The Postal Regulatory Commission today issued its Advisory Opinion in Docket N2011-1 on the Postal Service’s Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI), a program that identified more than 3,600 post offices and other retail facilities for possible closure this year.
The Postal Service is required to ask the Commission for an Advisory Opinion on any change in nationwide service it proposes. The Commission found that the RAOI is likely to affect access to postal services.
The Commission’s primary finding is that the RAOI was not designed to optimize the network. The Commission recommends the use of modern optimization tools and techniques to better maximize net retail revenues while fulfilling statutory service obligations.