New York is using TeleNav's mobile GPS program on AT&T's network to improve the safety and cleanliness of city streets.

TeleNav Track has provided New York street inspectors in the Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT) program with customized wireless forms for easy data entry on BlackBerry handsets. In addition to GPS tracking and reporting, the program includes wireless job dispatching, forms and barcode scanning.

"We went with AT&T and Telenav after testing other software and other wireless networks and finding that in terms of cost, functionality, ease of use and ease of deployment it was the best option," said Jason Post, a City Hall spokesman.

The New York City SCOUT program was launched last summer by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. It requires inspectors to report street conditions via the TeleNav Track program on their GPS-enabled BlackBerry 8800 mobile handsets.

Based in Sunnyvale, CA and founded by a team of GPS experts in 1999, TeleNav provides location-based services (LBS). The company was the first to launch GPS on the mobile phone in North America.

SCOUT inspectors observe and report conditions such as illegal dumping, street potholes, graffiti, missing traffic signs, open fire hydrants, down newspaper boxes, property damage in parks and damage to bus shelters.

The GPS technology informs management where SCOUT inspectors have been.

The program operates on the AT&T wireless network, which captures the information and sends it to the 3-1-1 Customer Service Center.

From the 3-1-1 center, the information is sent to the appropriate local agency for corrective action, including the city's Department of Sanitation, Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Buildings and the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The SCOUT team includes 15 inspectors who travel through every city street once a month.

AT&T has been working with New York on similar initiatives for several years, providing voice and data communications services for its multiple agencies, the company said.

"In 2008 alone, SCOUT inspectors have covered over 7,000 miles of City streets, and reported in over 3,000 conditions. The most common conditions found by SCOUT inspectors are potholes and other street defects as well as graffiti," Mr. Post said.