Service category mappings

Every city publishes 311 requests with its own taxonomy of service_type values. To produce cross-city category counts, 311info maintains a hand-curated mapping from each city’s raw types to a small set of normalized categories. This page is the full, live reference for that mapping — both for transparency and so that anyone who wants to reproduce the counts against the raw city feeds can build matching filters.

Download the full mapping

CSV, 229 rows. Columns: source_id, service_type, service_category.

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How to read this page

Each category below has a description of what it conceptually covers.
The mapping tableshows every (city, raw service_type) pair that rolls into that category. These come directly from our warehouse seed, so the tables always reflect what’s currently used.
The analyst tip calls out prefix and substring patterns you can use to build matching filters against the raw city feeds yourself.
Not every city has an explicit mapping for every category. If a city’s service_type doesn’t match any declared pattern, its requests fall into other rather than being dropped.

Street Lights & Signals

category slug: street_lights_signals

Broken street lights, outages, damaged signs, and malfunctioning traffic signals or pedestrian crossings.

Analyst tip

Austin splits street lights ('AE Street Light Issue - Address') from traffic signals ('TPW - Traffic Signal - Maintenance') and signs ('TPW - Traffic Sign Maintenance'). Calgary uses the 'Roads -' prefix for all three. Oakland uses the terse 'ELECTRICAL' and 'TRAFFIC_ENGIN' abbreviations.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	AE Street Light Issue - Address AE Street Light Issue - No Address TPW - Traffic Sign Emergency TPW - Traffic Sign Maintenance TPW - Traffic Sign New TPW - Traffic Signal - Maintenance TPW - Traffic Signal - Modification TPW - Traffic Signal - New
Calgary	Roads - Signs - Missing - Damaged Roads - Streetlight Damage Roads - Streetlight Maintenance Roads - Traffic or Pedestrian Light Repair
Chicago	Street Light Out Complaint Traffic Signal Out Complaint
Edmonton	Traffic Signals and Street Lights
Los Angeles	Streetlight Repair Services Traffic Safety
New Orleans	Street and Traffic Signs Streetlights Traffic Safety Traffic Signals
New York City	Traffic Signal Condition
Oakland	ELECTRICAL TRAFFIC_ENGIN
San Francisco	Streetlights
Somerville	Street Lights & Traffic Signals

Trash & Recycling

category slug: trash_recycling

Missed garbage pickups, recycling and composting issues, bulk-item collection, cart maintenance, and household hazardous waste.

Analyst tip

Austin prefixes everything 'ARR -' (Austin Resource Recovery): 'ARR - Garbage', 'ARR - Recycling', 'ARR - Compost', 'ARR - Bulk', 'ARR - Household Hazardous Waste'. Calgary uses a mix of 'WRS -' (Waste and Recycling Services) and 'GFL -' (the contractor Green For Life). NYC doesn't break sanitation out into its own category in our mapping — expect NYC sanitation requests to appear under 'other' or 'street_cleaning'.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	ARR - Brush ARR - Bulk ARR - Collection Truck Spillage ARR - Compost ARR - Dead Animal Collection ARR - Garbage ARR - General ARR - Household Hazardous Waste ARR - Recycling ARR - Special Services
Baton Rouge	GARBAGE RECYCLING
Calgary	GFL - Black Cart Collection WRS - Cart Management WRS - Compost - Green Cart WRS - New Service - Carts WRS - Recycling - Blue Cart WRS - Waste - Residential
Chicago	Blue Recycling Cart Garbage Cart Maintenance
Edmonton	Collection and Disposal Services
Los Angeles	Item Pickups
New Orleans	Trash/Recycling
Oakland	RECYCLING
Somerville	Trash & Recycling
Winnipeg	Garbage & Recycling

Water, Sewer & Drainage

category slug: water_sewer_drainage

Water main breaks and leaks, sewer backups, storm drain clogs, catch basin concerns, and flooding.

