Spatial Data Systems for Transportation Planning

Marc P. Armstrong
Gerard Rushton
Jayajit Chakraborty
Allen Wayne Ibaugh
Amy J. Ruggles
1997

Transportation is an inherently spatial phenomenon. With recent advances in geographic information systems (GIS), spatial referencing of transportation system attributes, performance characteristics, and usage patterns has become increasingly feasible. Geographic information systems enable such spatial data to be correlated, thereby facilitating a host of analyses in support of the transportation planning process. The objective of this research has been to develop a methodology for transforming and dynamically segmenting data. Dynamic segmentation enables transportation system attributes and associated data to be stored in separate tables and merged when a specific query requires a particular set of data to be considered. A major benefit of dynamic segmentation is that individual tables can be more easily updated when attributes, performance characteristics, or usage patterns change over time.

Applications of a progressive geographic database referencing system in transportation planning are vast. Summaries of system condition and performance can be made, and analyses of specific portions of a road system are facilitated.

Research for this project was carried out in the University of Iowa Department of Geography with assistance from the University's Public Policy Center. Funding was provided by the University Transportation Centers Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation, with supplemental funding contributed by the Iowa Department of Transportation.

$12.95, 53 pp., 11 figures, perfect bound.
ISBN 0-87414-140-0