The Benefits of 3-D GIS

Ben Cohen, Chief Information Officer, Department of Transportation,

State of Mississippi

Michael Cresap, Transportation Information Director, Department of Transportation, State of Mississippi

• The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computerized system designed to create, store, maintain, analyze and publish spatial data.

• MDOT utilizes GIS technology in various ways including analysis and reporting of information on bridges, highways and other transportation assets. GIS offers the ability to create detailed searches about an area as it relates to a particular location on the road producing both map and tabular results. MDOT also utilizes the GIS for analysis of project locations as it relates to environmental and socioeconomic concerns.

What is GIS and how does it help?

• GIS offers opportunities to streamline agency business processes through visualizing, sharing, analyzing, and monitoring data in ways that would not be possible with strictly numerical data.

• Benefits:– Better highway design can be achieved through use of geospatial data.

– Safety and maintenance issues can be analyzed by studying recurring issues within a given geospatial area.

– Real-time traffic information can be relayed to the traveling public, as well as state and local emergency responders.

– Used to meet FHWA requirements.

What is GIS and how does it help?

• GIS activities at MDOT first began around 1994 during the development of the Transportation Management Information System (TMIS). TMIS provided access to bridge, pavement, safety and traffic data all linked by a common LRS.

• However, it became apparent that the application did not offer sufficient spatial analysis capabilities.

• The single level LRS limited business data integration

• Decided to develop a multi-level LRS using in-house tools and resources leveraging Oracle Spatial.

– Dual carriageway

• Resulting database has more than 283,000 records equating to over 80,000 miles of roadway segments.

• Enables all departments to reference data to locations along the LRS by using county identifier, route name and mile point.

MDOT GIS

Comparison of Single to Multi-level LRS

High level of the Roadway Network

• MDOT uses GIS data to meet Federal reporting requirements.

• Project Location Tool – This application is used to capture project geometry on a map.

• FHWA Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS) – MDOT is required to report project location data to FMIS for all projects financed with Federal-Aid Highway Grant Funding.

• Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) – MDOT is required to submit roadway location data showing condition and physical characteristics of all public roadways to the HPMS. This data is used to determine funding allowances for our State.

• Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) – MDOT locates highway crash data against the LRS and develops highway safety improvement plans. The HSIP requires MDOT to submit reports showing implementation and reduction of fatalities and serious injuries.

Federal Mandates

Project Location Tool

• MDOT’s MLRS is leveraged by several systems to meet federal mandates and to provide safety by reducing congestion and preventing fatal accidents on the roadways.– Roadway Inventory Management System (RIMS)

– Safety Analysis Management System (SAMS)

– Oversized/Overweight Permitting (OS/OW)

– Mobile data collection for Stormwater inspections, signs, signal inventory and other roadway assets

How GIS data is leveraged at MDOT

• MDOT uses the Safety Analysis Management System (SAMS) and the Crash Editing Tool (CET) to perform complex geospatial and statistical analysis on roadway and crash data to identify and mitigate potential safety problems. SAMS also performs a cost analysis for each MDOT road project. Once the systems are fully integrated with the Multi-Linear Referencing System, MDOT will have the ability to pinpoint accident locations with GIS accuracy, determine travel direction, as well as which lane of the roadway where accidents occur.

• Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) is a national safety strategy that Mississippi has adopted to bring stakeholders together towards a common vision of a highway system free of fatalities through a sustained decline in transportation-related deaths and injuries. In 2014, there were 607 traffic fatalities in Mississippi. That same year, 32,719 people were killed on American highways. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of deaths for teens in the U.S.

• The purpose of this project is to eliminate roadway crashes by moving Mississippi toward zero deaths. This system will allow MDOT to prioritize safety projects statewide, so unsafe roadway conditions are addressed and corrected in a timelier and cost effective manner. The SAMS upgrade could potentially save lives and money by identifying and making corrections to reoccurring fatality locations.

Safety Analysis Management System (SAMs)

Safety Analysis Management System (SAMs)

• Oversized/Overweight Permitting system (OS/OW)– To create an efficient means of permitting for the trucking industry

– To promote safety

– To protect the integrity of Mississippi’s road and infrastructure

• Restriction management

• Automated routing

• Re-routing notifications

Oversized/Overweight Permitting system (OS/OW)

• OS/OW leveraging GIS data– Restriction management

• Knowing the location of posted bridges

• Roadway inventory of lane widths, bridge heights and turning radius

• Location of Construction and Maintenance activities

• Up-to-date maps providing the best scenarios for automated routing

• Data analytics to provide a historical look of locations where heavy loads have been traveling to predict impact to infrastructure

Oversized/Overweight Permitting system (OS/OW)

• The Environmental Division of MDOT was tasked with the responsibility of managing the department’s StormwaterInspection Program. The process described below has been put into place to ensure that the department is in compliance with the current MDEQ-issued StormwaterPermit.

– Allow field-level data collection during site inspections, with or without internet connectivity

– Provide GPS integration for identification of site locations

– Upload site observation photos

– Store inspection data in the MDOT Oracle database

Stormwater Inspections

Stormwater Inspections

• MDOT uses Intelligent Transportation Systems to enhance safety and improve mobility on Mississippi roads. MDOT provides real-time traveler information to the public and responder community by using our website (mdottraffic.com), traffic cameras, Dynamic Message Signs, Highway Advisory Radios, email Traffic Alerts, and through the media. Members of the public use this information to make informed decisions on how best to reach their destination with minimal delays. The emergency response community uses this information to monitor and quickly respond to traffic incidents and assess the situation remotely before arrival on scene.

MDOT Traffic

MDOT Traffic

• Traffic incidents in the roadways present a safety hazard to motorists and cause a temporary reduction in the capacity of roadways. Intelligent Transportation Systems are used to support MDOT’s efforts to inform motorists of those potential hazards and delays, and to mitigate the costly impacts of congestion on our roadways, which also greatly impacts the delivery of good and services.

• Streaming traffic cameras, push notifications, and up-to-date alerts are all available through the MDOTTraffic mobile app. Since its launch, over 40,000 push notifications have been sent alerting of changes in traffic or road conditions. The number of traffic related calls to the agency has decreased by over 10%. The MDOTTraffic mobile application has 20,218 registered users and 93,050 downloads.

• MDOTTraffic, Mississippi’s top mobile traffic application, is presently being re-designed to take advantage of new features and technologies including:– Completely rewritten in Swift programming language

– Development of new method for triggering geo-based push notifications tied on a user’s location and proximity to a traffic alert

– Modernization of the user interface to take advantage of the latest device sizes

– Enhancements to the application using newer technologies including 3D force touch, touch ID login and integration with Apple Watch.

MDOT Traffic

MDOT Traffic

MDOT Traffic Mobile Application