Open Data Engagement Fund blog - Interactive dashboard using census commuting data

23 Márta 2018

As part of the Open Data Engagement Fund 2017/2018, Arup created an interactive dashboard using commuting data from Census 2006, 2011 and 2016.

Congestion has a profound impact on society, the economy and the environment. In recent times, there has been much media attention regarding congestion at peak travel times, particularly in Dublin City. It is becoming clear that Ireland’s transport infrastructure is under pressure as demand on the network increases.

Transport data can provide hidden insight in to commuting patterns in Ireland. Understanding commuting trends and how people travel to work, school and college are key to addressing Ireland’s congestion problems. Analysing transport data can support policy makers in understanding requirements, implementing improvements and targeting actions.

The Commuting in Ireland dashboard visualises the Census data to highlight important aspects of commuting in Ireland such as, when people leave home and by what means they travel to their destination. For example, the data shows that car use is still the most popular method of travel for commuters. This information could be used to support policies and initiatives to encourage people to use public transport, or where possible walk or cycle to their destination.

The Commuting in Ireland dashboard is fully interactive. The user gains additional information in the tooltip by hovering over any item in the dashboard. The dashboard can be filtered by county, census year and destination. The user has the option to interact with the dashboard or navigate along the story to be guided through interesting trends in the data. The dashboard is also available to download should users wish to view the dashboard in their own Tableau software package.

The Commuting in Ireland dashboard is available to anyone online through the Tableau Public platform. Click here to view the dashboard.  Visualising data and making it accessible in this way encourages greater use of open data and facilitates data-driven decision making.