"Visualising Transport Data for data.gov.uk" [itoworld.blogspot.com] by ITO! is the result of about one and a half days developing new visualizations and maps based on the recently released traffic count data for data.gov.uk Developer Camp, which itself is described in more detail here.
Graphs, charts and diagrams can be used to visually describe data. Visualizing data is very important, as it helps the reader to understand the data even better. And even though some people might prefer viewing data in a table, I think we are many who feel more comfortable in viewing data graphically. Fortunately for us, there are several ways you can implement data into a graph on a website. 
A novel navigation system under development at Microsoft aims to tweak users' visual memory with carefully chosen video clips of a route. Developed with researchers from the University of Konstanz in Germany, the software creates video using 360-degree panoramic images of the street that are strung together. Such images have already been gathered by several different mapping companies for many roads around the world.
More at Inspired Magazine
As new ways of analysing the world around us are developed, new ways to visualise that information are needed. The recent Eurovis Symposium, held in Berlin, brought together international researchers with new ideas about how to make data easier to interpret and act on.
Charts and Graphs are ideal to visualize data in order to quickly give your readers an understanding of the nature of a given problem or recent developments. Whatever type of data presentation you prefer or suits you data (pie charts, bubble charts, bar graphs, network diagrams etc.), there are many different options but how do you get started and what is technologically possible? In this article tripwire magazine present more than 50 Essential Techniques and Tools for Visualizing your data on a website.
Have been to talking to a couple of very senior design practitioners this week and sharing my thoughts on the future of information design. Information design was never considered an important aspect in our societies or businesses. The digital revolution has changed our everyday lives with the constantly increasing volume of information in all shapes an forms. 
Greater Greater Washington maps rider flow for the DC Metro. As you might guess, the thicker the path, the greater the estimated number of riders in that given area. As the author notes, the data collection process was an unscientific one, so it should be taken with a few grains of salt, but this makes me wonder. These types of subway maps seem to be getting fairly common, in both the static and interactive/animated variety - but the visualization always seems to come from estimates. 
Data Visualization is a method of presenting information in a graphical form. Good data visualization should appear as if it is a work of art. This intrigues the viewer and draws them in so that they can further investigate the data and info that the graphic represents. In this post there are 15 stunning examples of Data Visualization that are true works of art. 
The white paper describes the problems it sees with current dashboard and business intelligence solutions (they are inflexible and too cumbersome to use). And it offers a punch list of features for what it describes as the “Next Generation Dashboard”. The Data Cost / Value Matrix identifies four aspects of Data Cost and four aspects of Data Value. You can read more about this at the background page.
The newest project from Bestario, a Spanish firm, tries to map where innovation happens but only raises more questions than it answers. That's what makes data visualization such a tricky discipline.
Americans are once again paying a hefty premium at the pump, making transportation costs a legitimate expense to consider. One of the largest factors in this evaluation is the fuel efficiency of your chosen mode of transport. When looking at these calculations, it is also important to consider not only the hard numbers, but also your personal lifestyle needs. 
This week, Comcast announced it would begin the first official commercial rollout of 4G wireless broadband in the U.S. in Portland, OR, after using Baltimore and Atlanta as test markets. The company plans to bundle the WiMAX service, which is about twice as fast as 3G network speeds, with its "Triple Play" cable and Internet offering as a wireless Internet service for laptop users.
Wrapping your brain around data online can be challenging, especially when dealing with huge volumes of information. And trying to find related content can also be difficult, depending on what data you’re looking for. But data visualizations can make all of that much easier, allowing you to see the concepts that you’re learning about in a more interesting, and often more useful manner. Below are 50 of the best data visualizations and tools for creating your own visualizations out there, covering everything from Digg activity to network connectivity to what’s currently happening on Twitter.
I love data. And I adore playing with it graphically, as I learn a lot from graphing longitudinal data about things I’m involved in. However, I find that almost all of the web services I use suck at providing visualization / graphing tools for their data. For example, I’ve never really found any of the graphing options in any of the running software I use satisfying or useful.
Edward Tufte defies easy categorization. His academic training and work at Stanford, Princeton, and Yale span statistics, computer science, political economy, and design. Yet he is best known for what began as a cri de coeur, published in 1983 in the form of a meticulously elegant book: The Visual Display Of Quantitative Information. Tufte's treatise—part academic text and part coffee-table book—takes aim at the confusing and just-plain-awful graphic design then proliferating in print and subsequently, on screen. In that first volume and in others since, Tufte shows how data visualization can be done well and how powerful it can be as a tool.
This animated map provides a striking visual of employment trends over the last business cycle using net change in jobs from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on a rolling 12-month basis. Read more…
See the data on a map or as a chart immediately. Columns with locations are interpreted automatically, and you can adjust them directly on a map if necessary. Use filter and aggregate tools for more selective visualizations.
Pachube, a service that enables you to connect, tag and share real time sensor data from objects, devices, buildings and environments around the world. The key aim is to facilitate interaction between remote environments, both physical and virtual. 
See the London Underground map reorganise around the times of travel from that station. Shortest paths are used to place the other stations - radius is proportional to time to travel, and angle should be correct for as-the-crow-flies direction on a map. The concentric circles are at 10 minute intervals. Press 'g' to get back to the geographical tube map. 
Vincenzo Cosenza maps social network dominance around the world according to traffic data from Alexa and Google Trends. We see Facebook has apparently overtaken MySpace in the US along with other countries; Orkut is a favorite in Brazil; the people love QQ in China; and then there are a few smaller networks that most of us have probably never heard of unless we live in the country of dominance.
MySociety.org, a British tech nonprofit project that builds and showcases new tools for civic good, has released a beautiful series of maps illustrating various transportation data sets around England. See, for example, this sample map showing whether public transport (bus, light rail best is in red) or a private automobile (blue) will get you faster from the Cambridge station to any other part of the country.
More at Innovative GIS
Users can easily view their approximate travel times between destinations or compare commutes from two separate locations - i.e. if you really want to see what the effect of moving to Sunnyside, Queens would be. In a world filled with increasing predictability, the only problem might be, that we’re quickly running out of excuses for being late anymore.
There is no one size fits all solution – every state DOT, and even different regions within the same state, undergo different processes in the development of a transportation project, and an early-warning flagging system must be designed within the context of that state’s project planning process. At this stage in the process, the team must determine the practical and technical aspects of integrating data layers on wildlife linkages into the project planning database and developing a system to alert planners and project managers to potential wildlife conflicts. This step requires the intensive participation of the Partnership Team, particularly those members that are engaged in various parts of the transportation planning and design process (i.e., planner, project manager, GIS staff, environmental clearance staff and a regional biologist).
Sirius Travel Link is a real time service that is an option on all 2009+ Ford, Lincoln, & Mercury vehicles equipped with Ford’s advanced navigation system. It uses data from Sirius to update your navigation system with a bevvy of useful information. You can check the weather anywhere in the country, view a real time radar map, check sports scores and schedules, view local gas prices, check movie times, and get updated traffic advisories.
Real Time Rome is the MIT SENSEable City Lab’s contribution to the 2006 Venice Biennale, directed by professor Richard Burdett. The project aggregated data from cell phones (obtained using Telecom Italia's innovative Lochness platform), buses and taxis in Rome to better understand urban dynamics in real time. By revealing the pulse of the city, the project aims to show how technology can help individuals make more informed decisions about their environment. In the long run, will it be possible to reduce the inefficiencies of present day urban systems and open the way to a more sustainable urban future?
