FAQ - Safety Data Initiative Category A SDI Beta Safety Tools
Real Time Crash Visualization
Can real-time transportation flow data from entities such as Waze and HERE be used with this tool?
Yes, the platform is designed to accommodate additional data and adapt them to suite specific information needs. The platform has used real-time data such as HERE in the past.
2-STEP Model
Does the 2-Step tool use Gmap library?
The current 2-STEP tool uses Google Maps as part of its functionality, but only for very basic and general properties. The map can be switched to OpenStreetMap without changing other codes, and the 2-STEP tool’s functions will not be affected. The 2-Step Model currently does not allow dynamic access to the Google Map Street View.
Safety Applications of Waze Data
Does DOT have access to the Waze Data?
Yes, the DOT has access to user-reported and auto-generated incident data from Waze, across the entire United States.
What kind of data does Waze provide?
The DOT receives and curates both user-reported and auto-generated data from the Waze Connected Citizens Program. These data are available for approved users and they cover the entire United States. Among other things, the data show traffic incidents and jams reported by users of the Waze mobile navigation app. Data have been archived since April 2017, and are received at high frequency from Waze.
Who is an approved user?
The CCP data from Waze is a proprietary data set. Approval to access and use the Waze data is contingent on users either being a member of the Waze CCP, or being a DOT partner. Per Waze, thousands of cities and other public sector partners are member of the CCP; becoming a member requires filling out and application here, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
Where are the data stored, and how do I access it?
An approved user may access the data using a DOT system called the Secure Data Commons (SDC). The SDC provides a secure, cloud-based analytical platform for registered users to access and analyze data sets including the Waze data.
What kind of analysis is possible with the Waze data?
The Waze data support numerous possible analyses, including analysis of crowdsourced crash reports by road segment, frequency of hazard reports over time, and time series analyses of jams. To date, the Waze data have been principally used by DOT for crash frequency and crash risk modeling; other applications include research on incident response times and use of incident frequency as a proxy for traffic volume.
What data products can be shared publicly from the Waze data?
Analysis of the Waze data must be done within the Secure Data Commons unless you are part of the Connected Citizens Program and have alternative arrangements with Waze. Raw data cannot be exported from the SDC. Data analysis products, such as model results, figures, and tables can be exported from the SDC and shared publicly, subject to the approval of the DOT and Waze. Derived data products summarizing counts of incidents in an area and over a time period can be exported from the SDC.
If I want to know more about the Waze data, who do I reach out to?
Please contact Daniel Flynn at Daniel.Flynn@dot.gov.Sa
Safety Insights (Formerly known as RoadCode)
For further developing the Ford’s Safety Insight tool – does the Connected Vehicle data come along with the grant award or do we need to budget for it in our proposal separately? If the grant award entails obtaining the data without any additional cost, is there is a limited time period for which the data would be available.
For any project seeking further development of Safety Insights, Ford would lead from a software development standpoint as a partner and provide access to the tool to the public agency partner. Connected vehicle data would be a part of any project involving Safety Insights, and access to that data would be provided throughout the length of the grant period. After the grant period, we’d work with a public agency partner to understand how to make the tool sustainable long term
Can we get a list of the data used in the RoadCode/Safety Insights project? Which of those datasets will possibly be available to us if we were to try and adapt that tool to our region?
For any project seeking further development of Safety Insights, Ford would lead from a software development standpoint as a partner and provide access to the tool to the public agency partner. Data used in Safety Insights includes three main categories; public, 3rd party, and Ford proprietary. Public data would be provided by the public agency partner and includes crash data and roadway infrastructure data. 3rd party data includes some additional movement trends data and supplemental connected vehicle data, Ford would support with licenses to use the data to power Safety Insights. The Ford data comes from vehicles and would be available through the tool as well.
Would any source-code be made available to us from the RoadCode/Safety Insights project?
Source code would not be made available, rather the likely partnership would see Ford maintain the code and commercial rights to the Safety Insights tool and the public agency partner would provide specifications for features they’d like to see built into the tool that Ford would develop. Access to the tool via log-in credentials would be provided to the public agency partner to utilize for their government work.