The Business Intelligence (BI) initiative at the Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety (CARTS) is focused on more than software. Our BI systems encompass a set of processes and technologies to enhance the use of data driven decision making.

Since its inception in 1998, the main focus of CARTS has been collecting and processing crash data. However, in 2010, CARTS began focusing more of its effort in developing tools making the data more accessible and assisting users in analyzing their data. To support these new efforts, CARTS designed and implemented a crash data warehouse utilizing On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) and Tabular Model cubes. We are also making use of PowerPivot within Excel 2013 to 'slice and dice' data and SharePoint2013 to distribute matrices, charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards.

Our current data warehouse contains data collected from multiple sources: crash, person, vehicle, roadway, curve, licensed driver, VMT, COBRA, and cost. We are also making use of PowerPivot within Excel 2013 to 'slice and dice' data and SharePoint2013 & Tableau to distribute matrices, charts, graphs, maps, and dashboards. The cubes are then automatically reprocessed to reflect the updated information.

The overall BI strategy is to allow for quick, flexible, and targeted information delivery to our user community. We are constantly improving our system by utilizing proven new technologies to augment our system.

Louisiana Strategic Highway Safety Plan - CARTS is working closely with state and local agencies to help supplement Louisiana's Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). BI tools are being created by CARTS to allow interactive analysis and report generation on various crash data elements. The analysis and reports are generated to support the primary emphasis area teams within the SHSP.