Public data made intelligible
Traffic safety is a critical concern for any city, and speed cameras have long been touted as a solution to protect vulnerable road users. But do these electronic watchdogs actually make our streets safer? In this deep dive into Toronto's speed camera program, I uncovered some surprising—and disappointing—findings.
Should Kitchener-Waterloo implement speed cameras at all Public and Catholic Board schools in the Region? I looked at traffic collision data from the City of Kitchener and found little evidence that speed cameras would provide much value. First, there are relatively few accidents near schools during school hours involving pedestrians (an average of about 4.7 accidents yearly). In Kitchener, the majority of accidents have occurred at intersections near downtown schools or Williamsburg. I suggest that traditional traffic calming measures – speed bumps, crosswalks, and crossing attendants – provide citizens with better safety and value.
Kitchener and Waterloo are considering a dramatic change to our roads: automated speed cameras at every school, creating "community safety zones" with 30 km/h speed limits. Any speed above that—yes, even a single kilometer over—could earn you a ticket in the mail. In this posting, I’m going to focus on this question: what will this do to our driving patterns?
There have been many news stories about Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada. But how widespread is this controversial program? Make up your own mind using this interactive data visualization.
Click the link and see a map of Canada with the most recent data of approvals for TFWs from businesses from 2024 Q1.
How many TFWs are there? We can only guess, but this map shows the sum of all TFW approvals over the past five years (2019 Q1 to 2024 Q1). (Remember, an approval doesn't mean someone was hired for a job.)