Pothole, Pavement, and Local Road Condition

Caltrans maintains a large and complex transportation network that supports the safe and reliable movement of people, goods, and services across California. Pavement conditions are a critical part of that network, and issues such as potholes, pavement cracking, surface damage, and roadway deterioration can impact safety, traffic flow, vehicle wear, maintenance response, and public confidence in the transportation system.

Potholes and pavement damage can develop quickly and may be reported through different channels by Caltrans field crews, local agencies, partner organizations, or members of the public. When pavement issues are not identified, prioritized, or coordinated efficiently, repairs may take longer to complete, urgent needs may be harder to distinguish from lower-priority work, and maintenance crews may spend additional time responding to recurring or hard-to-track issues.

Caltrans seeks innovative solutions that help identify, prioritize, track, coordinate, and repair potholes and pavement issues faster and more efficiently. Proposed solutions should support practical field use, improve visibility into pavement conditions, strengthen coordination with local partners where appropriate, and provide scalable approaches that can be used across different districts, roadway types, and maintenance environments.

Solutions may address one or more of the following objectives:

• Improve pavement issue detection by identifying tools, technologies, or reporting methods that help Caltrans quickly locate potholes, pavement damage, and roadway surface concerns.
• Support repair prioritization by helping Caltrans assess which pavement issues present the greatest safety, operational, or maintenance concerns.
• Improve work tracking by providing tools or systems that help document pavement issues, track repair status, monitor recurring locations, and manage work from identification through completion.
• Strengthen coordination with local partners by supporting clearer communication, shared information, and improved tracking for pavement issues that may involve multiple jurisdictions or nearby local roads.
• Reduce maintenance workload and repeat repairs by helping Caltrans identify patterns, recurring problem areas, and opportunities for more efficient repair planning.
• Support statewide scalability by demonstrating how the solution could be applied across multiple districts, roadway types, field conditions, and maintenance operations.

The desired outcome is to improve Caltrans’ ability to identify and respond to potholes and pavement issues more quickly, consistently, and efficiently. Caltrans seeks solutions that improve pavement condition visibility, support repair prioritization, strengthen coordination, reduce recurring maintenance challenges, and help maintain a safer and more reliable transportation network across California.