The city non-emergency hotline, 311, is now two years old. Mayor Bloomberg called it one of the "most popular services provided by the City of New York," logging in over 11 million phone calls between March 10, 2004 and March 9, 2005, which is a 75% increase from its first year. Some interesting statistics from the press conference:
- Four of the five busiest days for 311 were people calling about cold weather (2005: January 23 & 24, February 28, and March 1, which is the record holder with over 130,000 calls); the other day was when the $400 Property Tax rebate was announced last September 30
- The 10 most common calls were for: Heat and Hot Water Complaints (667,608 calls); Noise Complaints (620,185); $400 Tax Rebate (457,613); CFC and Freon Removal (265,474); Landlord Maintenance Complaints (220,309); Parking Violations and Ticket Assistance (190,567); Towed Vehicle Information (159,750); Garbage Pickup Missed (127,410); Traffic Signal Defect (118,944); and Subway or Bus Information (105,551)
- Average time it takes to speak to a live operator: 27 seconds
- 80% of the calls are answered within 30 seconds
- 311 gets an average of 47,000 calls per day
What do you think of 311? Do you use it? Gothamist is a fan of the service, even with the long wait times, because it makes us feel better that we can call to say a traffic light is out. Our coverage of 311 has included how its used to settle scores, how it works, and its first birthday. And we do know that Baltimore was the first city to use 311.