Analyst tip

Austin uses 'AW -' (Austin Water) and 'WPD -' (Watershed Protection Department) prefixes. Calgary uses 'WATS -' (Water and Sewer). NYC uses 'WATER LEAK' and 'Water System'. Baton Rouge has a broader 'ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES' that may include non-water items — cross-check against the raw feed if precision matters.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	AW - Water Conservation Violation AW - Water Related Issues WPD - Channels/Creek/Drainage Issues WPD - Storm Drain Services
Baton Rouge	DRAINAGE EROSION FLOODING OR HOLES ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES SEWER/WASTEWATER
Calgary	WATS - Catch Basin Concerns WATS - Sewage Back-up WATS - Sewer Maintenance WATS - Water Main Break or Leak WATS - Water Meter Issues WATS - Water Outage
Chicago	Sewer Cleaning Inspection Request Water On Street Complaint
New Orleans	Drainage
New York City	WATER LEAK Water System
Oakland	METER_REPAIR SEWERS
San Francisco	Sewer
Winnipeg	Sewer & Drainage Water

Building & Housing Maintenance

category slug: building_maintenance

Complaints about the physical condition of buildings and housing — blight, code violations, failing plumbing and heat, unsanitary conditions, and property maintenance concerns on both residential and commercial properties.

Analyst tip

This is where NYC's HPD-style housing complaints live: 'HEAT/HOT WATER', 'PLUMBING', 'PAINT/PLASTER', 'DOOR/WINDOW', 'UNSANITARY CONDITION'. Chicago uses the single catch-all 'Building Violation'. Baton Rouge uses 'BLIGHTED PROPERTIES' and 'BUILDING CODE/ZONING VIOLATIONS'. Expect this category to be large in cities with aggressive code enforcement.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	DSD - Follow-Up DSD - Request Code Officer DSD - Short Term Rental Complaint
Baton Rouge	BLIGHTED PROPERTIES BUILDING CODE/ZONING VIOLATIONS
Calgary	Bylaw - Property Maintenance Concerns
Chicago	Building Violation
dallas	Code Concern - CCS
Edmonton	Bylaw Complaints
New Orleans	Health Related Request Property Maintenance Safety & Permits
New York City	DOOR/WINDOW HEAT/HOT WATER PAINT/PLASTER PLUMBING UNSANITARY CONDITION
Oakland	BLDGMAINT
San Francisco	Damage Property Residential Building
Somerville	City & School Buildings Health & Neighborhood

Potholes & Roads

category slug: potholes_roads

Potholes, failing pavement, road resurfacing requests, traffic-control issues, and (in winter cities) snow and ice control for roadways.

Analyst tip

Austin prefixes with 'TPW -' for Transportation and Public Works ('TPW - Pothole Repair', 'TPW - Pavement Failure'). Calgary uses 'Roads -' as its prefix and includes 'Roads - Snow and Ice Control' here — if you're analyzing a Canadian city, expect winter months to dominate this category. Chicago splits 'Alley Pothole Complaint' from 'Pothole in Street Complaint'. NYC uses the single catch-all 'Street Condition'.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	TPW - Pavement Failure TPW - Pothole Repair TPW - Street Resurfacing
Baton Rouge	ROAD MAINTENANCE ISSUES STREET/TRAFFIC ISSUES
Calgary	Roads - Backlane Maintenance Roads - Pothole Maintenance Roads - Roadway Maintenance Roads - Snow and Ice Control
Chicago	Alley Pothole Complaint Pothole in Street Complaint
Edmonton	Maintenance - Snow and Ice Potholes
Los Angeles	Street Pavement Issues
New Orleans	Road Striping Roads and Streets
New York City	Street Condition
Oakland	TRAFFIC
San Francisco	Street Defect
Somerville	Snow
Winnipeg	Street Maintenance

Trees & Parks

category slug: trees_vegetation

Tree trimming and removal, downed limbs, park maintenance, and urban forestry concerns.

Analyst tip

Chicago has the richest split: 'Tree Debris Clean-Up Request', 'Tree Emergency', 'Tree Removal Inspection', and the retired 'Tree Trim Request (NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED)' — if you're computing historical Chicago tree-trim counts, note the cutoff date. Calgary uses 'Parks - Tree Concern - GIS'. New Orleans and Somerville lump trees together with parks under 'Parks & Parkways' / 'Parks & Playgrounds'.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	DSD - Tree and Environmental Complaint Park Maintenance - Grounds TPW - Tree Issue Right of Way
Baton Rouge	MOWING AND TREE ISSUES
Calgary	Parks - Tree Concern - GIS
Chicago	Tree Debris Clean-Up Request Tree Emergency Tree Removal Inspection Tree Trim Request (NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED)
Los Angeles	Landscape Maintenance Street Tree Inspection Tree Emergency
New Orleans	Parks & Parkways
Oakland	PARKS TREES
San Francisco	Tree Maintenance
Somerville	Parks & Playgrounds Trees
Winnipeg	Parks and Urban Foresty

Animals & Pests

category slug: animals

Complaints about loose, injured, or dead animals on public property; dog bites; wildlife concerns (coyotes, raccoons); and rodent or pest sightings.

