01/23/2026
We were so proud this week to support the Vancouver Walk & Roll event, expertly facilitated by Anna Zivarts and the Nondriver's Alliance. What made this event especially meaningful was seeing , our statewide, consistent pedestrian dataset, in action. Not just as a dataset transportation planners can rely on, but as a living system where communities actively contribute to and shape the data.
Funded by a legislative proviso, OS-CONNECT is open, shared infrastructure for pedestrian data. It enables communities, agencies, and planners to collaboratively build, validate, and use sidewalk and accessibility data across tools and contexts.
Folks at the event, including elected officials, advocates, and planners experienced firsthand how to contribute pedestrian data using AVIV ScoutRoute. At the same time, students from the Washington State School for the Blind used that same data to navigate real routes in AccessMap.app. Most importantly, participants shared real-time feedback: filled in additional detail, identified where conditions were poor, found delight in agreeing with good data that accompanied our hour-long walkabout! That feedback loop is where data truly comes alive.
We’re grateful for the engagement, and how storytelling through data brings these diverse groups together around a shared goal: the freedom to go where you want, with dignity.
Our work touches all travelers. We invite you to join us at 2026, learn more about pedestrian access and reach and how we can make real change, on February 26–27 to experience it firsthand:
https://tcat.cs.washington.edu/otp2026/
