Crowdsourcing Course

The introductory crowdsourcing course is modularly designed and can be delivered in as little as 1.5 hours or as a full-day workshop. Please contact any of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Everyday Counts Round Six (EDC-6) Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations innovation coleads listed under Contact Us to request delivery of the crowdsourcing course for your region or State.

Course Goals

• Broaden understanding of crowdsourced data and ways it can improve transportation systems management and operations (TSMO).
• Help participants consider whether specific applications of crowdsourcing may meet their organization’s needs.

Intended Audience

This course is intended primarily for managers, engineers, performance analysts, researchers, data stewards, and consultants within transportation operations groups such as:

• Traffic management centers
• Traffic signal systems
• Maintenance divisions
• Public works departments
• Emergency planning
• Work zone groups
• Emergency planning and operations

The course has no prerequisites. Consequently, city or county administrators, agency executive leadership, local university students, and others may also benefit from this course.

Course Content and Delivery

The Crowdsourcing course is an instructor-led course that can be delivered in person or virtually. This interactive course includes 5 lessons that are approximately 20 minutes each, plus 6 optional application modules that can each be delivered in 10 to 30 minutes:

• Lesson 1: Introduction
• Lesson 2: Data Sources
• Lesson 3: Application Areas (includes six optional modules):
  • Module A: Traffic Incident Management
  • Module B: Road Weather Management
  • Module C: Arterial Management
  • Module D: Traveler Information
  • Module E: Work Zone Management
  • Module F: Emergency Management
• Lesson 4: Data Management
• Lesson 5: Next Steps

The course is also available as a series of five webinars hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program. Click on the following links to access the webinars:

• Lessons 1 and 3: Introduction and Application Areas
• Lessons 2 and 4: Data Sources and Data Management
• Modules A and D: Traffic Incident management and Traveler Information
• Modules B and C: Road Weather Management and Arterial Management
• Modules E and F, and Lesson 5: Work Zone Management, Emergency Management, and Next Steps

Course Origin and Materials

The crowdsourcing course was developed in 2022 through the FHWA Every Day Counts Round Six (EDC-6) innovation—Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations. The course is available as a free “course-in-a-box,” with everything a seasoned instructor might need to deliver the course:

• Editable Instructor Templates
• Instructor Materials
• Course Slide Decks
• Student Materials

The FHWA EDC-6 crowdsourcing innovation may be able to offer instructors and experts to assist in the delivery of this course. Please contact any of the FHWA EDC-6 Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations innovation coleads listed under Contact Us, with specific questions regarding this offering.