Call Title

Visualizing the Census: Innovations in Data Display

Sponsoring Committee

Census Data for Transportation Planning Subcommittee of the Urban Transportation Data and Information Systems Committee, ABJ30(1)

Call Description

The Census Data for Transportation Planning Subcommittee of the Urban Transportation Data and Information Systems Committee, ABJ30(1) invites you to submit posters for a session focusing on the innovative visualization of Census data.  In keeping with theme of our parent committee, topics focusing on transportation planning and urban data are requested.  Posters will be displayed at the TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, January 2019. Authors of the most innovative posters map be invited to present at the subcommittee meeting or have their work displayed on the ABJ30 website.

Background

Visualizing demographic data used to involve simple charts and thematic maps.  Now, new platforms and advanced algorithms have pushed the limits of data display.  Dashboards and interactive maps allow large volumes of data to be easily digested by users.  New methods are being developed to illustrate margins of error and complex statistical concepts. Infographics and mobile applications help bring demographic information of the public.

The Subcommittee is interested in learning about new and innovative ways to visualize data.  The end product can be a tool or graphic aimed at conveying information to other people, or a visualization that enhances the analytic capacity of your organization.  This is also an opportunity to share the challenges and lessons learned from translating complex data into visual and analytic products.

Evaluation Criteria

Posters must incorporate data from the U.S. Census Bureau.  Possible data sets include but are not limited to the Decennial Census, American Community Survey, CTPP, LEHD, and the Economic Census.  Non-Census data used in conjunction with Census data is acceptable. 

A broad range of abstracts relating to the topic are welcome. Preference will be given to posters which emphasize the following:

• Applying data visualizations to solve complex problems
• Creative ways to visualize Census data
• Posters that display solutions to the challenges that come from visualizing complex data sets
• Posters that use demographic data to improve transportation planning

• Topics that address applications towards urban areas

A session-development panel will review all abstracts to identify those that most effectively demonstrate innovative ways to visualize Census data. The subcommittee hopes to identify posters representing a diverse array of uses and applications.  Applicants will be notified in late October of their selection.

Poster Session Guidelines

Those selected for this session will prepare a poster for presentation at the 2019 Annual Meeting in January. Participants are not required to prepare a paper. Each presenter will be provided with a table and a 4' x 8' vertical panel for displaying posters and other materials. An electrical connection will be available at each station. Telephone and internet connections will not be available. TRB's guidelines for poster presenters are not yet available, but it is expected that all guidelines once available should be followed.  Presenters are expected to register for the TRB meeting and participate in this session. Presentation teams are welcome.

Submission Instructions

A special deadline for submittals has been established. Interested candidates should submit an abstract explaining their project and poster concept by 11:59 pm EDT on Thursday, September 20, 2018. The abstract should be no more than a single one-sided page in length (approximately 500 words) and include:

• Contact information (name, agency/organization, phone number, email address)
• Title of your proposed poster for use in the Annual Meeting agenda
• Data sources that your poster will focus on
• Explanation of the project, research, or process sets
• Any innovative discoveries or lessons learned about visualizing Census data that would be useful to the transportation community
• Preliminary description of the information to be conveyed in your poster

You are welcome to include links to on-line materials that illustrate the visualization or graphic communication concepts described in your abstract but this will not substitute for the information requested in the abstract.

The subcommittee will not consider sales presentations for products or services.

Abstracts should be in a PDF format and submitted to:

Mara Kaminowitz
mkaminowitz@baltometro.org

Include the term "ABJ30(1) Poster Abstract 2019" in the subject line.

For More Information

Questions about the poster session or the abstract submittal process should be directed to:

Clara Reschovsky
clara.reschovsky@dot.gov
202-366-2857

Mara Kaminowitz
mkaminowitz@baltometro.org
410-732-0500