See Vehicle Crash Hotspots in Milwaukee County

Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard

Milwaukee County has updated a public-facing database to highlight vehicle crash hotspots across the county.

In 2024, the Milwaukee County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) launched the Milwaukee County Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard, which provides data and visualizations for crashes showing when they occurred, where and how severe they were.

New data pulled from the local EMS system and law enforcement was added to the dash board Tuesday and a new feature allows users to identify hotspots for vehicle crashes, isolating specific areas of roadway and filtering the data by crash type, including those involving bicycles, pedestrians, stolen vehicles and fatal crashes.

The project was developed in collaboration with the Milwaukee Area Safe Streets Task Force (MASSTF), a work group with members from academia, municipal fire departments and EMS, local law enforcement, government and community organizations.

“In Phase One, we collected the data and made it publicly accessible to the community, but with the Phase Two update, we are helping to tell the story of what this data means for our residents,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in a statement Tuesday. “This dashboard helps my administration and other municipalities in Milwaukee County make policy decisions that will have the largest positive impact on the community.”

The initial data release a year ago showed many vehicle crashes were occurring in areas where the most residents are living in poverty. The new hotspot tool and additional data provides further visualization of this trend.

During a press conference Tuesday morning, County Executive David Crowley said the data underscores the importance of prioritizing equity when making investments in public safety.

“It’s about making sure that we’re investing in those areas that we see the biggest needs in,” he said.

Dr. Ben Weston noted during a press conference Tuesday morning that minor crashes are decreasing in the county, but severe or fatal crashes are increasing. Robert Schneider, a professor of Urban Planning at UW-Milwaukee, noted the data shows these severe crashes tend to increase during the summer.

“With summer coming up, it’s incredibly important to know this information,” Schneider said.

MCDOT recently finished developing a countywide traffic safety plan, with potential traffic safety projects all across the county. As these projects are implemented, government officials and the public will be able to track their success using the publicly available dashboard, zeroing in on a specific area and tracking crashes over time.

The next phase of work for MCDOT and the task force is formulating public policy recommendations based on the data in the dashboard.

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