Your Supervisor Has Asked You To Provide A Visual Rep 687625
Your Supervisor Has Asked You To Provide a Visual Representation Of Th
Your supervisor has asked you to provide a visual representation of the following data. Florida Turnpike System - Road Ranger Calls Type of Call Year 2013 Year 2014 No Assistance Required 22,223 21,022 Disabled / Stranded Motorist 32,122 30,948 Maintenance of Traffic During Accidents 4,040 4,236 Debris Removal and Abandoned Vehicles 41,882 39,711 How would this data be best presented? Consider different types of charts and graphs that would best depict the data. After creating a visual representation, provide a short summary of the data. Include any percentage of increase or decrease from year to year.
Paper For Above instruction
Introduction
The Florida Turnpike System plays a critical role in ensuring smooth traffic flow and safety for commuters and freight transport. One of the key operational metrics involves Road Ranger calls, which encompass incidents such as assistance requests, stranded motorists, traffic maintenance during accidents, as well as debris removal and abandoned vehicle management. Presenting this data visually allows transportation officials and stakeholders to better understand patterns, resource allocation needs, and operational trends. This paper explores the most suitable visualization methods for the given data, followed by a concise analysis including year-to-year percentage changes.
Data Overview
The data provided from 2013 and 2014 records four categories of Road Ranger calls:
- No Assistance Required
- Disabled / Stranded Motorist
- Maintenance of Traffic During Accidents
- Debris Removal and Abandoned Vehicles
The approximate totals for each category across the two years are as follows:
- No Assistance Required: 22,223 in 2013, 21,022 in 2014
- Disabled / Stranded Motorist: 32,122 in 2013, 30,948 in 2014
- Maintenance of Traffic During Accidents: 4,040 in 2013, 4,236 in 2014
- Debris Removal and Abandoned Vehicles: 41,882 in 2013, 39,711 in 2014
Suitable Visual Representations
To effectively compare and analyze the data, several visualization types can be employed:
1. Bar Charts
A side-by-side bar chart effectively compares the number of calls per category across the two years. Each category is represented with two bars, one for 2013 and one for 2014, allowing quick visual assessment of increases or decreases.
2. Line Graphs
Line graphs can illustrate trends over the two years for each category. While limited to just two data points, this method emphasizes the direction and magnitude of change.
3. Stacked Bar Charts
Stacked bars aggregate total calls per year while segmenting by type. Although less precise for comparison, they provide a holistic view of total activity distribution.
4. Pie Charts
Pie charts for each year can depict the proportion of each call type relative to total calls, highlighting shifts in case composition over time.
Preferred Visualization
Given the data's nature—comparing the number of various call types between two years—the side-by-side bar chart is the most straightforward and impactful. It allows for direct comparison of call volumes per category across the two years, highlighting increases or decreases visually.
Data Analysis and Summary
Analyzing the data reveals a general decline in most categories from 2013 to 2014, indicating potential improvements in traffic flow or roadside assistance efficiency. Specifically:
- No Assistance Required: decrease of approximately 4.9%, from 22,223 to 21,022.
- Disabled / Stranded Motorist: decrease of approximately 3.6%, from 32,122 to 30,948.
- Maintenance During Accidents: increase of about 4.9%, from 4,040 to 4,236.
- Debris Removal and Abandoned Vehicles: decrease of approximately 5.0%, from 41,882 to 39,711.
The largest reduction was in debris removal and abandoned vehicles, suggesting improvements or fewer incidents needing intervention. The slight increase in maintenance during accidents might reflect increased accident activity or more prompt reporting.
The percentage decrease in total calls across most categories supports a trend toward increased efficiency, although the slight uptick in maintenance activities warrants further analysis into traffic accident patterns.
Conclusion
Visualizing the Road Ranger call data with side-by-side bar charts provides a clear, comparative view of the operational changes between 2013 and 2014. The predominant decline across most categories emphasizes potential improvements in traffic management or roadside assistance responsiveness. Continuous data monitoring and enhanced visualization techniques, including multi-year trend analysis, can inform strategic planning and resource deployment for the Florida Turnpike System.
References
- The Florida Department of Transportation. (2014). Traffic and Safety Data Reports. Retrieved from https://fdot.gov
- Few, S. (2009). Now You See It: Simple Visualization Techniques for Quantitative Analysis. Analytics Press.
- The Truthful Art: Data, Charts, and Maps for Communication. New Riders.
- Data Visualisation: A Handbook for Data Driven Design. Sage Publications.
- Information Design Journal+ Document Design.
- Few, S. (2012). Information Dashboard Design: Displaying Data for At-a-Glance Monitoring. O'Reilly Media.
- Tufte, E. R. (2001). The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Press.
- Heer, J., Bostock, M., & Ogievetsky, V. (2010). A Tour through the Visualization Zoo. Communications of the ACM, 53(12), 59-67.
- Yau, N. (2011). Data Points: Visualization That Means Something. Wiley.