Case studies

Traffic events map

The growing number of cars on the roads brings a number of negative phenomena that need to be addressed. Add to this the specific and complicated location of Pilsen – the transit city at the confluence of 4 rivers, the distribution of population and industry and daily commuting for work – it is no wonder that these phenomena are increasing. These include traffic accidents, traffic violations, parking problems, pedestrian and cyclist safety, and more.

The city’s goal is to eliminate these impacts, ensure safer transport, soothe it, and consequently reduce the number of accidents and injuries. These problems are addressed either by the police’s preventive or repressive activities or by the building modifications (contained in PUMP – Pilsen Sustainable Mobility Plan).

If we present these events on a map using heatmap technology associated with smart filters, we can come up with interesting conclusions that will certainly help to make the most effective decision-making on planned measures. By analyzing in time and in space, we can identify problem areas that need to be addressed. If we have properly structured data, we can also uncover the various connections between phenomena and areas.

The result may be the drafting of new measures or the verification of the success of the measures already implemented or the improvement of the coordination and effectiveness of the police.

As a specific example of use can be mentioned visualization of specific type of offenses – for example speeding offenses, or parking offenses and detection of problematic places. The information obtained from the visualization can be used to develop appropriate measures (more frequent police checks, creating new parking places, etc.)

Challenges encountered:

Both the Police of the Czech Republic and the Municipal Police have their own closed traffic registers and there is also a national public register of traffic accidents – JSDI (The integrated Traffic Information System for the Czech Republic).

The challenge was to get selected data from these sets and display them in a mapping technology that allows them to see their interactions and change over time in an effective way. Part of this challenge is to analyze and set up automated processing of this data.
The second challenge was to introduce this heatmap technology with interactive filters to potential users and thereby stimulate their interest. Although the presentation was just above the data sample, interest was shown.

Stakeholders:

Policie ČR – Police of the Czech Republic
Městská Policie – Municipal Police of Pilsen
SVSMP – Organization for the management and maintenance of the publicly accessible property of the city
DOP MMP – Department of transport, The municipality of Pilsen
BEZP MMP – Department of security, crime prevention and crisis management, The municipality of Pilsen
UKRMP – The Urban Planning and Development Institute of the City of Pilsen

Actions steps:

Negotiations with the Municipal Police and with the Czech Police for cooperation and provision of data
Analysis of the data supplied and its subsequent processing
Creating a map presentation over WeBGLayer visualisation technology (from PoliVisu project)
Presentation of the created application to participants and the public

Future Actions:

Developing further collaboration with both police and setting a permanent data flow for the application
Processing comments and feedbacks from presentations
Adding additional GIS layers (schools, parking – zones, machines, …)
Creating user outputs option from the application

Lessons learned:

Getting data from the originally closed systems of both police forces takes time and is sensitive
Both police want to see each other’s data in one system
Demonstrating appropriate technology can help to make the right data available
Fast and intelligent filtering or control of the map attracts the user

Outcome impact:

Both police have begun to think about using this system and making some of their data available
the map will not only serve for data viewing, but also for analyzes and identification of problem spots or for verification of previous measures