Abstract - A Rail Crossing Inventory GIS and Decision Support for the North Carolina Department of Transportation

Track: Transportation, Logistics Planning

Jeffrey W. Fitzgerald
Carter & Burgess, Inc
3880 Hulen
Fort Worth, TX 76107

Telephone: 817-735-7031
Fax: 817-735-6118
E-mail: fitzgerald@c-b.com

Jason Brewington

A Rail Crossing Inventory GIS and Decision Support for the North Carolina Department of Transportation

A GIS-based decision support system has been developed for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). The system provides an efficient platform for accessing, evaluating, and inventory of the State's railroad crossings. This rail crossing inventory GIS integrates a variety of data types (CADD drawings, orthophotography, ground photography, city and county boundaries, GPS surveyed crossing locations, and USDOT AAR railroad crossing information). ArcInfo was used to register orthophotography and to convert CAD drawings. The user interface was developed in ArcView using Avenue. Integrated with the GIS is a customized AAR crossing inventory data entry and editing form that was developed using Borland International's Delphi 2.0. The application's multimedia capability will assist NCDOT in making decisions regarding crossing closures, traffic safety, and crossing maintenance scheduling, while NCDOT continues to survey and collect crossing data. The system currently contains data for 36 railroad crossings and will ultimately contain an estimated 10,000 crossings.