Ben Wellington: How we found the worst place to park in New York City -- using big data

The video discusses the infrastructure of New York City, highlighting the importance of open data legislation introduced by Mayor Bloomberg. It explores how data from city agencies, such as taxi GPS data and cyclist accident reports, can be used to answer questions about city life. The video emphasizes the need for better data accessibility and standardization, showcasing examples like waterway pollution and parking ticket data. It concludes by highlighting the role of citizens and meetups in utilizing open data to improve the city.

What is one of the main challenges with city agencies providing data to citizens?

• They do not have enough data.

• They cannot anticipate all possible questions from citizens.

• They do not have the technology to collect data.

• They do not want to share data with the public.

What significant action did Mayor Bloomberg take in 2012 regarding data?

• He reduced the number of datasets available.

• He signed a law for comprehensive open data legislation.

• He privatized the city's data collection.

• He restricted access to transportation data.

How did Chris Whong obtain taxi data from the Taxi and Limousine Commission?

• He hacked into their database.

• He filled out a FOIL request and provided a hard drive.

• He purchased the data from a private company.

• He received it through a public records request.

What was John Krauss's solution to accessing NYPD crash data?

• He used a third-party data service.

• He requested data directly from the NYPD.

• He wrote a program to scrape data from PDFs.

• He manually copied data from PDFs.

What is a major issue with data being released in PDF format?

• PDFs are not visually appealing.

• PDFs are not compatible with most software.

• PDFs are too large to download.

• PDFs make it difficult to extract and analyze data.

What does the map of New York City's dirtiest waterways measure?

• The number of fish in the water.

• The amount of trash in the water.

• The level of fecal coliform in the water.

• The temperature of the water.

What is one proposed solution to improve data accessibility in New York City?

• Increase the number of datasets available.

• Charge a fee for data access.

• Standardize data formats across agencies.

• Limit data access to government officials.

What was the outcome of the blog post about the parking ticket issue?

• The city ignored the issue.

• The hydrant was removed.

• The parking spot was repainted to prevent confusion.

• The parking fines were increased.

What is the role of community groups like BetaNYC in the context of open data?

• They sell data to private companies.

• They help citizens understand and use open data.

• They restrict access to data.

• They create barriers to data access.

What is the potential benefit of normalizing data standards in New York City?

• It will reduce the number of available datasets.

• It will make data more expensive.

• It will limit data access to certain groups.

• It will allow for easier data analysis and mapping.