Worcester To Start 311, A Municipal Hotline For Nuisance Calls

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester will start its own 311 hotline this summer, following in the footsteps of dozens of cities that have over the past few decades adopted the number for municipal nuisance complaints.

The 311 line would replace the city's (508) 929-1300 customer service number, which typically operates during business hours during weekdays only. Customer service operators will move to the city's 911 center in a bid to make 311 accessible in some form 24/7, officials said during a city council budget hearing on Tuesday.

"Now we'll be available when our residents need us," City Manager Ed Augustus Jr. told councilors on Tuesday.

The 311 line would be open for residents to report non-emergency items, like potholes, broken hydrants, roadkill and dead streetlights. Worcester Director of Emergency Communications Charles Goodwin told councilors on Tuesday many residents already use 911 to report these items during off hours.

Assistant City Manager Eric Batista — who will take over as interim city manager when Augustus leaves the role in June — said Worcester's 311 system will integrate technology apart from phone lines. There will be a Worcester 311 phone app where residents can, for example, send photos of problems. There will also be an integration with What's App, which Batista said is used heavily by foreign-born residents.

311 got its start in Baltimore in 1996, and has since expanded to most large cities across the U.S. In Massachusetts, Springfield, Boston, Andover, Somerville, Newton and Haverhill operate 311 hotlines.

Batista said the city hopes to roll out the 311 hotline on July 1 or shortly after, which is when the fiscal year begins. The hotline is part of a larger rearrangement of departments to create the Department of Transportation & Mobility that combines the city's transportation planning, engineering, capital projects and parking operations. The city's customer service operations are housed at the Department of Public Works building at 76 East Worcester St., and the department's move to the 911 center will make room for the new transportation department.