The United States Department of
Transportation is currently working on a map of all the public transportation
services (bus, metro, train) in the country.
The US DOT plans to create this national map using only open data, and
provide it to the public once finished also via open data.
The Department of Transportation
claims three purposes for this open data map.
The first reason for creating this map was to provide easy access to the
United States’ public transportation users.
With quick and free accessibility, this map will facilitate commuting
and traveling, especially in between cities.
The second reason is to reveal, and ultimately resolve, issues within
each transportation system. The Department
of Transportation’s first step is to find and fix all gaps in routes and stops in
order to improve the nation’s public services.
The DOT’s third and final goal is to increase the number of public
transportation users, through both the accessibility of this map, and the to-be
improved public transportation systems.
As the Department of Transportation
plans to create this map entirely from open data, the DOT will need help. Currently, almost half of all transportation
agencies in the country collect their own data and either share it on their
website with the public or provide it to private companies (2). To facilitate the collection of data, the US
Transportation Secretary, Anthony Foxx, requested that every transit agency
compile their feed data into a common format and share the data publicly. The article also mentioned taking information
from user-driven apps (names undisclosed).
With the provided information, the Department of Transportation will
“[take] snapshots of each local agency’s feed” in order to obtain the stops,
routes, and schedules of each system (1).
In addition to
fixing public transportation issues, many people are speculating possible outcomes
of this national map when combined with other forms of open data. Joining data sets takes the DOT’s map project
beyond the basic functioning of a transportation system. The Department of
Transportation believes that through the improvement of public transportation, it
may contribute to eliminating poverty, in the long run (2). Daniel Morgan, The DOT’s Chief Data Officer,
explained that "it can be combined with other datasets such as car ownership rates
and poverty data to understand which communities could gain the most from
enhanced transit service" (1). Many
are also speculating studying the relationship between the open data provided
Department of Transportation and the open data provided by the energy sector –
in hopes of forming a more environmentally friendly department of
transportation – between the DOT and open geospatial data – as to potentially
create more efficient roads and routes – among other projects.
This article failed to elaborate in
three crucial areas: How, exactly, is the public to access this information –
through a website? An app? What apps is the DOT using in the making of
the master-map? Finally, who will be
studying the information between different areas of open data – the government,
or private sectors? Who will act on this
information?
1. Shein, Esther. "DOT Planning to Build New National
Transit Map Using Local Open Data." Fierce Cities. FierceMarkets, 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 3
Apr. 2016. <http://www.fiercecities.com/story/dot-planning-build-new-national-transit-map-using- local-open-data/2016-03-31>.
2. Spinosa, Bianca. "DOT launches open data push to build National Transit Map." FCW. 1105 Media, 25 Mar. 2016. Web. 3 Apr. 2016. https://fcw.com/articles /2016/03/25/transit-d ata-national.aspx
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