using gis to solve city problems

Using GIS to Identify and Solve Problems

The Schneider Corporation

Founded in 1962, The Schneider Corporation is comprised of a staff of over 350 professionals that provide GIS, surveying, engineering consulting services.

Call before you dig

Purpose Adhere to new regulations for utility locations Avoid utility line breaks

Problem

Utility was sending crews to locations that they did not have utility; costing them time and money.

With over 36,000 customers in 3 townships covering a 38,000 acre area

In years past they have only located 600 +/- requests

Currently looking at an estimated 18,000 new locates a year.

Process User contacts IUPPS If the location submitted falls within HSE

boundaries, an email is sent to SAMCO’s Holey Moley email account

Process V.locate processes each email, retrieves the

appropriate fields, and enters them into a record in a geodatabase

Attempts to locate the request in the following order Latitude/Longitude Subdivision/Lot Number Street Name/Address Number Centerline Data Grid (15 Second by 15 Second Lat/Long Grid)

Process

The points file created by V.locate is uploaded into a GPS controller (data collector)

Points file can be laid out on the ground

Return on Investment

Seamless solution to a daily task More efficient More accurate More productive Better access Added additional tracking capabilities Save time and money by reduced locates

Citizen Input

Purpose To provide the public a better way to

communicate with the community officials problem areas such as, potholes, abandon vehicles and poor sidewalk conditions to name a few.

Problem

The community needed better data collection process

Perception that community leaders don’t care and/or don’t do anything about it

How?

The Citizen Input Form was designed to facilitate input from citizens to administrators and staff.

Allow users to first select a point of interest on the map.

Fill out a form with the appropriate information to be submitted.

This form allows anyone to report incidents like missing street signs or potholes and have that report routed directly to the appropriate department.

Return of Investment

Departments have a direct connection to the citizens and a avenue to provide better service.

Departments have a map to communicate the type of responses / task they completed.

Insurance Standards Organization ISO – Fire

Insurance Mapping Purpose

Council Wanted to lower the ISO Rating to lower citizens insurance cost

Insurance Standards Organization ISO – Fire

Insurance Mapping Problem

Public Protection Classification (PPCTM) Service

ISO's Public Protection Classification (PPCTM) Service gauges the capacity of the local fire department to respond if flames engulf a property in which your company has a financial stake.

ISO collects information on a community's public fire protection and analyzes the data using our Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). We then assign a Public Protection Classification from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents the best public protection, and Class 10 indicates no recognized protection.

By classifying a community's ability to suppress fires, ISO provides crucial information for understanding the entire landscape of risk associated with a specific property. We have extensive information on more than 44,000 fire-response jurisdictions.

Source: http://www.isopropertyresources.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=697&Itemid=273 ISO Web Site

How can they change it?

Redevelopment Commission hired a consultant to assess existing conditions in preparation for ISO rating.

Located and Mapped: Hydrants and 1000’ Waterlines Fire Stations Response times 5-8 min

RIO

Better understanding of existing conditions to plan for the future to increase fire and safety protection

New Fire Station Locations

Purpose To locate where new stations should be built

and how many people they will be protecting and what the response time from those locations will be.

Problem

New annexation Concerns about existing gaps in the

coverage area. Need to more accurately define the areas

they could reach within 8 minutes and then look at how the addition of new stations would help mitigate the current problem. 

Better plan the placement of new stations. 

Fire Response Drive Time Analysis

Collect actual drive time data for main roads. In Fishers, this was done by an engineer with a stopwatch during dry-runs in a fire truck.

The trials were performed with lights and sirens during hours of peak traffic.

Dry-runs in a fire truck

This data was then entered into the attribute table of a road centerline dataset.

Drive-time

Other roads are modeled for drive time based on posted speed limits and segment length

Existing Service Area

2 station scenario

3 station scenario

Route planning to multiple destinations

Origin-Destination

Return on Investment

Clear visual of coverage area Fire Chief will get his new stations Community gets under 8 min response

time

Resources

Resources Family and Social Services Administration

(FSSA) CareFinder Indiana www.childcarefinder.in.gov www.familywatchdog.us

Sidewalk Inventory

Purpose City wide inventory of all sidewalks and

missing sidewalks and their condition.

Problem

Community was being sued to fix and build ADA compliant sidewalks throughout the entire community

Estimate cost of repairs and new improvements was unknown

How?

Ortho review of existing sidewalks Added data layers to GPS units with forms TrimPix added to GPS unit and Camera is

connection Field collection GPS points collected of damaged areas Attributes describing condition were entered Photos were taken and linked to the GPS point

What did they collect?

Evaluate sidewalk and curb ramps using the following criteria: Difference in Elevation: A difference in elevation

between square of ½” or greater. Cracks: A crack that is ½” or more in width and 24” or

more in length, or a crack that is ¾” or wider and any length.

Surface Spalling: Crumbling or chipping away of the surface of at least ¼ of the sidewalk square area and ½” deep.

Trees uprooting sidewalks. Sidewalk and Curb Ramps not built to ADA Standards.

Return on Investment

The City now has a clear view of their sidewalk problems

They are able to budget and prioritize areas based on condition ratings

Thank You!Thank You!

Founded in 1962, The Schneider Corporation is one of the largest GIS firms in our region and

an industry leader in providing GIS and other land-ownership related

servicesaharrison@schneidercorp.com