Phoenix Street Transportation Pavement Dashboard Earns International Award

Press release from the City of Phoenix:

September 17, 2020

The Street Transportation Department’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Team this month earned international recognition by the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) which annually reviews nominations from organizations using geospatial information systems to improve service delivery. Street Transportation’s Interactive Pavement Maintenance Dashboard was recognized as the Exemplary Systems in Government winner.

To improve the way information about major paving projects is shared with the public, Street Transportation GIS engineers created an interactive pavement maintenance dashboard. This tool, officially launched in July 2019, allows anyone to view near real-time paving and resurfacing treatment information from anywhere with an internet connection, with versions in English and Spanish, desktop and mobile.

The system has proven useful for residents, neighborhood leaders, civic organizations, businesses and public officials who want to know when or where road rehabilitation work will be taking place. The Street Transportation Department created the system as part of its Accelerated Pavement Maintenance Program which triples the number of streets receiving rehabilitation and maintenance annually through 2023.

URISA described the interactive dashboard saying: “In summary, this is considered to be an outstanding application. It has a very focused purpose and has demonstrated significant ROI ranging from the engagement it has fostered through to the internal government efficiency it has created, as well as spreading the awareness of the power and value of GIS throughout the organization. The application was well thought out and planned, using the right technology and embracing the end-user community and crowd sourcing. It is a great example of GIS not only leading but also changing how municipal business gets done.”

Prior to the launch of the Interactive Pavement Maintenance Dashboard, the Street Transportation Department created a GIS ‘pin drop’ map to crowdsource information on street pavement in need of maintenance. People were able to add points to the map in three categories: potholes, rough roads and other pavement issues. There was no limit on the number of pins an individual could place and personal information was not required. Nearly 7,300 pin drops were captured through this application.

This community input was then overlaid with objective, scientific data obtained from a van that uses sophisticated instruments to detect pavement condition on the city’s nearly 5,000 miles of roads. Street Transportation staff used the combined data to develop the plans for each specific road and treatment type shown on the Interactive Pavement Maintenance Dashboard.

This press release was produced by the City of Phoenix. The views expressed here are the author’s own.