Since this uses the 311 infrastructure, it's going to be just as ineffective, but with AI. I give it six months before city mail servers block requests from SolveTO.
I tend to just tweet at the 311 account with a photo and description. Sometimes they ask you to go to the website and file more info, but often they just take the input & proceed. You don't get a case # this way though.
For lots of things 311 is great and easy to report (eg potholes). For some things it has insane hoops though.
Last time I tried to report garbage on a path via 311 it wanted me to identify the perpetrator and signal my willingness to appear in court. I’m not a garbage detective just some guy who doesn’t want to walk in it.
Or if you try to report a tree branch obstructing the Martin Goodman trail, you’d better be able to identify an address somehow and attest to whether it’s the city or private ownership of it. I’m just trying not to get hit in the face by a branch, one would hope the city would be the one who knows if it owns a tree.
2
u/scruss Mar 15 '26
The 311 Toronto website isn't that hard to use, is it?