Permanent project revision

BOS:311 and Boston's Service-Request Record

Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates · effective 2026-07-26

Superseded. A later revision exists: 2026-08-20-source-dates-corrected →

unreviewed

Created the first structured Evidence Passport with 1 claim and 12 source dossiers.

sha256:cb653dbf18a7c7e4e8a7d1eb6df714823f81fabebc979e5dc2cbcd3b8a0da5c9

All revisions → Current entity page →

Change set

add /evidencePassport — Added claim-level evidence mapping and source dossiers.
add /revisionHistory — Established a permanent, hash-addressed baseline revision.

1: of 1 claims mapped
12: source dossiers
7: publication dates recorded
1: archives linked
0: exact locators
0: content captures hashed

Claims, one by one

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-1ad14068aec3d6a1 quantitative

More than 282,000 service requests in 2024; 198,838 cases in the database were marked closed and nearly 42,000 remained open

Published field: impact · verbatim
Mapping: mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says: The impact states these counts were tallied from the city's own open dataset by the Boston Globe in January 2025.
Caveat: The counts leave roughly 41,000 cases unaccounted for, and no independent audit has checked whether a closed case was actually fixed.

Sources carrying this claim

The Boston Globe — What did Boston residents complain about the most last year? (6 January 2025)

Source dossiers and revision state

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-20-source-dates effective 2026-07-26 · created 2026-08-20

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:cb653dbf18a7c7e4e8a7d1eb6df714823f81fabebc979e5dc2cbcd3b8a0da5c9

Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →

1: of 1 claims mapped
12: source dossiers
7: publication dates recorded
1: archives linked
0: exact locators
0: content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator: Boston 311, with the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics and the Department of Innovation and Technology (City of Boston)
Actor types: city-government
Funding model: public
Funding description: Not recorded
Cost: Not recorded
Ownership: Not recorded
Decision rights: Not recorded
Exit conditions: Not recorded

12 source dossiers

City of Boston — BOS:311 App (Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics) boston.gov · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-0449ce037d49056a
Publisher: Name not classified · boston.gov
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: 2026-04-13
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Operator page for the origin: 'Launched in 2009' and 'then called Citizens Connect'. Source of the channel figures: 'In 2010, reports from the app made up 6% of all service requests tracked within the City's systems. By 2014, the app now accounts for roughly 28% of all service requests.' The same page claims the app 'has been replicated and modeled by many other cities throughout Massachusetts and across the country' — operator self-description, deliberately kept out of the entry, and no source supports a 'first' claim. The page does not say who built the 2009 app, so the entry does not credit New Urban Mechanics with building it, only with running it.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

City of Boston — Mayor Walsh Launches Boston 311 (11 August 2015) boston.gov · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-3cfa2f44d341dcfd
Publisher: Name not classified · boston.gov
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
The rename and its date: on 11 August 2015 the city switched on the 3-1-1 dialling code and rebranded the Citizens Connect app as BOS:311. Confirmed via search rather than direct fetch; the date is corroborated independently by WBUR and Boston.com, both of which carry 2015/08/11 in their own URLs.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

WBUR — Boston Rolls Out 311 System For Reporting Non-Emergency Issues (11 August 2015) wbur.org · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-54adac68294f1183
Publisher: Name not classified · wbur.org
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Independent second source for the launch of the 3-1-1 line and the app rebrand on the same day, from public radio rather than the city.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Analyze Boston — 311 Service Requests dataset data.boston.gov · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-8c39d46031aa2804
Publisher: Name not classified · data.boston.gov
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
The dataset and the licence position: Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL), updated daily, publisher Department of Innovation and Technology, provider Boston 311, source the city CRM, with per-year CSV files from 2011 to 2026. Carries TARGET_DT alongside OPEN_DT and CLOSED_DT — a published per-case-type target, which is what makes the on-time question answerable at all. Also the currency note: 'Data transitioned to a new backend system beginning October 2025, with full migration anticipated by mid-2026', during which some case types populate the legacy file and some a new, differently structured one.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

City of Boston — CityScore boston.gov · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-4733f943649d764d
Publisher: Name not classified · boston.gov
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: 2025-10-30
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
The 311-to-CityScore link, counted from the operator's own metric list: of 23 metrics, eight are on-time rates for 311 case types (Pothole Repair, Streetlight Outages, Sign Installation, Signal Repair, Graffiti Removal, Tree Maintenance, Parks Maintenance, Missed Trash) and two more are 311 Call Center Performance and 311 Constituent Experience Surveys. Scoring: 'scores below 1 indicate that performance is below the target', 'scores above 1 indicate that performance is exceeding the target'. Also carries the EMS case: the mayor funded 'a new class of 20 EMTs and buy 10 replacement ambulances'.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

