StreetLight Data | Liz Roten

Transportation Climate Solutions

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

New federal requirements announced by the FHWA will put pressure on agencies to measure greenhouse gases (GHG) from transportation and track reductions. StreetLight has already been widely used to help agencies reduce transportation emissions through strategies like mode shift, electrification, and GHG measurement.

Now, to help public agencies and consulting firms meet climate goals faster, StreetLight has launched a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions product.

Join our webinar on Thursday, December 14 2PM Eastern / 11AM Pacific as we discuss:

How data supports the most critical emissions reduction strategies
How the right GHG calculations produces more actionable emissions insights
A deep dive on our new GHG emissions measurement product
How Metropolitan Council, the Twin Cities’ MPO, use our data for emissions work

Leveraging vector processing with R to analyze StreetLight Data

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Introducing {streetlightR}, an R wrapper for the StreetLight InSight® API. I highlight two case studies where we used vector processing to complete thousands of StreetLight analyses and compile the metrics into granular and meaningful results.

{streetlightR}

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

streetlightR

streetlightR is an R wrapper for StreetLight Data’s InSight® API that makes it easier for users to create analyses, upload zone sets, fetch results, and more.

To get a sense for what you can do with this package, see our presentation to the StreetLight API users group in November 2022.

Installation

remotes::install_github("Metropolitan-Council/streetlightR")

StreetLight API

StreetLight Data offers a limited-feature API for subscribers. Contact StreetLight support to request an API key and documentation access.

API key management

Contact StreetLight Data support to request an API key. Then, use streetlight_api_key() to save the key for future use.

library(streetlightR)
streetlight_api_key(key = "9999999", install = TRUE)

Regional Truck Corridor Study

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The study update process began in 2021 with a few goals.

Migrate existing calculations and documentation scattered in Excel workbooks, ArcGIS documents, and PDFs to reproducible R code and RMarkdown documents, complete with version control and testing.
Re-score existing corridors using most recent available data.
Evaluate new truck corridors and freight facilities as submitted by agency partners.

Throughout the process, I carefully balanced preserving the original methodology and accounting for each data source’s quirks.

Some data used in the original study were unavailable. Working with our transportation planners, I developed a method for estimating truck volume and truck percentage of total traffic using StreetLight Data. I then carefully integrated the data sources and patched missing data to complete the project. Finally, I completed an comprehensive project wrap-up, tracking down emails, chat messages, and meeting notes to compile a definitive “how” and “why” for each data source and analysis method. I used {groundhog} to preserve package versions and implemented a clever script naming convention to organize files. Documentation is a love letter to your future self - and I went all out.

Interactive

I decided to build the visualization using Tableau because I wanted to take advantage of Tableau’s dynamic tooltips, in which you can insert a mini plot. The interaction between elements, such as a map and a table, is more streamlined. Tableau can also turn out a snazzy visualization relatively quickly.

Screenshots

Background

Regional truck freight corridors were initially developed through the 2017 Regional Truck Highway Corridors Study. A technical advisory work group of public agency staff most directly engaged in highway planning guided this data-driven study that analyzed the region’s principal and minor arterials. Ultimately the study applied four data factors to establish corridor score rankings and to group the corridors into tiers 1, 2, and 3, in order of priority.

In 2018 the Met Council adopted the study’s final regional truck corridors into the Transportation Policy Plan and first applied the tiered corridors as project selection criteria in the Regional Solicitation process for distributing federal transportation funds. The corridors have also been used as qualifying criteria in recent funding cycles of MnDOT’s Minnesota Highway Freight Program.

Square Lake Park Master Plan

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Summary

Square Lake Park Special Recreation Feature recently underwent a master plan update. I served on the technical advisory committee (TAC) and conducted a focused analysis estimating annual visitation and visitor activity within the park. I presented findings to Washington County staff and the entire TAC.

Overall visitation

Square Lake Park has just one entrance and is surrounded by relatively low-traffic roads. I drew a gate over the park entrance and estimated the number of vehicles that pass through the gate using StreetLight Volume. Then, I applied a persons-per-vehicle multiplier to estimate the number of visitors. I also used StreetLight’s visitor home location metrics to estimate the spatial distribution of visitors.

