Richmond Connects: Map Collection Overview

Welcome to the Richmond Connects Map Collection

 Richmond Connects   is the City’s plan to work towards the vision for equitable transportation set out in the City’s master plan, Richmond 300. It’s a plan to make transportation in Richmond work for everyone. It’s a process to identify and prioritize multimodal transportation projects and programs in the City of Richmond. It’s focused on equity and will work towards healing injustices by elevating the voices of people harmed in the past and those who experience injustices today. The City of Richmond’s Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility is developing the Richmond Connects plan.

This growing collection of content showcases the various items created during the Richmond Connects initiative ranging from first understanding where the needs are given public feedback to showing analysis of assorted variables and their outputs. See below for descriptions of the items accessible in this collection.

Richmond Connects Website

This is the main project website where all stakeholders can go to learn about all aspects of the project.

Survey Responses Dashboard

This dashboard shows responses from Richmonders on transportation barriers and future connections that are needed. All responses came from surveys conducted when the City was developing the Richmond 300 Master Plan, the Path to Equity Policy Guide, and the first round of Richmond Connects that closed Sept 2022.

Needs Analysis Mapping

A StoryMap to highlight the draft Richmond Connects Investment Needs Categories (INC) and Equity Factor (EF) maps. This StoryMap shares two series of draft maps that together comprise the data-driven needs analysis. The 11 Investment Need Category (INC) maps identify transportation-related infrastructure and service needs (i.e. network needs). The 10 Equity Factor (EF) maps identify places and people who have experienced past injustices and present-day disparities (i.e. people needs).

Composite Map Options

A StoryMap to show three potential options for incorporating the Equity Factor scores into four sample Investment Need Category (INC) maps. The Richmond Connects team created this StoryMap to share three potential options for weighting the INC maps with the EF scores with the Technical Subcommittee for their input. This StoryMap looks at four of the 11 INCs. For each INC, there are four maps. The original unweighted INC map will be shown in the upper left, and there are three potential options for weighting the INC map with the relevant EF scores.

Weighted Needs Maps

A StoryMap to highlight the initial results of the data-driven needs analysis for Richmond Connects. The Richmond Connects team created this StoryMap to highlight the differences between the Unweighted and Weighted Needs Maps specifically taking advantage of the Sidecar functionality and swipe features to allow for easy comparison. The StoryMap also provides a way for users to provide feedback via an embedded Instant App.

Continuous vs Tiered Mapping

A StoryMap to highlight the initial results of the data-driven needs analysis for Richmond Connects. The Richmond Connects team created this StoryMap to share a new way to symbolize the needs analysis analysis and to incorporate public input to identify what needs to be improved. The weighted Continuous need map shows the weighted need symbolized on the same stretched color ramp presented in past maps. The weighted Tiered need map presents the same data but in a discrete value methodology. For example, areas with values 0.4 - 0.6 are not displayed as they are categorized as having Low Need, 0.6 - 0.8 is Medium Need, and 0.8 - 1.0 indicates areas of High Need.

Needs Analysis

Needs were identified through a combination of data-driven analysis and public input. This StoryMap describes the data-driven analysis and how the results from the public engagement were incorporated. The process to analyze the data is centered around 11 Investment Need Categories. The 11 Investment Need Categories (INCs) are defined in the Path to Equity policy guide. They represent the vision, goals, and objectives related to transportation in the Richmond 300 master plan. The Richmond Connects team analyzed the needs for each Investment Need Category first based on transportation infrastructure and services. The team then applied additional weights to the analysis to reflect equity needs - identifying places and people who have experienced past injustices and present-day disparities. Public input was also incorporated in the needs analysis. Areas with a cluster of comments pertaining to that Investment Need Category were bumped up to the next need level. This is an enhancement from the draft weighted needs maps that were shared in early February 2023.

Searchable Final Needs and Candidate Projects Maps

This map displays a collection of the different candidate projects that have been recommended or are currently in progress to be constructed throughout the City of Richmond. These projects were compiled from several different GIS sources and static sources, including recommendations from Richmond 300: A Guide for Growth, studies from Plan RVA and GRTC, and independent planning studies conducted by the City via consultants. Projects layers are organized by points, lines, and polygons. A unique project identifier within the attribute table of all features allows the functionality to search for specific projects and zoom to them within the map. Also held within this searchable database is the sources of where the recommendation came from, a fleshed out description of the recommendation, and the recommendation’s current status. The primary function of this map is to give a spatial overview of all candidate projects throughout the City.

Richmond Connects Top Recommendations Dashboard: Understanding Which Recommendations Matter Most

This dashboard displays a collection of the top candidate projects throughout the City of Richmond. The top candidate projects are grouped spatially based on the need area they fall into. The Richmond Connects team assigned the City into 17 different need areas. The top candidate projects for each area were determined based on prior Richmond Connects data analysis efforts, as well as community feedback. Prior data analysis efforts involved identifying the areas where there were high equity-based transportation needs, as described in the Needs Analysis section above. Within this map, descriptions of the top candidate projects in each needs area are visible via pop-up. The dashboard driven pop-up also allows users to take a survey on which projects they believe are most important, view results from out survey respondents to drive community engagement. The primary function of this map is to give a more detailed look at the top candidate projects throughout the City.

