OpenDataPhilly: new updates include bicycle rack data, Septa API, city spatial data [UPDATED]

Several new data sets, including bicycle rack locations, have been added to OpenDataPhilly in recent months, says Deb Boyer, the Azavea project manager at the GIS development shop Azavea that built the searchable resource of civic data.

Some of the updates were motivated by requests sent into the OpenDataRace, which Technically Philly covered previously and, full disclosure, helped launch.

Here are some of the most recent updates:

Bike Rack Locations: The City of Philadelphia released the location of every bike rack in the city, a data set compiled the Philadelphia Streets Department.

“This was one of the data sets requested by the Bicycle Coalition as part of the OpenDataRace,” said Boyer.

Updated: from a comment below. Developer Mark Headd found some inconsistencies wanted to add to the bike rack API “to provide a simple REST API” on top of the data. He posted a map of every bike rack in the city here that is so full of location data points it loaded slowly on more than one machine.

Updated: “This dataset only reflects bike racks installed as part of the Adopt-a-rack and Philadelphia Parking Authority projects,” clarifies Sarah Cordivano, the latter of which has transformed former meters into bike racks.

New City Spatial Data:  The City also released new datasets for 2010 census block groups, properties on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, and Philadelphia locations that are national historic sites and landmarks.

Updated City Spatial Data: The City updated nearly 20 data sets on PASDA (the Pennsylvania geospatial data site), all linked on OpenDataPhilly.

“The newly updated data includes an impervious surface layer, a land use layer, and a schools layer,” Boyer said.

SEPTA APIs and User Submitted Apps:  The various APIs used for the SEPTA hackathon have all been added to OpenDataPhilly.

“Several users have submitted apps they’ve created that make use of the SEPTA APIs,” said Boyer. “Including Transitfone and the SEPTA Real Time Locator.”

To read more about OpenDataPhilly, see Technically Philly previous coverage.