Mayor Bloomberg won’t allow 311 operators internet access because he’s afraid they’d shop at work.

The 311 non-emergency government information system is a program Mayor Bloomberg loves to brag about, touting it as among his greatest accomplishments during the 05 campaign.

311 operators’ mission is to help citizens navigate the often confusing government agency maze. Theoretically, 311 could duplicate much of what the Public Advocate’s office is charged with doing as the people’s ombudsman. But that’s theory. In reality, 311 is not much more useful than 411 directory assistance operators, with 311 often referring callers back to the agency whose non-responsiveness or unavailability, if the problem arises after the agency is closed, prompted the 311 call to begin with. One reason for the department’s relative uselessness, is their lack of internet access.

It blows my mid, that in 2007, 14 years after the web became a mainstream information resource, that New York City won’t allow people whose primary responsibility is to provide information, internet access.

I first became aware of 311 operators not having internet access in August 2005, nearly 2 years ago.

According to last weeks US News and World Report, Richmond County (Staten Island) has the country’s worst average commute (No link because the online version of the article doesn’t have the commuting ranker and the writer would rather dwell on LA in the actual article. Those anti-Statenites.). On the faithful August 2005 night that I discovered 311 operators can not go online, I lived mid-Island, which has the second worst commute of any area in Richmond County, with the longest commute belonging to Staten Island’s South Shore. The time it takes me to get into or home from Manhattan has shortened considerably since moving to the forgotten borough’s North Shore in November, although I’m still stuck with off peak intervals of 30 minutes between transit options. Imagine if you had to wait a half hour between subways (which I must add us SIers lack).

I was out late at an advertising industry event that night, after the express bus that served my neighborhood ceased operating for the day. I wasn’t sure if a bus line that would have dropped me off a mile from home was still running, which would have been preferable to the bus that would leave me off 3 miles from home. The famous Staten Island Ferry is not really a commuting option from midtown for Islanders not residing on the North Shore. Taking the ferry home would have involved waiting for a subway, taking the train from the west 30s to the Ferry Terminal, waiting at the terminal, 25 minutes on the boat and either a $20 cab ride or a 45 minute local bus trip. The ferry suddenly became viable for me, although still not my fastest door to door commuting option, when I moved to the North Shore last fall.

I would have to act fast. I was hoping the bus that would leave me a mile from home was still running. But if it wasn’t, it would be a mistake to not board the bus that would drop me off 3 miles from home and wait at least another half hour for the next one. I called the MTA hotline, which ceases live operator service at 10 PM. Normally, that’s not a problem, because I can get schedule information from the automated system after listening to two minutes of useless messages such as if you “See something, say something”. Unfortunately, the automated system was malfunctioning that night.

The bus schedules are available online at MTA.info and I had a web enabled PDA on me. However, the bus schedules were only available in PDF form, which was not viewable on my PDA.

Then I thought, maybe 311 could help me. I called up 311 and asked the person answering the phone if they could give me schedule information. She referred me back to the MTA. I explained to her neither live nor automated service from the MTA was available. The operator responded, “Then you’d have to call them in the morning.”

I said, “I need schedule information now. I need to know which buses are still running. Unlike you, I don’t have a 24 hour subway as an option.”

I suggested that the operator look up the schedule online. The operator responded that she didn’t have internet access.

I was dumbfounded. “How can someone whose job is to provide information not have Internet access in 2005”(Forget about the fact that they still lack internet access in 2007).

I asked for a supervisor, who confirmed this. I asked for his boss who reconfirmed their inability to travel on the information superhighway. I though it was incredulous that no one in the entire office had internet access. I said, “Someone in your office must be able to access the web. What about Joe in accounting?”

Without schedule information, I made a bad decision, hoping I didn’t miss the last bus that would leave me a mile from home, I let one of the buses that would leave me three miles from home pass. I had just missed the last bus that would have left me closer to home. I eventually arrived home at 3 AM.

Bloomberg made a campaign appearance near my home in September 05, which I decided to attend so I could confront him about 311 operators lack of internet access. When I first asked him about their lack of internet access, Bloomberg originally denied that 311 operators were unable to get online. After I explained to him what happened, he admitted that they don’t have web access and glibly defended keeping 311 stuck in the 1980s with, “We don’t want them shopping at work.”

Lets get this straight. According to Bloomberg, 311 operators shouldn’t have a tool that will help them do their jobs much better and actually help people, if it means it could occasionally distract them from giving robotic useless answers. How did this man become a billionaire?

I bring this story up again two years later because I called up 311 today hoping things have changed. I heard about a meeting of the Staten Island Transportation Task Force (The life sucking commute is still one of my pet issues) taking place today and needed more information. I Googled the Task Force and found a web page that hadn’t been updated in more than a year. I asked the 311 operator for information about the organization. She had never heard of it. I mentioned the ancient web page. She said she didn’t have internet access.

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