Blog

Updating and Enhancing the Award Map with New Data and More Programs

Maps are an excellent tool for conveying information, but what if there’s too much information, and you don’t know what dimensions you’ll want to filter on?

Here at EBP, we are starting a bimonthly blog series on “Shiny apps” we’ve been working on to show how specific data sets can be visualized and explored. Shiny apps are lightweight tools, typically serving a single function or illustrating a specific data series and often turning otherwise static charts into interactive maps or graphs that can answer questions and show subtle patterns.

In early May, EBP’s Scott Middleton examined the national drop in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) from January through April to see the decline in driving caused by the pandemic. Using data from StreetLight’s VMT Monitor program, he found that in late April, VMT at the national level was about half of what was expected in a business-as-usual year.