#554 Online: Breakout Group Showcase

Join us for our 2023 Breakout Group Showcase! 4 of the breakout groups at Chi Hack Night are going share a little bit about what they are working on - and how you can help!

Ghost Buses

Presenters

• Laurie Merrell
• Kyle Dolezal

Project

This breakout group uses public data (the CTA Bus Tracker API and CTA GTFS schedule dataset) to assess the discrepancy between scheduled and actual service levels, to understand the prevalence and geographic distribution of “ghost buses”. We’re currently working on some new visualizations for the front end and back-end infrastructure improvements. Check out our site at ghostbuses.com!

Climate Change

Presenters

• Viktor Koves
• Derek Eder

Projects

Electrify Chicago

Buildings are the largest sources of Chicago’s emissions, and an existing city ordinance requires large buildings to report their energy use, efficiency, and their overall emissions. Electrify Chicago lists the dirtiest buildings in Chicago, as well as strategies they can use to reduce their emissions, with the goal of getting building stakeholders (like condo owners or university students) to push owners to electrify and make buildings more efficient.

Illinois Solar Map

As of May 2023, 1.6 gigawatts of operating solar capacity have been installed in the State of Illinois. This map, done in partnership with the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, allows you to keep tabs on the rapid expansion of solar deployment in Illinois by exploring solar projects by Census Tract, Place, County, and State Congressional Districts, as well as by project category of project.

Ward Wise

Presenters

• Sean MacMullan
• Jonathan Ortega

Project

Ward Wise is studying infrastructure spending using data extracted from PDFs in the Chicago Capital Improvement Archive. Our goal is to develop tools for people to understand and engage in their ward/neighborhood’s infrastructure budgets and processes. Currently, we’re building a website that clearly presents historical spending details for each ward. We’re also improving our geocoding backend and creating visual maps of the information.

Civi

Presenter

• Marissa Heffler

Project

Civi aims to create an inclusive, participatory, and community-based government experience for Chicago residents. Our current focus is developing an “explore” page to display ward, city, state, and national legislation with Ai-powered summaries. —