June 2012
Prepared for:
Office of Planning Federal Highway Administration U.S. Department of Transportation
Prepared by:
Organizational Performance Division John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center Research and Innovative Technology Administration U.S. Department of Transportation
Some excerpts (Some pictures are shown on cover page 3. For full details please visit https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?
q=CASE+STUDIES+IN+GEOGRAPHIC+INFORMATION+SYSTEMS+FOR+INTERNET+PORTALS
The following report investigates the experiences of transportation agencies in the deployment of Internet-based mapping portals based on geographic information systems (GIS). The report presents background information, a series of case studies, and a summary of conclusions.
For today's transportation agencies and organizations, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an everyday tool used in many different capacities. Among its myriad applications, agencies use GIS to manage assets such as roads and bridges, map routes for trucks and buses, track safety incidents, plan for new facilities, and monitor traffic activity. As more transportation agencies collect, store, and manipulate spatial data, it has become increasingly important to ensure that these data are accessible to all feasible users.
With the emergence of the GIS portal, transportation agencies are investing in streamlined spatial solutions, fast performance, and intuitive capabilities. GIS portals are quick, easily readable, online geospatial data viewers. The concept is not unlike a vehicle dashboard, allowing viewers to swiftly get the pulse of the situation without much effort.
Case studies
The five agencies profiled in case studies are:
· Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) — An assortment of individual GIS portals tailored toward specific subject matters. Strong outreach efforts and a reduced mingling of unrelated data within each portal allows for a highly customized and valuable tool for many users throughout KYTC. (See screen shot on cover page 3 )
· New York State DOT (NYSDOT) — The Oversize/Overweight Vehicle Pre-Screening Tool produces information on height and weight restrictions for roadways, as well as diversions caused by construction activity, to support permitting for oversize and overweight freight movements.
· Georgia DOT (GDOT) — GeoTRAQS is a new interactive mapping tool developed by GDOT which enables a wide range of users with one-stop access to much of GDOT's publicly available data. The tool is particularly robust in allowing users to specify their data needs by both subject matter and geographic location.
· Iowa DOT — An evolving application with an intricate data collection scheme, the Iowa DOT Snow Plow Portal provides decision-makers with real-time and historical materials usage data to influence maintenance activity during winter weather events. It strives to achieve cost savings by modulating the amount of materials used to treat roadways.
· Kansas DOT (KDOT) — KGATE is a collection of 70 feature datasets from a variety of different sources through KDOT and others
Conclusions
GIS portals built by transportation agencies can serve a wide variety of needs, both internal to an agency and external to the general public. Some transportation agencies use GIS portals as a way to manage and query data pertaining to an agency's transportation assets, or for a specific subset of assets (such as those by a type of mode). A centralized, data-rich GIS application can assist agency employees in querying relevant information related to user-defined characteristics of a transportation system, such as the year of construction for all railroad bridges in a county. This type of tool can help track the conditions of organizational assets, manage maintenance needs, prioritize investment decisions, and address questions from the public or lawmakers. In practice, GIS portals can be complex and resource-intensive to maintain, requiring powerful databases and knowledgeable staff for support. However, a high-quality system can greatly improve an agency's internal operations.
Asset management systems, such as those for bridges, highways, and pavement, can also be integrated with GIS portals to assist with analysis
A more data-intensive example of a GIS portal for public consumption is the use of interactive base maps, which allow users to query information relating to the transportation system
Essential Portal Components: Database; GIS Server; GIS Server
Lessons Learned : Focus on the User, Institutional Support, Data Stewardship
Performance Metrics
None of the DOTs interviewed for this series of case studies have robust systems in place for measuring the performance of its GIS portal. While most agencies do track web statistics and distribute surveys to solicit feedback from users on the successes and needed improvements of the tool, there are little quantitative data to suggest that GIS portals are generating a return on the investment. Potential opportunities for quantitative measures include cost savings incurred from the release of a certain portal functionality or feature, calculated time savings related to data collection processes for federal documentation requirements, and fuel savings resulting from a reduced number of trips into the field
Volume 89, Issues 1–2, 30 January 2009, Pages 7-16
The impact of detention basin design on residential property value: Case studies using GIS in the hedonic price modeling
Abstract
This study examined the impact of two different detention basin designs on residential property value. The hedonic price model was applied to analyze two College Station, TX, subdivisions. One subdivision had only uniuse flood control detention basins (UDBs) and the other included a multi-use detention basin (MDB) integrating a detention pond with a recreational neighborhood park. Geographic information system (GIS) was used for analysis. Spatial autocorrelation and spatial regression were analyzed. The results indicate that the network distance from the UDBs did not have a significant effect on residential property value. Yet, the properties with a view of the UDBs were significantly lowered in property value. In contrast, the network distance from the MDB where a neighborhood park was merged had a significant impact on residential property value within the 274-m (900-ft) impact area, consistent with expectations. The study also found that environmental amenities such as recreational facilities improved the hedonic price model for the impact area of the MDB, whereas the effect of spatial and locational features was not significant due to its spatial location. The findings of this study imply that thoughtful integration between recreation facilities and detention basins could significantly alter public’s perception of detention basins from stormwater collection eyesores to neighborhood parks. The challenge is whether municipal governments are willing to adopt a policy that encourages developments with MDBs as these municipalities will typically become responsible for maintaining them after construction.
Management of urban green space
Source:Urban land resources and urban planting — case studies from Denmark; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204600001298
Author links open overlay panelKarenAttwell
Abstract
Trees benefit urban communities environmentally, esthetically and recreationally. This raises the question of whether Denmark’s towns have enough space for more trees. A research project investigated this by examining in detail the potential for more sustainable planning and management of urban green space in towns with 10,000–40,000 inhabitants and was completed in 1999. The paper describes the vegetation cover in selected urban areas, including the cover of woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) and discusses the land area potentially available for supplementary planting in urban zones. The method used to map urban vegetation is discussed and related to Denmark’s administrative practice and planning system. Case studies are presented for various categories of urban land use to highlight the variation in vegetation coverand to identify the land area available for increasing tree cover.
Apart from undeveloped urban land, the largest areas potentially available for planting included industrial zones, institutional zones and apartment complexes. Other types of residential district lacked the coherent space normally required for sustainable planting. The cover of trees and shrubs in the case study towns is very limited, but large areas of non-functional lawn could be available for planting. Lawn comprised the largest proportion of the urban surfacecover in the case studies. The findings of the case studies were assembled into data sets relating to each type of urban zone and summed up in green structure maps based on geographical information systems. This approach can provide an overview of best practices to allow areas lacking vegetation cover to be identified. This assessment method can usefully be applied to incorporate issues related to the urban natural environment and urban greening potential into conventional planning practice in Denmark’s municipalities.
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