Regional data strategy
Project Stage
About the Project
Transportation behaviour and patterns are complex and change over time. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on more established travel patterns is a prominent example of the need for quality datasets to support future decision-making. Today, data collection within the Region is conducted individually by Core Partners and municipalities. Coordinated and ongoing data collection can help ensure investments in the transportation system reflects the wide variety of users, needs, and means. This will help inform business cases, support sound decision-making for all communities, and address long-standing inequities within the current system.
Benefits
- Improve evidence-based decision making
- Make data collection more efficient
STATUS
Link Nova Scotia and Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) are participating in an oversample of the Canadian Survey on Everyday Travel (CSET). The survey is collected by Statistics Canada. CSET is a new survey that gathers insights on the daily travel habits of Canadians. A better understanding of travel habits and needs, as well as the barriers encountered, will help to inform transportation planning and infrastructure investments in communities across the country.
This data is a vital input to the travel demand model. Co-owned with HRM, the model allows us to test different transportation projects and their impact on the regional system without investment or construction, road closures, and detours. Having a strong representative sample of data on who is travelling where, when, and how they are getting there ensures that the model can continue to provide accurate, evidence-based information.
RESOURCES
FROM THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN
Action 4.1.1: Establish a data strategy to guide ongoing data collection efforts and explore the potential for a more centralized regional open data platform.
Filling key data gaps uncovered through the planning process will provide the basis for monitoring and assessing changes in travel patterns over time. Core elements of the data strategy include the completion of a reoccurring regional transportation survey for households, enhanced goods movement data (Action 2.1.2), improved collision reporting, including improved access to more detailed police reports, resourcing requirements to enhance data management and analysis efforts, and identifying opportunities to make data collection more efficient. A more centralized regional open data platform is also envisioned to improve access to this important data.