Stop the Presses: The DMV is Annoying to Citizens

posted by Ellen Perlman

I was so ready to praise the District of Columbia's electronic prowess. Then, just like a crash test dummy, I hit the wall at the Department of Motor Vehicles and got whiplash in terms of where my opinion stands.

Let's start with the good.

I was researching the Inauguration route for a travel story I wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer (for January 18) and for my travel blog, boldlygosolo.com. My editor asked me to identify two buildings in a photo I sent and I didn't know what they were.

So I went online to the DC home page and found a link called "Visiting DC." From there I clicked on "take the downtown bird's eye tour" and...well, I won't take you every step of the way but at some point I reached a page that gave me the opportunity to download a mp3 walking tour. Great! Who would have thought there would be so much good information online?

In the process of downloading, I found the directions a little confusing. And there, at the bottom of the page, was an email link asking for input about the Web site. So I mentioned that the directions were a little confusing. And explained why.

And was then shocked to receive an email thanking me for my input! Wow. Talk about responsive government. There was even a name attached. Someone at a cultural office who I could email again or call.

Like I said, I was all set to rave about DC's electronic responsiveness when, as a resident, I received an email about my vehicle registration renewal. Unfortunately, it contained a late charge that does not belong. DMV told me to call the inspection station, which is what the charge was related to.

The person at the inspection station agreed the charge was an error. But the only way I could fix it was to drive back to the inspection station and fix it in person. Wha???

I called 311 to make sure that was correct. Indeed it is. I asked why the DMV couldn't talk to the inspection station, take the charge off and allow me to renew by online.

Her answer? "It's not that simple, ma'am." Voice dripping with disdain. I didn't bother to say, "Why not?" I didn't think that would turn out well.

So now I will spend time and money to return to the inspection station on a morning before work so someone can do - I don't know what - that they couldn't do online or via a phone call to a sister office.

All I can say is...argh. And, perhaps, "Mayor Fenty, might I have a word?"

311 is not as easy as 1-2-3

posted by Ellen Perlman

from Governing's Managing Technology Conference in Seattle

So we just finished a special pre-conference session on city 311 systems, and some of the panelists cited a common problem: You set up this great 311 system so your residents can get information and customer service quickly, and then what happens? Other departments and jurisdictions want to horn in on your success without paying their fair share or doing the work!

No fair, says the director of the Chicago 311 call center, known for its smooth operators and efficient service.

Chicago's 311 call center was getting 2.3 million calls in 2001 and that number practically doubled this year, to 4.5 million, said Phillip Hampton, director of 311 City Services. In return, the call center is being pushed and prodded to take over the Chicago Transit Authority's call center.

"Once a system works well," he said, "you get demands from other agencies and sister departments."

Then there's the issue of county residents getting "free" city help. Some 15 percent of calls to Chicago's 311 are actually county-related. But the county provides no funding or staffing to help out. "We're being taken advantage of," said Hampton.

The Chicago call center reps won't hang up on people calling the city's information line with questions about county services. That wouldn't reflect well on the center, or its mission of providing quality service to all callers. So the city does the heavy lifting for the county, which does not have 311, but small individual call centers buried in various departments. Those departments are not open on weekends, when Chicago's call center is.

In July, Governing will publish a feature on regional 311 that addresses some of Hampton's concerns, focusing on the issue of regionalizing 311 systems.

Citizen Surveys

posted by Heather Kleba

Frequently, those of us who work on the Citizens and Performance section of Governing.com receive emails from project directors around the country telling us about projects relevant to the topic of citizen involvement in performance management.

Peg Stevenson, the Director of City Services Auditor, and Betsy Baum, the Associate Performance Auditor in San Francisco, contacted us to share some additional information on the San Francisco Citizen Survey, highlighted in the sidebar to Jonathan Walters' article (April 2007) "Polling the Populace."

"San Francisco has been doing citizen surveys since 1996 -- this past year we reached nearly 3,700 residents by mail, phone and Web to give San Francisco a Report Card on its services. Like some other cities, some departments use these for performance measurement and others to advise policy decisions," said Baum in an email.

The San Francisco survey measures city services that people use in their daily activities, including streets, parks, libraries and the MUNI public transportation system. Also included are demographics and basic characteristics of all city residents.

Significant findings from the most recenty survey include:

• In 2007, 40 percent of city residents rated city government favorably, higher than any other survey year.
• In 1999, the city survey reported that 60 percent of residents had a personal computer at home, but less than 50 percent had Internet access. By 2007, 82 percent had a home computer, and 80 percent had Internet access.
• While residents use city information services for many reasons, 40 percent do so to prepare themselves for a disaster.

For the 2007 report, click here. For past reports, click here. For more information, you can contact Peg Stevenson directly.

Previously: Data Dashboards

Know of a program that we oughta know about? Email Heather Kleba and tell her about it!

Data Dashboards

posted by Heather Kleba

Frequently, those of us who work on the Citizens and Performance section of Governing.com receive emails from project directors around the country telling us about projects relevant to the topic of citizen involvement in performance management.

Recently, we were contacted by Steve Gorcester, director of the Washington Transportation Improvement Board. After reading Jonathan Walter's October 2007 article, "Visual Effects," which describes the use of data dashboards by some public agencies, Gorcester told us more about that subject and how WTIB uses them.

Here is what we learned:

The Washington Transportation Improvement Board is a special-purpose government agency, not part of the state department of transportation, that gives grants to local governments to fund transportation projects. It serves all cities from Seattle to the smallest towns. The board's revenue is derived from the state gasoline tax.

The WTIB's data dashboard is a critical aspect of program management for the agency, used for all of its ongoing programs. It has enabled the agency to turn around its performance since the day, seven years ago, that WTIB was told by the legislature that it would receive no further funding until its management was improved and its backlog cleared up.

Taking its cue from the private sector, WTIB developed and built its dashboard project completely in house at a cost of $40,000. It came on line in 2004, and has since been expanded through the use of Google maps, which give employees aerial and street-level views of ongoing projects. It is used to monitor road conditions, allowing the color coding of roads or projects, so staff are alerted to those most in need of help.

More after the jump.

Know of a program that we oughta know about? Email Heather Kleba and tell her about it!