The city’s 311 customer service system may not be serving all Torontonians equally, according to a recent study by three graduate students at the University of Toronto.
By comparing the areas of the city where 311 service requests originate with characteristics of those areas, the students discovered that neighbourhood attributes such as built form, the presence of minorities, and wealth could be used to predict whether residents would be likely to use the 311 system.
The researchers — Michael Himmel, Kyle Miller, and Brenton Nader — found that residents of neighbourhoods with a greater minority presence (e.g., immigrants, visible minorities, and non-English speakers) were less likely to place a 311 service request. This effect remained significant even after accounting for other factors such as wealth, population density, and the age of infrastructure in the neighbourhood.
The students also found that residents in wealthier neighbourhoods were more likely to place a 311 service request than residents in poorer neighbourhoods, even after accounting for the influence of other factors. This confirms an observation made by Toronto Life magazine in 2010 (“311 Records Show…”, Sep. 30, 2010).
Neighbourhoods placing the fewest 311 service requests per capita included Thorncliffe Park, Flemingdon Park, and Jane & Finch. Areas placing the most requests included Mimico, Birchcliffe-Cliffside, and Leaside.
Because 311 now serves as the primary gateway to a wide range of municipal services, it is important that Torontonians understand the reach and effectiveness of the system. The students’ findings point to the strong possibility that low-income and minority groups are not being adequately served by the 311 system, and consequently also by municipal services. One of the students, Kyle Miller, said, “If we can confirm this relationship with further research — interviews and surveys — it would have profound policy implications for the City of Toronto.”
Data for the study came from Toronto’s Open Data portal, an online repository for public municipal data. According to the portal homepage, “Open Data leads to transparent government: open, accessible and accountable.” The researchers used 12 consecutive months of 311 service request data (June 2012 to May 2013), representing a sample of 323,231 individual service requests. The service request data available through the Open Data portal are neither complete (some requests are redacted) nor representative of all citizen interaction with the 311 system, because 311 also handles many other types of inquiries and complaints. Demographic data were obtained from the 2011 Census and 2011 National Household Survey.
Michael Himmel, Kyle Miller, and Brenton Nader are graduate students in the Master of Science in Planning program at the University of Toronto.