Open data for student projects

Your students can work with quality data about New Zealand’s transport system via the Waka Kotahi Open Data Portal.

The Open Data Portal has data on vehicles, crashes, real-time information on road events affecting traffic, and more.

The data is available for public use, with each dataset page linking to exact terms of use. Open data may support student outcomes in:

• geography (spatial analysis),
• digital technologies (designing and developing digital outcomes),
• mathematics and statistics (statistical enquiry cycle), and
• other learning areas where teachers see a good fit!

The Open Data Portal(external link)

More about the Open Data Portal

The Open Data Portal is a public platform where Waka Kotahi shares data. You can explore, analyse, and download data in a range of formats. Highlights include:

• The Crash Analysis System. Updated quarterly, the CAS records information about all traffic crashes reported to the NZ Police. There are many data fields related to location, vehicle type and contributing factors.
• Road Events. Real-time data on road works and other events that affect traffic conditions across New Zealand’s national highways.
• The Motor Vehicle Register. A snapshot of all vehicles currently registered in New Zealand. Data includes make and model, year registered, the type of motive power and more.

Within each dataset, you can filter data based on different fields. You can also download the full dataset or filtered subsets. Download options include CSV files for use in spreadsheets, KML to view in Google Earth, or an Esri Shapefile for use with GIS software.

Web maps using the ArcGIS application are also available on the Open Data Portal. These maps let students quickly visualise the data on a map of New Zealand.

You can also consume datasets using a GeoService or GeoJSON API.

We would like to hear more from teachers about how open data can help you and your students – including how you use our data, and what sorts of data you would like.

Contact us

What is Open Data?

Open data is available for anyone to use and share. Open government data does not include private information about individuals. It is data that agencies are already collecting as part of everyday responsibilities. Making it openly available provides transparency and contributes to economic and social growth.

Learn more here:

Data.govt.nz(external link)