It is an exciting week here at OPMI, as we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the OPMI Data Blog! The Data Blog is probably the most asked about product that we work on at OPMI. It provides a way to connect with an audience of people who are interested in transportation beyond what is typically included in the regular reporting at the MBTA and MassDOT. OPMI staff get approached about the Data Blog in the wild from people who enjoy the work or have suggestions for future posts. The spouse of one of OPMI’s staffers was a little flummoxed when attending a wedding because four different guests came over to talk about the Data Blog!

At the time the OPMI Data Blog was launched, we were not sure how long it would last. Not many transit organizations were publishing data blogs at the time, with posts geared toward a relatively niche audience. It has been exciting to see not just the staying power of the OPMI Data Blog, but also the growth of data blogs at other transit organizations. As data analytics has become more central to transportation over the last decade, it has been helpful for us to see how other organizations are incorporating data into their work and bring new best practices into our own data work.

There are many people who have contributed to the Data Blog over the last 10 years. People who were once readers have come to work at OPMI as contributors. The work of various directors, analysts, and co-ops is memorialized in a decade of posts. Some posts, such as the COVID-era posts in 2020 and 2021, are a bit of a time capsule to what was happening in transportation at the time and how we were adjusting on the fly to new conditions. Other posts are referenced years later as good introductions to ongoing projects here at OPMI.

The very first post on the OPMI Data Blog was an introduction to the MBTA Rider Opinion Panel. The Panel originally was an experiment as part of a 2014 master’s thesis by MIT student William Chow. The MBTA restarted the survey in 2015, and it has been a part of OPMI’s portfolio ever since. The MBTA Rider Opinion Panel is still running strong, with over a decade of customer feedback collected! OPMI is currently working on a 10-year temporal analysis of survey data. Stay tuned to the Data Blog for the results in an upcoming post!

The MBTA Rider Opinion Panel is not the only thing to change and evolve over the span of 10 years; as you’ve probably noticed, with the publication of this post we have also launched a modern redesign of the Data Blog featuring improved user experience and visual design. Stay tuned for more special blog posts in celebration of this special milestone!