The Transport Data Commons Initiative (TDCI) aims to provide accessible, meaningful data that is readily used by stakeholders worldwide working on sustainable, low-carbon development of transport and mobility—especially those in, and supporting, developing countries.
Through creating a Transport Data Commons (TDC), we envision that:
- Existing data can be easily accessed and used for assessment, modelling, and cross-checking. Time-consuming, often duplicated work—to collate, collect, extract, and transform data from highly fragmented sources—will be greatly reduced.
- Data that is newly created (e.g. collected as part of development projects; or projected from scientific models) can be made broadly available and reach many users; not buried in appendices to project reports.
- Peers can directly discuss with one another to identify issues of data quality and propose solutions for constructing improved data; these improved data can be quickly generated and shared.
The TDC will comprise, inter alia:
- A web presence with features for:
- Interactive exploration, visualization, and download by data consumers.
- Submission of data and/or metadata by data providers.
- Guidelines for interoperable, reusable transport data and metadata. [1]
- An API for programmatic access to data. [1]
- Tools and automation for data update, cleaning, and harmonization, according to steps identified by TDCI partners.
To find out more:
- Read a more detailed background/concept note
- See current partners in the Initiative.
- Attend an event where the TDC(I) is discussed and advanced.
- Visit the ‘transport-data’ organization on GitHub, and join discussions about data sources and measures.
- Contact: Kirsten Orschulok <kirsten.orschulok@giz.de> and Verena Knöll <verena.knoell@giz.de>.
| [1] | (1, 2) building on the established SDMX (ISO 17369) standards. |