An innovative collaboration is providing insights local leaders better understand traffic safety trends across the Evansville region as organizations like the Safer Streets Evansville and Evansville Trails Coalition are strategically approaching ways to make Evansville a safe place to commute.
Grow’s commitment to advancing data-informed decision-making in the Greater Evansville Region continues through another partnership with the University of Evansville ChangeLab and community organizations focused on improving public outcomes through accessible data tools.
Following the success of the Southern Indiana School Insights platform completed by UE students in the spring semester of 2025 , a new class of students worked to develop the Evansville Metro Traffic Fatality Dashboard, an interactive platform designed to make regional traffic fatality data easier to explore, understand, and act upon.
The dashboard was created by University of Evansville students, Lily Dwyer, Rebecca Lago, Angelika Elderbook, and Rustambek Shodiev, under the guidance of Dr. Omid Khormali as part of the UE ChangeLab in partnership with The Polis Center, the creators of SAVI. Using publicly available transportation and traffic safety data, the student team transformed complex datasets into a user-friendly visualization tool that allows community members, policymakers, planners, and public safety leaders to better examine traffic fatality patterns across the Evansville metro area.
Built with R Shiny and interactive mapping technology, the dashboard enables users to explore trends by location, year, contributing factors, and demographic information. The platform provides a more accessible way to identify patterns that may otherwise remain hidden in spreadsheets or static reports, supporting conversations around infrastructure, public safety, and long-term planning.
This project builds on a growing partnership between local organizations, higher education, and data-focused initiatives working to strengthen regional decision-making. The collaboration reflects how community stakeholders, like students, can share meaningful, real-world data while simultaneously creating tools that serve the broader community.
In developing the dashboard, students gained hands-on experience in data cleaning, visualization design, statistical interpretation, and collaborative problem-solving. The project also gave students the opportunity to work alongside community stakeholders and better understand how data can inform public policy and community planning.
The Evansville Metro Traffic Fatality Dashboard demonstrates how accessible, interactive data tools can support safer and more informed communities. By turning public data into usable insights, projects like this help local leaders and residents move from information to action.
Take Action
Explore the Evansville Metro Traffic Fatality Dashboard to better understand traffic safety trends in our region and consider how data-informed conversations can help shape safer communities for everyone.
- Explore the dashboard: Evansville Metro Traffic Fatality Dashboard
- Read the original School Insights story: Transforming Local Data into Powerful Insights
