In this article, The Montreal Gazette uses raw data to explain crime rates in Montreal metro stations, for the years 2008 and 2009.
After several access to information requests and ultimately a court ruling, data was given to the Gazette by the Montreal police, with only 2008 and 2009 separated by offenses. 2010 through 2012 was lumped as total offenses, which, as explained in the article, is why the maps mainly focus on the first two years of the request.
After receiving the data from the Montreal police, the Montreal Gazette made an interactive map. The map showed each metro station, breaking down the different offense that took place between 2008 and 2009, for each station. The offenses shown, included: Total number of crimes against people, number of crimes against property, other criminal code offenses, the total number of offenses and other laws and rules. In addition, it showed the change in criminal code violations from 2008 to 2009, criminal code violations, per one million users and a small graph which showed the change in total violations, from 2010 to 2012. Large graphs were also shown for overall trends and violent crimes in ten of the most popular stations.
This particular story did a good job of showing the data they received, clearly. The journalist was also very forthcoming with the issues in the data, making it clear to the reader that based on the lack of data received, these maps may not show an accurate trend in the crime rate.
Personally, I found the interactive maps and graphs clear and easy to understand, however I found the story harder to follow. The story was presented as a step-by-step account of how the graphs were made, making no conclusions about the data. The maps and graphs were also not embedded in the story, but instead shown through a that lead you to a separate page.
The story would have been much easier to follow and the reader would likely have gotten more out of the story, had it been presented as more than just maps and graphs.
This story is one that could be transmitted to different areas with public transportation, including British Columbia, and Metro Vancouver.
In order for a BC reporter to do a similar story on sky train stations, they would need to access the same type of data. There are, perhaps, a few ways they could do this: The could contact the Vancouver Police Department to see if they keep such records on file; as well, it is likely that trans link would have information pertaining to this type of request -- It is likely that both these routes would require an Freedom of Information request, to either of these departments.
