities sweep roads at least once every three months to remove potentially hazardous debris, while some do not carry out routine sweeping at all.

There was significant variation in repair response times, too.

Some authorities said potholes could be repaired within hours, while around one in seven reported that repairs could take up to three months.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council said residents could face waits of up to 357 days for some repairs, according to the investigation.

The report also highlighted inconsistencies in the use of technology. Only around half of local authorities geo-locate potholes during inspections.

Of those that do collect location data, almost half said they do not pᴀss this information directly to repair teams.

Citroen says this can result in maintenance crews being dispatched without accurate information about defect locations, reducing efficiency and delaying repairs.

In one example highlighted in the report, Kingston upon Thames said it does not carry out in-person inspections whatsoever.

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Citroen has called on motorists to download an AI-powered road monitoring tool called STAN that can scan the road as you drive and identify potholes. The data is then uploaded to a central database to local highway authorities to access

AI that YOU can use to tackle potholes

Citroen said it has been working with AI-powered road monitoring tool STAN.

The free smartphone app scans roads while users drive, capturing images of defects and problem areas that are uploaded to a central database. Local highways authorities can then purchase access to the information.

The data can be used to identify emerging defects, prioritise preventative maintenance and improve the efficiency of repair programmes.

Dave Gaster said: ‘British roads are in a historically poor state. Unless we act now, we will continue to store up problems that become increasingly costly to address.

‘The findings of this report are deeply concerning, but the proposed remedies are practical, logical and, if implemented, could make a significant difference to the condition of roads across the country.’

Citroen is also urging motorists to download the STAN app to help build a clearer picture of the scale of Britain’s pothole problem and provide local authorities with better data to tackle it.

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