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How to upload shapefiles to Google Fusion Tables

September 25, 2011 / / 0 Comments

It is now possible to upload a shapefile (and its companion files SHX, PRJ, and DBF) to Google Fusion Tables (GFT).

Before we go any further, keep in mind that the application that does this will only process 100,000 rows. Additionally, GFT only gives each user 200 MB of storage (and they don’t tell you your current status, that I can see).

  1. Login to your Google account (at Gmail, or at GFT).
  2. Prepare your data. Ensure it has fewer than 100,000 rows.
  3. ZIP up your dataX.shp, dataX.shx, dataX.prj, and dataX.dbf. Use WinZip for Windows, or for Mac, right-click the selection of files and select “Compress 4 items”.
  4. Visit the Shape to Fusion website. You will have to authorize the web application to “grant access” to your GFT tables. It needs this access so that after the web application processes your data, it can insert it into GFT.
  5. If you want a Centroid Geometry column or a Simplified Geometry column added, click “Advanced Options” and check their checkboxes – see notes below for an explanation.
  6. Choose the file to upload and click Upload.
  7. Leave the window open until it says it has processed all of the rows. It will report “Processed Y rows and inserted Y rows”. You will be given a link to the GFT the web application created.

Sample Data

If you’re looking to give this a try and see results quickly, try some sample data from the City of Chicago data portal:

Notes

I had trouble many times while using Shape to Fusion in that after I chose the file to upload and clicked Upload, I had to grant access to the web application again and start over (choose the file and click Upload a second time).

Centroid Geometry – This creates a column with the geographic coordinates of the centroid in a polygon. It lists it in the original projection system. So if your projection is in feet, the value will be in feet. This is a function that can easily be performed in free and open source QGIS, where you can also reproject files to get latitude and longitude values (in WGS84 project, EPSG 4326). The centroid value is surrounded in the field by KML syntax “<Point><coordinates>X,Y</coordinates></Point>”.

Simplified Geometry – A geometry column is automatically created by the web application (or GFT, I’m not sure). This function will create a simpler version of that geometry, with fewer lines and vertices. It also creates columns to list the vertices count for the simple and regular geometry columns.

Notable about Chicago transit: Bikes

September 23, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I forgot where I heard this, but it’s from a guy named Adam (he might be from Ireland*):

Biking in Chicago is great… because you can give up and at any time… and put your bike on a bus.

He’s right – every single one of the Chicago Transit Authority’s 2,000+ buses have bike racks to hold two bicycles.

Photo by jochemberends. Visit the Bikes and Transit group on Flickr for more photos like this.

*My notes are vague.

Introduction to DIY bike ridership research

September 20, 2011 / / 0 Comments

A lot of people ask me how many people are out there bicycling.

“Not a lot”, I tell them.

And I explain why: the primary source of data is the American Community Survey, which is a questionnaire that asks people questions about how they got to work in a specific week. (More details on how it does this below.) We don’t have data, except in rare “Household Travel Surveys”, about trips by bike to school, shopping, and social activities.

It’s comparable across the country – you can get this data for any city.

Here’s how:

  1. Visit the “legacy” American FactFinder and select American Community Survey, operated by the United States Census Bureau.
  2. Select 2005-2009 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (or the latest 5-year estimate). This is the most accurate data.
  3. In the right-side menu that appears, click on “Enter a table number”.
  4. In the new window, input the table number ” S0801″ (“Commuting Characteristics by Sex”) and submit the form. The new window will close and the other window will go to that table.
  5. Now it’s time to select your geography. In the left-side menu, under “Change…” click on “geography (state, county, place…)”
  6. In the window to change your geography, select “Place” as your “Geographic Type”.
  7. Then select the state.
  8. Then select your city and click “Show Result”.
Notes:
  • This data shows all modes people take to work, who live in that city. It’s highly probable that people are leaving the city to their jobs on these modes. For example, someone who lives in Rogers Park may ride their bike to work in Evanston.
  • The URL is a permanent link to this dataset. Each city has a unique URL. You should save these as bookmarks so you can easily reference the data later.
  • The question on the survey doesn’t allow multiple choices: “People who used more than one means of transportation to get to work each day were asked to report the one used for the longest distance during the work trip”.

Using Google Fusion Tables to create individual Chicago Ward maps

September 13, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I wanted to create a map of the 35th Ward boundaries using Google My Maps for a story on Grid Chicago. I planned to create this by taking the Chicago Wards boundary shapefile and exporting just the 35th Ward using QGIS into a KML file. I ran into many problems and ended up using Google Fusion Tables as the final solution.

The problems

First, QGIS creates invalid KML files. Google Earth will tell you this. I opened the KML file in a text editor and removed the offending parts (Google Earth mildly tells you what these are; you can use this validator to get more information).

Second, Google My Maps would not import the KML file. I tried a different browser and a different KML file; a friend ran into the same issue. I reported this problem to Google.

The solution

I uploaded to Google Fusion Tables a KML file containing all wards. I did this instead of uploading the single Ward because, like a database, I can filter values in the column, selecting only the row I want with “ward=35”.

After applying the filter, the map will show the boundary for just that ward. I grab the HTML code for an embeddable map and voila, the article now displays an interactive map of the 35th Ward.

Whenever I want to create a map for a different ward, I go back to this Fusion Table, make a new filter and copy the new HTML code.

A screenshot of the embedded map, showing just 1 of 50 wards, in the Grid Chicago article. 

Elsewhere

I had the same problems with QGIS exporting and uploading the KML files to My Maps the other day when I was creating maps for the abandoned railroads for Monday’s Grid Chicago article. Not thinking about Fusion Tables, I drew on the map with my mouse the lines.

Screenshot of the map of abandoned railroads. 

Policy insights for Moving Design

August 29, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I’ve collected into a single website all seven of the policy insights I gave at Moving Design in July and August 2011 about bicycling and planning.

Policy Insights

If I had an actual photo of me giving a policy insight to 40+ designers, the facilitators, and Rick Valicenti, I would post it here. Instead, here’s what Rey Colón looks like talking about policy and planning and our Bike/Walk35 presentation, and me listening.