Analyst tip

Austin prefixes everything 'Animal Protection - ...'. Calgary uses 'AS -' for animal services and also files rodent calls under 'Parks - Wildlife Management'. NYC does not currently have a dedicated animal service_type in our mapping — rodent and wildlife complaints land under building or street categories in that city.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	Animal Protection - Animal Bite Animal Protection - Animal Proper Care Animal Protection - Assistance Request Animal Protection - Coyote Complaints Animal Protection - Injured/Sick Animal Animal Protection - Loose Dog Animal Protection - Vicious Dog Complaint Animal Protection - Wildlife Exposure
Calgary	AS - Animal Noise AS - Animal at Large AS - Pick Up Stray Parks - Wildlife Management Roads - Dead Animal Pick-Up
Chicago	Rodent Baiting/Rat Complaint
Los Angeles	Dead Animal Removal
New Orleans	Mosquito Termite & Rodent Control
Somerville	Animals & Pets
Winnipeg	Animal Services

Parking

category slug: parking

Enforcement complaints about illegally parked vehicles, blocked driveways, parking meter issues, and parking-sign maintenance. Distinct from `abandoned_vehicles`, which is about long-term neglect rather than enforcement.

Analyst tip

Austin prefixes with 'TPW - Parking' (Transportation and Public Works). NYC uses 'Blocked Driveway' and 'Illegal Parking'. LA has a broad 'Parking Issues' plus 'Dockless Mobility Enforcement' for scooter parking. Oakland simply uses 'PARKING'. Note: abandoned vehicles are a SEPARATE category in this dataset.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	TPW - Booting Complaint TPW - Parking Machine Issue TPW - Parking Sign Maintenance TPW - Parking Violation Enforcement
Edmonton	Public Parking Complaints
Los Angeles	Dockless Mobility Enforcement Parking Issues
New York City	Blocked Driveway Illegal Parking
Oakland	PARKING
San Francisco	Parking Enforcement
Somerville	Parking

Sidewalks

category slug: sidewalks

Sidewalk repair and obstruction complaints, curb damage, and sidewalk snow-and-ice clearance concerns.

Analyst tip

Austin uses 'TPW - Sidewalk Repair' and 'TPW - Obstruction in Right of Way'. Calgary's sidewalk-snow-and-ice calls come in under 'Bylaw - Snow and Ice on Sidewalk' (separate from the equivalent roadway category). LA splits this across 'Curb Issues', 'Obstructions', and 'Report a Sidewalk Problem'.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	TPW - Obstruction in Right of Way TPW - Sidewalk Repair
Calgary	Bylaw - Snow and Ice on Sidewalk Roads - Pathway Concerns Roads - Pathway Snow and Ice Concerns Roads - Sidewalk - Curb and Gutter Repair
Los Angeles	Curb Issues Obstructions Report a Sidewalk Problem
San Francisco	Blocked Street and Sidewalk Sidewalk and Curb
Somerville	Sidewalks & Streets

Street Cleaning

category slug: street_cleaning

Street sweeping, debris removal from public right-of-way, and litter in public spaces.

Analyst tip

Austin uses 'ARR - Street Sweeping' (Austin Resource Recovery — the sanitation department). Calgary has both 'Roads - Debris on Street/Sidewalk/Boulevard' and 'WRS - Debris in Backlane'. NYC's 'Dirty Condition' lands here. Oakland uses 'CUT_CLEAN' and 'STREETSW'.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	ARR - Street Sweeping TPW - Debris in Street
Calgary	Roads - Debris on Street/Sidewalk/Boulevard WRS - Debris in Backlane
Edmonton	Litter
Los Angeles	Street Sweeping
New York City	Dirty Condition
Oakland	CUT_CLEAN STREETSW
San Francisco	Litter Receptacle Maintenance Street and Sidewalk Cleaning

Graffiti

category slug: graffiti

Requests to remove graffiti from public or private property.

