Ask any Montreal driver what their biggest gripe with the roads is, and you’ll get one answer. Not construction. Not traffic. Potholes.
Every local knows that sudden, stomach-dropping feeling that comes when your tire disappears into a crater you didn’t see coming. Even Mayor Martinez Ferrada isn’t immune, recently sharing a social media post about getting two flat tires on Notre-Dame Street.
And if you’ve been feeling like this year is especially bad, you’re not alone.
Pierre-Olivier Gagné has had one too many of those dreaded “ayoye!” moments behind the wheel this winter. So instead of just being frustrated, he decided to do something about it.
“We’ve all had those moments where you hit a massive crater and immediately worry about your tires,” the Montreal entrepreneur told MTL Blog. “After a few of those jolts, we realized that instead of just being frustrated, we could turn that shared experience into something useful.”
The result is Ayoye.ca, a free bilingual map where Montrealers can report and track road hazards in real-time. Gagné co-founded the site in mid-February, and the concept is simple: visit the site, pin the exact location of a pothole, add a photo, and let the community do the rest. Other users then vote on whether the report is accurate or still active, and the system automatically updates a pothole’s status to “resolved” once the road has been repaired.
Ayoye.caAyoye.ca
Since launching, the platform has already logged hundreds of reports across the province, with the bulk of them concentrated in Montreal and the South Shore.
Some entries even include photos submitted by users.
A pothole listed on Ayoye.ca.Ayoye.ca
The feedback, Gagné says, has been indicative of the scale of the problem.
“Generally, people really seem to appreciate the initiative and the idea of having a dedicated tool to track such a universal frustration,” he says. “We’ve noticed a lot of engagement on social media, where Montrealers are using the platform to vent about the state of the roads. It’s clear that people value having a way to turn that collective frustration into a shared, helpful resource for the community.”
The long-term vision goes beyond just cataloguing craters, though. Gagné says the team is already working on a parallel project based on community feedback, though details are still under wraps.
“We want to ensure that as long as there are roads to navigate, the community has a platform to report and track their condition,” he says. “Looking ahead, we are very open to collaborating with the public, local authorities, or any organizations interested in road safety.”
For now, Ayoye.ca is live and free to use. If you’ve hit one too many potholes this spring (or just want to avoid encountering another), you know where to go.
