Project Sidewalk
Channel: Chi Hack Night
Date: 2024-01-31

People with disabilities and older adults experience numerous barriers to walking/wheeling around the Chicago region and to using transportation. Unfortunately, many communities in the Chicago region do not collect or maintain data on sidewalk network quality, which limits how well they can plan, and prioritize sidewalk network improvements. This presentation will describe an NSF Smart and Connected Communities study that is developing crowdsourcing + AI tools for communities to more efficiently collect, map and analyze sidewalk network data and plan for more inclusive communities.

The presenters will describe a sidewalk network data collection and analysis tool, called Project Sidewalk, which has been deployed in the Chicago region and around the world. Participants will learn how to use the tool and explore data collected in the City of Chicago’s 40th ward. The presenters will share stories about some of the successes and challenges with deploying this crowdsourcing tool and share some advances in using AI + Human Validation workflows to enhance data collection. If time permits, they will go through more training to get participants involved with collecting data and learning how they can deploy Project Sidewalk in their community.