MassDOT launches web portal for crash data

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has launched a new online portal with near real-time roadway crash data and analysis.

The Interactive Mapping Portal for Analysis and Crash Tracking replaces a previous interface with a more streamlined presentation and enhanced search capabilities.

IMPACT is designed to encourage public safety initiatives and awareness specific to crash information, according to MassDOT. The data points are updated daily to reflect crashes that have been reported by law enforcement into the Registry of Motor Vehicles Crash Data System. Data is available from 2002 to the present.

The portal includes five search capabilities: interactive data dashboards; data query and visualization; data extraction; report generation; and cross tabulation and charting.

As of Jan. 29, more than 5,100 crashes had been reported so far in 2020, with 16 fatalities. From 2018 and 2019, the total number of crash-related fatalities decreased only slightly, from 338 to 334.

IMPACT also provides municipality-specific information, including top crash locations within each city or town, and the ability to filter and visualize dozens of crash-related data points by municipality.

The IMPACT portal can be accessed at https://apps.impact.dot.state.ma.us/cdp/home.

For more information, including opportunities to enhance the portal’s usefulness to your municipality, contact MassDOT Highway Safety Programs Manager Bonnie Polin at bonnie.polin@state.ma.us.