Readers will recall a post last week detailing why you’re not triggering that red light while on your bicycle, and what can be done about it.

Fixing the situation involves interaction, within Albuquerque city limits, with “311” and/or “SeeClickFix.” As getting comfortable with any new “app” or website always has a learning curve, BB will lead you through a bit of the experience we had in posting the following yesterday:

Ignoring how poorly worded the report above is stated, let’s familiarize ourselves with how one uses SeeClickFix to report anything. First, go to the website we have now linked to repeatedly in this post. You’ll eventually notice the “Report an Issue” button outlined in red below:

From there you’ll first be asked to pinpoint a location of the problem and then fill out details beginning by selecting a category that perfectly fits what you’re complaining about:

As you can see above, none of the specific categories has anything to do with bicycles, traffic lights, intersections, intersection traffic light sensors, or bicycles. So, for now, if you want to alert the City to problems with red lights sensing the presence of bicycles, you have to choose “other.”

That will, of course, change if enough of us make enough of these bike sensor reports. For now, we’re simply “other.”

After choosing “other,” you simply fill in the other stuff, and if it’s poorly written enough it ends up looking something like this:

At this point, it might be helpful to begin compilation of SeeClickFix/311 glossary of terms, particularly as several common terms at SCF/311 bring to mind the immortal words of Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Here is a start to that glossary:

• Acknowledged: This one is pretty close to its standard English definition. It means the invisible City people have seen your report and have proven that by writing up this auto-response.
• For your reference: Unlike useful references, this term refers to a long “case number” (here #180820-002664) that you do not need to memorize or copy/paste anywhere, because the search feature of SeeClickFix is so remarkably bad.

For now, defining these two terms will do. In future installments, we can discuss the bewildering use of words like “Closed,” and “Resolved” at SeeClickFix. We’ll get to those when our little 47th and Central report reaches those bewildering points. Until then, BB will simply try to encourage more usage by saving you considerable time in making your own first SeeClickFix reports. Hence this ongoing “primer” of sorts.

With that in mind, to reiterate what might be the single most important instruction in this Lesson #1: Do not try the search feature. You will only be entering a world of confusion and frustration. Don’t do it. Oh, and don’t look for an “advanced search” option, because there isn’t one.

Until next time in Lesson #2, Happy Reporting!