Update, 9/26/2006
Of interest to Payphone Project readers — and of interest to all who believe public information should be publicly available — comes an interesting release of a comprehensive database of mail collection boxes throughout the United States. This database is believed to include locations, descriptions, and scheduled pick-up times for every postal collection box in America.
Credit for this release of information goes to Mr. Douglas F. Carlson, an attorney and postal service activist who has successfully challenged the postal service on numerous issues. Most recently the PRC agreed to hear Mr. Carlson’s case regarding prices of Disney-themed stationary (link below).
Mr. Carlson was forced to invoke the Freedom of Information Act to get release of this mailbox location data, a strategy which suggests the Postal Service was not altogether happy about making this information publicly available in this format.
Two separate releases of data are available for download from the Postal Rates Commission (prc.gov) web site. These are large zip file downloads containing several Excel spreadsheets.
Recognizing the value of this information, I got to work and turned this data into a fully searchable reference for the Internet. The Mailbox Locator has quickly become the most highly-trafficked site on my network, and I believe its usefulness speaks for itself.
Douglas Carlson’s accomplishment in securing release of this data deserves recognition. By making this public information publicly available, Mr. Carlson has done for USPS blue mailboxes what I wish someone could do for public telephone information. It frustrates me that a similar release of data for public telephones is not available. I believe that the decline in number of public telephones makes their location information more valuable, not less.
Links:
Bill McAllister comments on Douglas Carlson’s work
Updated Release of expanded database
Zip file containing the first release Excel spreadsheets (~15mb download)
Washington Post: Disney Stationery Animates a Postal Spat
Search for mailboxes by zip code!