Analyst tip

Most cities use a literal 'Graffiti' or 'Graffiti Removal' string. Austin splits public vs. private property ('APH - Graffiti Abatement - Public Property' vs. 'DSD - Graffiti Abatement - Private Property'). San Francisco does the same split. Calgary uses 'Corporate - Graffiti Concerns'.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	APH - Graffiti Abatement - Public Property DSD - Graffiti Abatement - Private Property
Calgary	Corporate - Graffiti Concerns
Chicago	Graffiti Removal Request
Los Angeles	Graffiti Removal
New Orleans	Graffiti Removal
Oakland	GRAFFITI
San Francisco	Graffiti Private Graffiti Public
Somerville	Graffiti

Noise

category slug: noise

Noise complaints of all kinds: residential parties, commercial venues, construction, traffic, aircraft, and barking dogs.

Analyst tip

NYC dominates this category with the four 'Noise - *' variants (Residential, Commercial, Street/Sidewalk, Vehicle) plus the bare 'Noise' type. Calgary uses 'Bylaw - Noise Concerns' and 'Bylaw - Disturbance and Behavioural Concerns'. Chicago has a dedicated 'Aircraft Noise Complaint' worth noting if you're analyzing airport-adjacent neighborhoods.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	DSD - Outdoor Commercial Venue Music Complaint
Calgary	Bylaw - Disturbance and Behavioural Concerns Bylaw - Noise Concerns
Chicago	Aircraft Noise Complaint
New York City	Noise Noise - Commercial Noise - Residential Noise - Street/Sidewalk Noise - Vehicle
San Francisco	Noise

Abandoned Vehicles

category slug: abandoned_vehicles

Reports of vehicles left unattended for extended periods on public streets or in other public spaces, including derelict cars and vehicle abatement complaints.

Analyst tip

Look for service_type values containing 'Abandoned' or 'Derelict' (NYC, New Orleans), 'ABANDONED AUTO' (Oakland), and Austin's 'APD - Vehicle Abatement' prefix. Chicago uses the exact string 'Abandoned Vehicle Complaint'.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Austin	APD - Vehicle Abatement Callback Request APD - Vehicle Abatement Report
Chicago	Abandoned Vehicle Complaint
New Orleans	Abandoned Vehicles
New York City	Abandoned Vehicle Derelict Vehicles
Oakland	ABANDONED AUTO

Homeless Encampments

category slug: homeless_encampment

Reports of tents, improvised shelters, or other encampments on public property.

Analyst tip

Look for 'Encampment' (NYC, San Francisco), 'Homeless Encampment' (LA), 'HOMELESS EMT' (Oakland), and 'Corporate - Encampment Concerns' (Calgary). Only a handful of the cities we track publish a dedicated encampment service type — others fold encampment complaints into 'other' or general building/street categories.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Calgary	Corporate - Encampment Concerns
Los Angeles	Homeless Encampment
New York City	Encampment
Oakland	HOMELESS EMT
San Francisco	Encampment

Illegal Dumping

category slug: illegal_dumping

Reports of bulk items, construction debris, or other materials dumped illegally on public property or in unauthorized locations.

Analyst tip

LA uses 'Illegal Dumping Item Pickup', Chicago uses 'Fly Dumping Complaint', Oakland uses 'ILLDUMP', Calgary uses 'Bylaw - Material on Public Property'. Cities without a dedicated dumping service_type typically log these under street_cleaning or building_maintenance.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Calgary	Bylaw - Material on Public Property
Chicago	Fly Dumping Complaint
Los Angeles	Illegal Dumping Item Pickup
Oakland	ILLDUMP

Other

category slug: other

A catch-all for 311 requests that don't cleanly fit any of the above categories or use city-specific service types we haven't yet mapped. If a city's 'other' count is unusually high, it usually means that city has a fine-grained service-type taxonomy we haven't fully normalized yet.

Analyst tip

No positive pattern — this is what rows fall into when we have no mapping for the city's service_type. Look at a city's own raw feed to see the full service_type distribution and identify which unmapped types dominate the 'other' bucket.

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

City	Raw service_type values
Los Angeles	Service Not Complete
Winnipeg	By Law Enforcement Insect Control

Auto-generated at build time — the mapping tables and CSV above always reflect the current state of the live data.

Service category mappings

How to read this page

Jump to category

Street Lights & Signals

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Trash & Recycling

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Water, Sewer & Drainage

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Building & Housing Maintenance

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Potholes & Roads

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Trees & Parks

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Animals & Pests

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Parking

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Sidewalks

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Street Cleaning

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Graffiti

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Noise

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Abandoned Vehicles

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Homeless Encampments

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Illegal Dumping

Raw service_type values that roll into this category

Other

Raw service_type values that roll into this category