An Integrated Geographic Information System Solution for Estimating Transportation Infrastructure Needs: A Florida Example

Abstract

In 1991, one of the most important pieces of legislation was signed into law. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) requires traffic and systems management monitoring of pavement, bridges, safety, congestion, public transportation facilities, and intermodal facilities. These systems call for coordinated efforts to collect, manage, analyze, and store transportation-related data. GIS-T (geographic information system for transportation) is one of the tools that will be used extensively in upcoming years to manage the information requirements of ISTEA. GIS, coupled with an integrated server-client-based information system, will become the standard, replacing many existing stand-alone, subgroup level applications. A summary is provided that discusses the development of an integrated GIS-T system, Transportation Planning and Analysis Software (TPAS), developed for the Florida Department of Transportation. TPAS was developed to manage, calculate, and store roadway characteristics to estimate immediate and long-term infrastructure needs. The system calculates roadway level of service, identifies deficiencies, and recommends improvements to meet operating standards, and, finally, calculates costs of the proposed improvement. Deficient segments, as well as road improvements and costs, can then be displayed on GIS maps in an automated fashion. In the past, these calculations were completed by using spreadsheet and manual methods. TPAS combines all of these procedures and develops maps in a fraction of the time. TPAS seamlessly integrates an ArcView GIS application with a knowledge-based expert system programmed in Visual Basic. This application provides an efficient, cost-effective solution for a once tedious and time-consuming task.