JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Potholes can make for a rough ride on Jacksonville roads.<\/p>\n
Only on Action News Jax, we found out a company using Artificial Intelligence to scan roads, wants to bring its technology to Jacksonville and catch cracks before they become craters.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s after an Action News Jax Investigation<\/a> found the city has spent over $2 million on potholes in the last two years. <\/p>\n The AI tech is smaller than the size of a basketball but it\u2019s built to spot big problems. The company who makes it is called Cyvl<\/a>. They use AI to scan the roads of Jacksonville.<\/p>\n The vehicle-mounted sensor is looking for things like potholes, pavement cracks and street dangers that drivers likely can\u2019t even see.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can we catch something when it\u2019s just a small crack or maybe a sign is just starting to lean one way or another?\u201d asks Cyvl\u2019s CEO Daniel Pelaez.<\/p>\n RELATED: Action News Jax Investigates: The top 5 roads in Jacksonville with the most pothole problems<\/a><\/p>\n We connected with Pelaez after his company saw our Action News Jax investigation into potholes on Jacksonville roads.<\/p>\n He says for decades, cities like Jacksonville have relied on crews using clipboards and eyeballs, reacting sometimes after road damage is already done.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to come up with a way for cities to be proactive. Identify issues before it\u2019s a massive gaping pothole in the road,\u201d Pelaez said.<\/p>\n We mounted the sensor on our car and rode with Pelaez as it scanned Jacksonville streets.<\/p>\n He showed us what the system sees, a 3D scan paired with street-view style video then AI flags trouble areas.<\/p>\n Fake photos, real fear: How AI is powering virtual kidnapping schemes<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re using sensors. It\u2019s LIDAR, which essentially uses lasers \u2026 plus 360 imagery \u2026 and then we apply AI \u2026 and automatically pick up these issues \u2026 everything from a big pothole to very small hairline cracks,\u201d Pelaez said.<\/p>\n Inside the platform, roads get color-scored by condition and the AI can map individual cracks your eye might miss.<\/p>\n Cyvl said catching problems early can mean cheaper fixes; before a crack turns into a crater.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what\u2019s helping cities go so much further \u2026 it\u2019s going to cost them 10% of what it will cost to fix it once it turns into a pothole,\u201d Pelaez said.<\/p>\n That matters because potholes can get pricey in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n \u2018These are God-given techniques\u2019: Action News Jax Investigates gender selection through IVF<\/a><\/p>\n In our recent Action News Jax investigation, we uncovered City of Jacksonville Public Works documents that show the city spent more than $2.2 million dollars on potholes since 2023 and paid out nearly $250,000 in claims in less than two years.<\/p>\n Crews then have to come out to those streets and make repairs.<\/p>\n So Cyvl\u2019s pitch: why not put the tech on Public Works cars that are already driving around the city?<\/p>\n \u201cThey already have people driving around \u2026 so we\u2019re like, great, let\u2019s give you a sensor that\u2019s plug and play. It\u2019s effectively giving them the power of like 10 more employees, The AI is figuring out where are the issues and hopefully everyone\u2019s happier and the roads are smoother at the end of the day,\u201d Pelaez said.<\/p>\n CBS47\/FOX30 Action News Jax & KFF Health News win prestigious duPont-Columbia Award<\/a><\/p>\n Our drive with Pelaez was an important one.<\/p>\n We drove him to his meeting with Jacksonville city leaders to talk about the very same tech that was attached to the top of our car scanning the roads.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city of Jacksonville has been very receptive,\u201d Pelaez said.<\/p>\n He said the tech is also appealing because of its success stories in cities like Atlanta.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u201c(Atlanta) had a massive need for understanding the conditions of their roadways. They hadn\u2019t collected this data in a while. They got the World Cup coming up \u2026 They had to do tons of improvements. So we were able to map out the entire city just a matter of a couple of weeks and give them tons of comprehensive information on their pavements and on their sidewalks,\u201d Pelaez said.<\/p>\n Action News Jax asked Pelaez what his response is to people who may be skeptical of AI scanning their streets.<\/p>\n His response: \u201cI know some people might think, \u2018Oh, where are these cameras? What are they doing?\u2019 We should acknowledge we\u2019re automatically anonymizing people and license plates. None of that. We\u2019re not storing any of that. All we care about is the condition of the roads.\u201d<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n We\u2019ve asked the City of Jacksonville about its current plan of action for identifying road issues.<\/p>\n It told us it has a formal program with trained teams using instrumented vehicles to look at all city roads on a two-year cycle. Those teams rate the roads to prioritize which need attention.<\/p>\n The City of Jacksonville confirmed it has met with Cyvl representatives to discuss the tech\u2019s applications. As of early February, COJ said Public Works is exploring a similar service with another vendor and does not anticipate any additional follow up with Cyvl.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Potholes can make for a rough ride on Jacksonville roads. 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