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Track: Transportation, Logistics Planning
Adam M. Carnow
GeoComm International Corp.
6610 E Fowler Avenue Suite C
Tampa, FL 33617
Telephone: 813-989-9550
Fax: 813-899-2207
E-mail: acarnow@geocomm.com
Thomas C. Herman
A GIS Application for Analyzing the Five-Year Work Program of the Florida Department of Transportation
Defining Issue: The Florida DOT plans and budgets its improvements to the State transportation system through its Five-Year Work Program. This includes the maintenance and expansion of the entire State-supported system for the current fiscal year and the next five fiscal years. This is a complex process involving a complex central and distributed database. The process involves using printouts, databases, spreadsheets, and tables from a central mainframe legacy database. In order to visualize the work program projects, FDOT staff have used manual symbology on top of CADD basemaps or had to order specialized maps from the GIS support center in Tallahassee. These methods have been untimely and inefficient, since the Work Program data can change daily. GIS Solution: Dames & Moore and GeoComm International developed a PC-based ArcView GIS application on a client/server network infrastructure using automated daily data replication to a local Oracle data server to allow Work Program staff to access, query,
report, display and map their data on their desktop. Methodology: The Work Program GIS Application (WPAGIS) allows the Work Program staff to visualize and access the Work Program data that is less than 24 hours old. It provides a user-friendly graphic user interface that allows queries, reports, and maps to be made right at the desktop. Each night, the Work Program data is replicated from the central office mainframe database in Tallahassee to each of the three pilot district's local Oracle data servers. When the users start the WPAGIS application, it accesses the local Oracle data server via SQL Connect and ODBC to extract the necessary data. This brings a nearly real-time visualization of the data to each of the staff's desktop PCs. All of the custom functions are available from two custom menu choices. This accurate display of the data has also provided an excellent quality control tool to discover inaccuracies in the Work Program database. The projects are displayed on an ArcInfo route system
using the dynamic segmentation capabilities of ArcView. This has allowed the FDOT staff to produce their own maps rather than depend on other departments and aged data. Some of the processes have been reduced from a few weeks to a few minutes. The WPAGIS also allows the user to save a "snapshot" of the data allowing the user to take the information "on the road" using a portable PC to public hearings and other meetings. Software: The application was written entirely in Avenue. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the application and its functions as well as to review the technical challenges encountered during its development. It will also show the future directions of the development of this application.
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