Liberty Magnet and Episcopal High School students presented to the council using Esri's StoryMap technology to show problem areas with public transit benches

BATON ROUGE, LA, USA, May 3, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- At the most recent meeting of the East Baton Rouge Metro Council, middle and high school 4-H Tech Club youth expressed concerns over broken and dangerously placed bus benches and the lack of trash receptacles at bus stops. Joseph Harden, a junior attending Liberty Magnet High School, and Caroline Waters, a Sophomore attending Episcopal High School presented results of a GIS survey that he and fellow LA 4-H Tech Club members used to assess the condition of bus stops in one district of the capital city.

Mr. Harden, assisted by Ms. Waters, made the Metro Council presentation using a digital Esri’s StoryMap created using the Esri’s Survey123 results along with the conclusions reached by the collaborative effort. Students concluded that public transit riders need a place to sit and wait for the bus; and deserve a safer and more enjoyable experience than they are currently receiving. Mr. Harden shared his conclusions that broken benches, benches placed too close to the roadway, and the presence of litter at bus stops does not reflect well on Louisiana’s capital city and he asked the Council to address these concerns

The Baton Rouge Bus Bench Project was a collaboration between public and private school students led by Fran Fetzer Harvey, local businesswoman and GIS expert and Clean Pelican, LLC. The team spent several days over a weekend identifying locations of each bus bench in Council District 11, assessing the condition of the benches and the presence of a trash receptacle. Students also noted where litter was present. Councilwoman Laurie Adams reached out to project leaders and asked them to partner with her for this groundbreaking student GIS project.

Clean Pelican’s mission is to “work to create and maintain a clean, beautiful community where businesses and families want to stay, work and play.” Improving the appearance, maintenance, and rider experience regarding bus benches is just one of the many quality of place issues Clean Pelican is addressing in the capital city. Founders, Johanna Landreneau and Glenda Pollard, hope that the creation of a central database to assess the need for maintenance and repair will help City-Parish leaders hold bus bench franchisees accountable for regular upkeep. Clean Pelican headed up the Citizen Scientists Bus Bench Project to move the needle to a cleaner, more beautiful Baton Rouge.

Fran Harvey founded and is the CEO of Global Geospatial Institute (GGI), a nonprofit which specializes in GIS technology capable of building digital surveys to accumulate valuable data. Fran, working as a volunteer and sponsor of the LA 4-H Tech Club, composed of local Baton Rouge high school and middle school students, built a digital survey for Clean Pelican volunteers and students to input data about the bus benches to present to the Baton Rouge Metro Council.

Councilwoman, Laurie Adams, provided valuable information regarding the interplay of City-Parish government, third party vendors and bus bench locations.

Clean Pelican volunteers, led by Johanna Landreneau, Clean Pelican’s Interim Executive Director, and Glenda Pollard, Clean Pelican Vice Chair, organized the gathering of data and the presentation of the survey results to the Metro City Council on April 27.

Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations globally and in over 200,000 institutions in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. For more information, you can visit https://www.esri.com.

Other local students that participated in the creation of the Bus Bench GIS survey and Esri StoryMap creation are: Brennan Begley – Senior, Ascension Early College; Isabelle Gruner, Susanna Shields and Katherine Winchester – Juniors, Saint Joseph’s Academy; Te’vieahn Rivers, 8th grade, Park Forest Middle School; Caroline Waters, Sophomore, Episcopal School of Baton Rouge.

Fran Harvey
Global Geospatial Institute
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