4 Ways Cities Can Change Their Data Game

The Boston Transportation Department has gotten smart. Of course, it’s always relied on data to manage traffic and plan new initiatives. But now, the agency is taking it further — a lot further.

To give you an idea, here’s just a sampling of its current data projects: The agency is collecting data via online surveys with city residents on what they want for future mobility and transportation needs. Then, it’s turning around and making the responses available to the public, who can sort through the proposals by ZIP code or neighborhood. It’s using data from emergency management, public health and public safety departments to get more comprehensive information on such factors as road safety and environmental resiliency to inform its planning processes. It’s also gathering data sets from the private sector, such as the mobility app Waze, to find out in real time what congestion points are most affecting commuting times in the city.

“We’re getting data a lot faster and from more sources,” says Gina N. Fiandaca, the city’s transportation commissioner. It’s allowing the agency to do its job better, she adds.

Making all this possible is the rapid proliferation of interconnected devices, from sensors in the streets to smartphones and other mobile devices. Highly scalable processing power and falling data storage costs are also spurring data sharing and new forms of analytics that yield valuable intelligence. But to take advantage of all these new kinds of data and new data sources, governments have to overcome their outdated systems and policies.

In a recent report, the Brookings Institution looks at the changes needed to modernize data use in transportation and planning, but the lessons can be applied to just about any city or county activity. In four steps, here’s how a city can up its data game:

First, local governments need to beef up their skilled personnel.