On the control of public service

An approach to planning and controlling the utilization of a public service center is studied. In particular, three concerns of dealing with public service are addressed: classification, measurement of differential utility, and development of approaches to aid efficient operation of public service centers. For a prespecified service center utilization level, we show that it will not be optimal, in general, to discriminate in favor of a single type of user to the exclusion of others. The diversification among classes of users may also result under prespecification of the expected arrival rate in addition to the service utilization level. The optimal proportion of users from each type is obtained for both the policies and are compared with popularly appealing policies. In addition, an accounting and control system to implement the suggested policies is developed based on flexible budgets for the service center. © 1994, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.