Join the #MapToTheVote Team Challenge 9/20/2020-10/20/2020
Join OpenSidewalks’ 30-day virtual Team-Challenge and use location technologies to build innovative solutions to respond to the current & future needs of society following the impact of COVID-19.
Winner announcement
We will be announcing the winners on October 29th, 2020.
The Team Mapping competition will have three winning teams. Prizes will be awarded as follows:
| Rank | Winner | Prize |
| 1st | USD $1000 | |
| 2nd | USD $400 | |
| 3rd | USD $100 |
Get involved
During pandemic, access to mobility and transportation has been very difficult for people who do not have access to private vehicles or are unable to drive. This disparity has inequitably impacted communities that have been traditionally travel-disadvantaged. These include people who are poor, older adults and people with disabilities. In a recent study completed just last week, it was shown that these same communities are more likely to try to access voting places as opposed to mail in their ballots, and the election is so few days away!
At the very same time, there are no good maps or routers for pedestrians, especially those pedestrians that are travel disadvantaged. We need routes that take our needs and preferences into accounts. We want streets that are safe to traverse with wheelchairs and traffic signals that allow us to really cross the street. We want to be able to choose streets with sidewalks when we walk with a stroller, or streets that are not polluted or full of fast street traffic.
The Taskar Center, with our two Active Transportation projects OpenSidewalks and AccessMap, is providing Community-based technology-assisted approaches aimed at reducing racial/ethnic/ableist inequities in active transportation.
In the coming 30 day period, we are inviting the public at large to take a Team Challenge and map out pedestrian infrastructure to help people who need to make informed decisions about their travel to voting locations, ballot boxes and post offices.
We want enthusiastic and innovative individuals and teams to come together to use location and other technologies to map access to voting locations
- Respond to the needs of the society related to the issues currently being experienced;
- Improve the affected functions of a democratic society (voting) during the recovery process;
- Support governments and agencies to better respond to large scale disruptive events such as COVID-19 pandemic.
Follow these steps to join:
- Step 1 – join the Team Challenge
Register to join the Team Challenge to get access to the community.
- Step 2 – build your team
Interact with the community around you to bring the right people onboard your team.
- Step 3 – Start Mapping based on the OpenSidewalks standard
Use the Guidelines to map pedestrian infrastructure for a community
- Step 4 – Registered Teams will be sent a Team Challenge Submission Form which they must turn in by 20 October, 2020.
The submission form will detail the instructions. All submissions will be scored as described in the Team Challenge Terms and Conditions.
Concerned that you don’t have a team? We have you covered! By joining the Team Challenge, you will have access to our Slack community and other resources to help you find people to work with.
Resources
The followings are some of the resources that will help you in the #MapToTheVote Team Challenge.
OpenSidewalksSupport Slack
If you need technical support about OpenSidewalks, access experts from the OpenSidewalks team through our slack channel
https://join.slack.com/t/cs-r2d2252/shared_invite/zt-hieqdyq9-6~7wVu62H2V383nr1IZrWw
Terms & Conditions
Make sure you read our Team Challenge Terms & Conditions document to further understand your eligibility and other requirements of the Team Challenge.
If you wish to get involved in the Team Challenge as a partner, please contact us at uwtcat@uw.edu
General rules
(subject to the official terms and conditions)
- Anyone residing in regions eligible for voting in the United States is eligible to participate
- A team should be registered for the Team Challenge to be able to participate.
- Teams must map at least 20 miles of valid pedestrian ways to be eligible to win.
- Team Leads must be at age of majority where they reside at the time of entry.
- Teams for the Team Challenge must consist of at least one person.
- Each Team Lead CANNOT be a Team Lead of multiple teams
- Map review for winning teams will be required following the submissions.
- Use of Google StreetView or Google Maps imagery for mapping purposes is not permitted.