About

Summary

This overlayed choropleth map is a model of the risk of accidents in NYC. Each polygon on the
map is representative of zip code boundary. The coloring of each region is representative of the
accident density for the associated zip code. The accident density is a metric of the number of
accidents per mile of roadway in the zipcode. That accident density score for each zip code is then
normalized on a scale of 0 to 100. You can see that the darkest red region, with an accident density
score of 100, is located in Manhatten, the area of NYC with the most traffic. You can also see that
zip code that is the lightest color, a transparent white color, is located on the outskirts of
Island.
You can find in the top right part of the screen, a information box, which allows the user to chose
a start and end location to route a drive. Once selected, the fastest route between the two locations
is overlayed on top of the map. Once the user selects the start and end locations, metrics about the
trip are displayed in the three other text boxes, located within the same information box. The metrics
are as follows: score, represents the aggregate risk associated with the trip (i.e a 1 mile trip through
a zipcode with score 50 would equal a 2 mile trip through a zipcode with score 25); distance, the length
of the trip from start to end; risk level, the risk level bracket that the trip falls into, calculated
by dividing the aggregate score by the route distance.
On the bottom right part of the screen, you can find a information box which changes as you hover your
cursor over each zipcode region. The information displayed in the box is the zipcodes actual code (i.e
01609) and the total number of reported accidents in that zipcode for the year of 2017.
Additionally, since this visualization was built using Google's Maps API, the user can use the built in
functionality of google maps, like toggling between the street level map and the satellite view or toggling
between showing the labels and the terrain for the map.

Motivation

The visualization has potential to help many different agents. It could be helpful for city planners to
understand how to better mitigate the risk of accidents with deiciding which zipcodes need more risk
mitigation. Inusrance companies could also use this tool to analyze the trips of their insured drivers
to better understand the risk they are assuming when the driver gets behind the wheel.

Screen Cast