Tomorrow morning, NYCDOT and a group of software developers, including some of my colleagues at OpenPlans, will sit down and discuss how to make information about New York City streets open to the public. The goal is to give developers access to data which they can turn into useful applications, much like how the MTA is opening its data in the hopes of giving riders better access to information about transit service.
DOT already posts several sets of data online, like the locations of bike racks and paving schedules for each borough, but they have a ton of other information at their disposal -- too much to release it all willy-nilly. They’re looking for ideas to help them prioritize and want to know what’s at the top of your list.
I realize it may be difficult to answer this question without knowing exactly what DOT has to work with, but part of the exercise, as I understand it, is to figure out the gaps between what DOT’s got and what people want. So, blue sky, what sort of information could you use to help you get the most out of NYC streets?
