This audit examines the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) 311 service request performance reporting from 2010 through 2012. The audit found that CDOT,
- Regularly met its goals for repair of traffic lights, pavement cave-ins, and stop signs.
- Did not meet its self-determined targets for pothole and street light repair in any of the three years examined.
At least 26% of pothole repairs exceeded CDOT’s target of 7 days from request to completion, and at least 24% of street light repairs exceeded the target of 4 days. In response, CDOT noted that it strives to meet all of its service goals and agrees with OIG’s recommendations to address staffing concerns with the Office of Budget and Management and to continue to assign employees to priority services. The audit also found that the service delivery data the City presented to the public was inaccurate or incomplete in two locations:
- The Service Delivery Metrics website was inaccurate. 53% of actual service requests were not reported, making CDOT’s 2012 performance metrics for pothole and street light repairs appear better than they truly were.
- The Data Portal presented accurate information for pothole and street light repairs, but did not provide any information on traffic lights, pavement cave-ins, and stop signs.
CDOT took immediate actions to fix these errors and, in its response, notes that it recently launched an independent performance tracking tool on its website.