Liz Roten for Metropolitan Council, 2021

Activity within the park

To visualize visitor activity within the park, I generated a hexagon grid and ran StreetLight analyses for different trip intersection types.

These maps visualize the activity within Square Lake Park on an average day during operating hours (6am - 10pm) in Summer 2019. Each map shows a grid of hexagons covering Square Lake Park. The hexagons are colored such that darker shades indicate greater activity, and lighter shades indicate lower activity. Each trip intersection type highlights the ways in which visitors enjoy the park. However, activity on Square Lake, such as paddling, boating, or using the fishing pier, is not detected.

View a higher resolution of this viz here

StreetLight Data

Data in this data visualization comes from StreetLight Data, an independent data provider which cleans, processes and assimilates millions of spatial data points from a combination of mobile phone Location-Based Services (LBS) data and GPS data. The data is anonymized, aggregated, and accessed only through specific analyses.

Using location-based services data for calculating the transportation greenhouse gas emissions of communities in Minnesota's Metropolitan Region

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Conferences

We’ve had the pleasure of presenting this project at multiple conferences. See the list below.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I developed a methodology for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from passenger and commercial vehicles for every city or township in the Twin Cities region. Data implemented include aggregated, anonymized location-based services data provided by StreetLight Data, the Environmental Protection Agency’s MOVES model, and MnDOT’s vehicle classification data. The resulting data is implemented in the Council’s larger greenhouse gas inventory, which quantifies emissions from sources including energy, transportation, agriculture, and waste management.

The data is available in our interactive tool, Twin Cities Greenhouse Gas Inventory

In May 2021, the Council was awarded two badges from the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, in part, for work done with this tool and the GHG Strategy Planning Tool.

You can find more information on the Council’s website here.

Climate change is occurring all around the world, including right here in the Twin Cities region. Minnesota has already experienced more extreme rainfall and warmer winters due to climate change, and more changes are on the way. The good news is that local jurisdictions can take meaningful action now to address climate change.

The climate is changing due to human activities which release greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere and cause average temperatures to rise. Many human activities emit carbon dioxide, as well as even more powerful greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and others. Each of these gases exist naturally in the environment, but human-built systems for energy, transportation, agriculture, and waste management are responsible for releasing climate-altering quantities of these gases.

Using location-based services to locate high activity areas within Twin Cities regional parks

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Como Regional Park Hex Grid StreetLight Analysis

Fri, 21 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Summary

To better understand activity within Como Regional Park and how that activity shifts with the seasons, I created a hexagon grid over the park and then used aggregated and anonymized location-based services data provided by StreetLight Data to measure relative activity in each hexagon.

This project was my first endeavor with Tableau and was used as a pilot before we dedicated additional resources to using StreetLight Data for parks research.

Details

StreetLight Data

Data in this data visualization comes from StreetLight, an independent data provider which cleans, processes and assimilates millions of spatial data points from a combination of mobile phone Location-Based Services (LBS) data and GPS data. The data is anonymized, aggregated, and accessed only through specific analyses.

This viz draws on LBS data. Cell phone apps that use LBS collect the device’s location in space and time. StreetLight detects trips, a movement with clear start and stop locations. StreetLight uses trips to create the StreetLight Traffic Index, which is a normalized measure of the relative traffic, or activity, in an area. The data’s spatial precision is 65ft or better and StreetLight estimates a 23% penetration rate for the combined US and Canada adult population.

Analysis

For this viz, we made a hexagon grid over Como Regional Park. We then ran a StreetLight analysis to measure the relative traffic in each hexagon and repeated the analysis for Winter (November 2017 - February 2018), Summer (May 2018 - August 2018), and all 2018. StreetLight returns a Traffic Index value for each hexagon for every trip intersection type, day type, and day part configuration.

Interactive Map

In the Tableau viz, you can view the analysis results. Each hexagon on the map changes color according to its Traffic Index, or activity level. The darker the color, the higher the traffic. You can view the exact Traffic Index value of any hexagon by hovering over it. Use the map tools in the upper left corner to pan, zoom, and adjust the map view. We suggest you view this story in full screen for the best display.

Using Location-based Data in Regional Parks Visitors Research

Sat, 08 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000