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Track: Transportation, Logistics Planning
David Freytag
Parsons Brinckerhoff
505 South Main Street Suite 900
Orange, CA 92868
Telephone: 714-973-4880
Fax: (714) 973-4918
E-mail: freytag@pbworld.com
Nathan Wilson, Kevin Keller
Conducting Major Investment Studies Using GIS: Comparative Urban and Suburban Case Studies
Defining Issue: Conducting Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) Major Investment Studies (MIS) can be a complicated, timely, and costly process due to the breadth of analysis required and the evolving project alternatives. GIS Solution: Parsons Brinckerhoff linked GIS to the Major Investment Study process to enable planners to respond to frequently changing transportation modes and alignment alternatives, providing fast and accurate impact analysis. With both public and agency involvement in the MIS process, this capability is invaluable. Methodology: Most MIS projects are of such size and complexity that performing the type of analysis required to accurately quantify potential impacts and to screen transportation alternatives would be difficult if not impossible without the use of GIS. In two very different case studies, both time and cost are being minimized by conducting virtually all of the impact analysis using GIS. The methodology and interfaces developed by Parsons
Brinckerhoff were used for two diverse regions of the country, each with widely varying issues. Initially, alternatives are devised through public and agency involvement to meet specific goals and objectives. These alternatives are mapped and right-of-way buffers created. Buffer widths vary depending on the transportation mode of each alternative and the requirements of each environmental issue. Using GIS, impacts are quantified by intersecting various physical and natural environment data sets with the buffers. The Western Transportation Corridor MIS for the Wasatch Front Regional Council is being conducted on a 30-mile-long study area in Northern Utah through Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber counties. Primary concerns include wetlands along the eastern and southern perimeter of the Great Salt Lake, farmlands, and existing infrastructure, as well as threatened and endangered species. This project requires adjustment of alternatives and continuous reanalysis over a period of months. The Interstate 5
Corridor Improvement Project in Los Angeles County is being conducted for 15 miles within a very densely populated urban setting. Major issues to be analyzed for this MIS are vastly different than those studied in Utah. The GIS methodology is flexible enough to meet the different requirements of such issues as land use, displacements, noise, environmental justice, visual quality, and economic impacts. Software: ArcInfo Version 7.0.3, ArcView Version 2.1, ERDAS Imagine 8.2, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint
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