DATA VISUALIZATION
West Virginia infrastructure viz
Created as an assignment for graduate school, we were to create a visualization to convince Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) to vote in favor of Biden’s infrastructure bill. I decided to focus on one area of infrastructure – bridges in West Virginia – to convince him of the benefits the bill could bring to his state, since WV has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the US.
Using data from the ARTA Bridge Report and TRIP (a national transportation research non-profit), I visualized how West Virginia compared to its neighboring states and national averages. There is also a breakdown and comparison of bridge type and location, which is then also set against the national and state average.
Created during graduate school (MPS, Data Analytics and Visualization from MICA), 2021
Showing Manchin that his home state desperately needs infrastructure improvements
Prompt
Create a visualization with no more than four charts for an audience of one – Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) – to vote to pass the American Jobs Plan, since the outcome was riding on his vote. The plan focused on rebuilding the United State’s infrastructure, including roads and bridges that were in desperate need of repair. This is the piece I chose to focus on: bridges.
Process
After looking at information and statistics on the infrastructure report card site, I decided to focus on bridges, since WV’s many of their bridges are not structurally sound. I then used data from the ARTA bridge report, and sketched many ways I could plot the information. After narrowing down to the three charts I wanted to use, I created the charts and general layout in Figma. The copy required much attention, as this was the narrative the charts were showing. Because the audience (Manchin) was clearly defined and familiar with the content, I chose to omit context and focus on using calls to action and summary titles. Putting my charts in front of classmates for several rounds of critique allowed me to refine and focus them. Here are some specific decisions I made when improving the charts:
Highlighting West Virginia in the darkest orange so that it would stand out
Writing chart titles that left no room for ambiguity
Making the state rank bar chart relative to the national average, so that the audience would understand just how high their percentage of structurally deficient bridges are in relation to other states.
Only labeling the distinct values on the state rank chart, since there were several series where states had equal values.
Graying out the neighboring states in the time series chart, but still labeling them. Their individual values are not important, but the overall trend was the focus.
Putting bars for national average and WV’s state average on the chart that breaks down bridge types. This shows that not a single type of bridge is at or below the national average for structural deficiency, meaning it’s a widespread problem across all areas of the state.
Choosing orange (instead of blue, which was my initial choice) to allude to a sense of urgency and warning, as well as construction.
Putting the source below each chart, to increase transparency.
