What Happened?
The Oregon Department of Transportation is collaborating with a smartphone app to collect data on users’ movements to better understand the traveling needs and preferences of residents. The big data strategy is part of an overarching plan to expand pedestrian and bicyclist-friendly amenities across the state.
Goal
The Oregon Department of Transportation signed a data-sharing deal with a smartphone app provider that allows users to track their movements via GPS and log workouts in a personal account. In Portland and other major cities, the mobile app has proven popular with a variety of residents, specifically bicyclists. The ODOT plans to analyze the user data, identify trends in bicyclist and pedestrian preferences, and use the findings to plan new cyclist projects across Oregon, Bike Portland reported.
The data-sharing deal cost the ODOT $20,000 to have access to the GPS data of 17,700 riders and 400,000 individual bicycle trips for a total of five million bicycle miles traveled in 2013. The ODOT can see what roads are traveled on most and the frequency of trips - without any personal information of the users being shared – to understand the bicycle travel behavior of local residents, Bike Portland reported.
The ODOT is working to invest in more non-vehicle initiatives in response to greater demand from residents for alternative transit options. With the boom in bicyclist activity, the data collecting from the smartphone app may provide key insight to support more efficient bike lane and amenities development in Oregon.
Traffic App
Transportation agencies are leveraging a variety of mobile apps to provide up-to-date information on factors impacting local commuters and travelers. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is offering a streaming video service that collects information from more than 700 traffic cameras and shares the footage via a mobile app. Users can access the real-time video footage on the mobile app or website to see activity on major roadways.
The goal of the service is to provide residents with the tools to make smart travel decisions and avoid congested areas. The mobile app also offers hands-free and eyes-free travel alerts for 40,000 miles of Pennsylvania roads to help trip planning efficiency.
Parking App
Similarly, the city of Norwalk, Connecticut, has adopted a smart parking app that provides residents with real-time parking data. Users can access up-to-date information on where spots are available so they can spend less time circling blocks searching for parking, the Stamford Advocate reported.
Wireless sensors are embedded in each parking space in lots monitored by the mobile app. The data from each sensor is relayed the mobile app in real-time so users know exactly when someone has pulled out of a nearby spot. Less time spent circling for a spot can reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions as well. The mobile app is provided by the city’s parking authority, which is self-sustaining and not financed by taxes, the Stamford Advocate reported.
Latest Data Craze
Gov1 has kept a close watch on public agency data strategies, including the boom of apps that connect residents to key service information.