BOS:311 — Open311 API documentation 311.boston.gov · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-a0c6b8d5f63d2913
Publisher: Name not classified · 311.boston.gov
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
The write interface exists: the docs describe a 'Create Service Request' operation and state that 'The application key must be used in both read and write requests', with a default limit of '10 requests per minute' and Bearer-token authentication. Unlike San Francisco's, the key must be applied for and approved, which is why the entry does not claim an open write channel.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

The Boston Globe — What did Boston residents complain about the most last year? (6 January 2025) bostonglobe.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-1fd4f578f3a9f373
Publisher: Name not classified · bostonglobe.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2025-01-06
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: Open archived copy ↗ · 2025-11-04
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Source of the impact counts, computed by the paper from the city's own dataset: 'more than 282,000 requests for service in total'; '198,838 of the cases in the database were marked as closed by the city — or approximately 82 percent. Nearly 42,000 remained open.' The article's own 82% is NOT used here: 198,838 closed plus nearly 42,000 open accounts for about 241,000 cases, not 282,000, and the article does not explain the roughly 41,000 difference. Top complaint types were parking enforcement (63,236), street cleaning (22,539) and improper storage of trash barrels (20,432).
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: clm-1ad14068aec3d6a1

Boston 25 News — Boston backlog of thousands of 311 hazardous sidewalk complaints piles up (22 July 2025) boston25news.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-8f33c915ac22d914
Publisher: Name not classified · boston25news.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2025-07-22
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
The closure counterweight, and the closest thing to outside scrutiny found: 'of the 5,700 reports of sidewalk defects made throughout 2024, more than two-thirds remained open as of June' and the backlog is 'estimated to cost the city $800 million dollars'. The report attributes the counts to city data without naming an official source, so it is carried as press, not as an audit.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

O'Brien, Offenhuber, Baldwin-Philippi, Sands & Gordon — Uncharted Territoriality in Coproduction: The Motivations for 311 Reporting, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 27(2) academic.oup.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-7e8c88ca944afc08
Publisher: Name not classified · academic.oup.com
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Peer-reviewed basis for the lesson, and it is about Boston specifically. What it measured: three linked forms of information at individual level for a sample of Boston 311 users, n = 722 — reporting activity from the 311 archive, a user survey covering self-reported civic activity and territorial motives, and voter registration records. Findings quoted: 'most (76%) of 311 users reported only one case' and '80% within 2 blocks of home'. The abstract was read through the search index rather than fetched directly; the two-blocks figure is independently corroborated by the fetched Northeastern News piece.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Northeastern News — What the 311 system can tell us about the future of smart cities (18 September 2019) news.northeastern.edu · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-17e1e59ad18246d1
Publisher: Name not classified · news.northeastern.edu
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: Not recorded
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Fetched corroboration of the geography — 'Nearly 80 percent of the reports came from people who were within two blocks of their home' — and the equity point in O'Brien's own words, from The Urban Commons (Harvard University Press, 2018): 'a collaborative relationship depends on the assumption that people in every neighborhood are going to pick up the phone or pull up the app and report something. And what we find in the book is that's simply not true.'
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Boston Area Research Initiative — 311 Requests, Boston Data Portal (Harvard Dataverse) dataverse.harvard.edu · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-c783618afa8348bf
Publisher: Name not classified · dataverse.harvard.edu
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2026-02-23
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
The cleaned research version is real and current: doi:10.7910/DVN/CVKM87, first published 15 May 2016, version 10 released 23 February 2026, by Dan O'Brien, Forrest Hangen, Alina Ristea and Mahbub Maulaa. Licence CC0 1.0, no access restrictions. Holds the archive plus derived case types, per-user reporting patterns and neighbourhood ecometric measures — the same measures the equity findings rest on, published so others can recheck them.
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

City of Boston — 311 Technology Modernization Project boston.gov · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID: src-6f2de46cb73175bd
Publisher: Name not classified · boston.gov
Type / language: web-page · language not classified
Published: Not recorded
Updated: 2026-08-06
Source last checked: No source-level check date
Record last verified: 2026-07-26
Dossier created: 2026-08-20
Retrieved copy: No local capture recorded
Archive: No archived copy linked
Content hash: No captured content hash
Locator: Open the recorded source note
Currency: 'The City adopted its current 311 system in 2008', a Lagan platform now 'outdated, slow, and increasingly difficult to support', being replaced by Creatio for constituent relationship management and Cartegraph for asset management, rolled out in milestones. 'The full transformation of Boston's 311 system is expected to be complete by mid-2026.'
Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked: Background source; no baseline claim points here

Known limits of this passport

Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.