Richmond Connects Action Plan Project Recommendations

This map displays a collection of the different candidate projects that have been chosen for prioritization in the Richmond Connects Action Plan. Projects were selected for inclusion in the Action Plan based on survey input of the draft recommendations (see Richmond Connects Top Recommendations Dashboard: Understanding Which Recommendations Matter Most). Public support of projects and whether they fell in communities of concern were the two driving factors for inclusion in the Action Plan. This map symbolizes projects within two categories: location specific projects (points) and linear projects (lines). Projects previously represented with polygon areas were converted to points based on the polygon area’s centroid. This was done to allow for enhanced visualization of all projects on the map. Orange displays Priority Projects, which are projects meant to “prioritize what the people need”. This category includes projects that directly address communities of concern needs. Two shades of blue display Priority Completion Projects and Other Completion Projects, which are projects meant to “finish what we started”. This category includes projects that have already received funding for design and implementation, with filling remaining funding gaps being the priority to bring these projects to completion. Green displays Shorter-Term and First Step Projects, which are projects meant to “move forward with what we can”. This category includes projects that are low-cost and easily implementable. The projects within this map have unique project identifiers that correlate to tables within the Action Plan. The project database also holds critical project information such as fleshed out descriptions of project recommendations, the cost of the project, and the project support score from the public. The primary function of this map is to give a spatial overview of only the Action Plan prioritized projects throughout the City.

Richmond Connects Strategic Plan Project Recommendations

This map displays a collection of the different candidate projects for prioritization in the Richmond Connects Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan map is different than the Action Plan map in that the Richmond Connects Strategic Plan is the larger plan that includes all project recommendations, while the Action Plan only includes those projects chosen for near term prioritization. On this map, Strategic Plan recommendations follow a grey color scheme delineating they are longer-term ideas not in the immediate Action Plan. The rest of the map is symbolized similar to the Action Plan map, with orange displaying Priority Projects, two shades of blue displaying Priority Completion Projects and Other Completion Projects, and green displaying Shorter-Term and First Step Projects. More details about what these categories mean can be found in the Action Plan map description. The projects within this map have unique project identifiers that correlate to tables within the Strategic Plan. The project database also holds critical project information such as fleshed out descriptions of project recommendations, the cost of the project, and the project support score from the public. The primary function of this map is to give a spatial overview of the overall Strategic Plan projects throughout the City.

Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Planning

This dashboard displays four maps designed to to allow the user to explore and understand different scenarios. The Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario plan looks to represent what Richmond could look like in 2045, with three different scenarios (A, B, and C) representing three different future transportation investment focus areas along with a baseline.

Baseline for Scenarios: This map displays the results of scenario planning efforts from the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan for the Baseline for Scenarios. The Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario plan looks to represent what Richmond could look like in 2045, with three different scenarios (A, B, and C) representing three different future transportation investment focus areas. In addition to these, there were also assumptions made for a 2045 Baseline, with the goal that this baseline would then be used as a comparison for all other scenarios. The 2045 Baseline scenario represents a future in which the City has completed the investments for which it has already sought and identified partial funding for, and generally no additional investments have been made. Further details on the baseline scenario definition can be found in the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan. Data layers on this map represent the 2045 Baseline assumptions, including “Completion Projects” from the Richmond Connects Action Plan are implemented, all partially funded DPW Pipeline bicycle and pedestrian projects are constructed, multiple baseline and essential transit improvements are executed, near-time bikeshare locations are implemented, and presumed rates for EV adoption and charging infrastructure are followed. The primary function of this map is to visually represent what the transportation network would be like in 2045, and this map serves as a baseline of comparison for all other scenarios.

Scenario A: This map displays the results of scenario planning efforts from the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan for Scenario A. The Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario plan looks to represent what Richmond could look like in 2045, with three different scenarios (A, B, and C) representing three different future transportation investment focus areas. Scenario A looks to focus on equitable transit – representing a future where the City has partnered with GRTC and secured large investments to enhance the fixed route transit service to a level that fulfills the transit service aspirations in the Richmond 300 Master Plan. Further details about the enhancements of this scenario can be found in the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan. Data layers on this map represent the different Scenario A improvements suggested, including improved transit service, all GRTC stops having a bench and shelter, and bicycle and pedestrian improvements at highest-need transit stops. The map also includes layers for the Baseline 2045 Bicycle Facilities and the Near-Term Bike-Share & Scooter Locations. The primary function of this map is to visually represent the networks and improvements denoted in Scenario A.

Scenario B: This map displays the results of scenario planning efforts from the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan for Scenario B. The Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario plan looks to represent what Richmond could look like in 2045, with three different scenarios (A, B, and C) representing three different future transportation investment focus areas. Scenario B looks to focus on active nodes – specifically focusing on walk and bicycle modes, and providing a connected network of facilities for walking and bicycling within and between the Nodes as identified in the Richmond 300 Master Plan. Further details about the enhancements of this scenario can be found in the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan. Data layers on this map represent the different Scenario B improvements suggested, including robust investment in pedestrian and bicycle facilities, installing all near-term and long-term bikeshare and scooter locations, and all streets in Nodes having one hundred percent sidewalk coverage. The map also includes a layer for the Baseline 2045 Bicycle Facilities. The primary function of this map is to visually represent the networks and improvements denoted in Scenario B.

Scenario C: This map displays the results of scenario planning efforts from the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan for Scenario C. The Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario plan looks to represent what Richmond could look like in 2045, with three different scenarios (A, B, and C) representing three different future transportation investment focus areas. Scenario C looks to focus on emerging technology – exploring the potential for technological advancements to transform how Richmonders get around. Further details about the enhancements of this scenario can be found in the Richmond Connects Long-Term Scenario Plan. Data layers on this map represent the different Scenario C improvements suggested, including a focus on micro transit, technological investments to improve bus on-time performance, installing all near-term and long-term bikeshare and scooter locations, greater adoption of e-bikes, and greater access to publicly available Electric Vehicle charging locations. The map also includes a layer for the Baseline 2045 Bicycle Facilities. The primary function of this map is to visually represent the networks and improvements denoted in Scenario C.

More GIS Content Coming Soon!