My wife and I have been collecting crash data for about a month and half now for cities in the Vision Zero Network and I’m happy to say that we’re pretty much done!
I say “pretty much done” because there are still a few outstanding items. There are a few cities, like Albuquerque, NM and Madison, WI, that we’ve requested crash data from and have not heard back yet. I thought that Madison might have data available on their Open Data portal but I had to request the data from the Wisconsin DOT yesterday. I requested Albuquerque’s data back at the end of December, but have yet to hear back.
Another outstanding item is how to collect data from “regional governments” on Vision Zero. For example, Hillsborough County in Florida , the Denver Regional Council of Governments, and the Oregon Metro are all certified by the Vision Zero Network. I skipped over these types of regional organizations to focus on city data collection first. My first thought on how to collect data from these spots is just to identify the cities that are in Hillsborough County or Oregon Metro or the Denver RCOG and individually collect their data. That’s probably what we’ll do, unless anyone can point us in the direction of a data repository for these organizations or as a better method!
The plan now is to move on to analysis of the data we collected. San Antonio, TX seems like a logical starting point for this phase of the project, since we live here. I’d love to rip through all the data for every city and put together some amazing Vision Zero site/dashboard, but there’s just too much. Plus, I feel like I should start in the city where we actually live and is in desperate need of an updated bike master plan.
There’s tons of data available on the GitHub so any other researchers in other cities with Vision Zero action plans should grab that data and start their own analysis. That’s really the whole point of this project — provide a solid foundation and jumping-off point for other researchers and advocates to analyze their own cities and determine how much improvement needs to be made.
I think this also helps with data transparency and open government. Sure, it’s great your city has committed to Vision Zero, issued a Vision Zero action plan, and has received a grant from US DOT Safe Streets for All program. But without residents actually checking the progress of these programs and demanding forward progress and results from their city leadership, the danger is always high that safe street programs, bicycle master plans, and pedestrian infrastructure developments will get shelved and cobwebbed because those programs are “too difficult”. What typically replaces these plans? More street widening and car-centric construction, making cities less healthy and more dangerous for everyone.