Open Data

New Release: APTA Industry Footprint

Following the successful launch of American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Industry Footprint, Blue Raster has delivered Version 2. The web application provides users with a comprehensive understanding of the role of public transportation in their communities and throughout the United States. Given that public transportation provides essential mobility to people throughout the country, reduces congestion in crowded cities, and improves air quality, APTA hopes to encourage people to opt for it more often and fight for continued support and funding from state and federal legislators.

The latest version of Industry Footprint includes helpful new features:

  • Addition of bus and rail manufacturers to the map
  • Addition of state legislative upper and lower chambers to the map
  • Updated user interface

Now everyone can view APTA’s Transportation Industry Footprint to get key facts and statistics about where public transportation is available and how it’s being used in their state legislative and congressional district boundaries.

Blue Raster built upon the first version of the tool by integrating the Sunlight Foundation’s Open States API for up-to-date details on state legislators and state legislative districts. The transit information is obtained from TransitFeeds, which offers an extensive archive of standardized transit lines and schedules.

Finding the Right School with The College Map

Finding Schools is now easier than ever with the College Map, the first geographic search tool published by IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) providing access to over 7,000 certificate, undergraduate and graduate-level schools. This all-in-one tool enables students, parents and counselors to filter potential programs for location, major, tuition and more. Including both certificate-level programs and advanced degrees, this public application makes the often overwhelming process of school searching simple, and it’s available on mobile devices.

Mobile_ScreenshotOnce the results are narrowed down, users can share their lists on social media or download in excel format. Additionally, the College Map integrates with the College Navigator, a research based search tool providing data from the complete list of IPEDS Survey indicators.

The College Map is powered by the ArcGIS JavaScript API and ArcGIS for Server, and the tool leverages React JS, and ES6.

Cultivating Business Centers by Harvesting Data

The Washington D.C. Economic Partnership (WDCEP) attracts new organizations to the D.C. area by assessing the needs of potential businesses, and then matching those needs to suitable locations within the city. WDCEP then demonstrates site suitability by presenting demographics, neighboring businesses, economic trends, pending constructions and space availability. To organize and present all of this data, Blue Raster transformed WDCEP’s retail and construction data into maps and visualizations, and combined it with DC GIS Open Data. Using the Google Earth platform, this information paints a compelling picture of where and why businesses will flourish in D.C.

Screenshot1

With Blue Raster’s help, WDCEP can now provide insightful, layered stories on demand, leading to informed decisions by potential businesses considering a move to the D.C. area.


pic_cshuskey-225x300WDCEP’s core mission is to actively position, promote, and facilitate economic development and business opportunities in Washington, DC.   Blue Raster helped us build a platform that gave us fast access to current data and simplified the telling of DC’s story to local, national and international audiences.

– Chad Shuskey, Senior Vice President of Research and Real Estate, Washington DC Economic Partnership


 


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