Web-Mapping and Desktop GIS to Assist FTA Program Management

L. Harman, U. Shama, M. Pacha-Sucharzewski; Bridgewater State University

and M. Lesh, Federal Transit Administration

GIS in Transit ConferenceOctober 2013

Desktop GIS and the Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative (VTCLI) Program

VTCLI provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate GIS applications for FTA program management– A one-off program focusing on new transit

constituencies:• Veterans• Active Duty members of the armed forces • Military families

– The need to integrate disparate databases with important geographic data and spatial relationships

Integration of Custom Databases and COTS Databases

• Custom– Grants.gov VTCLI application databases– FTA grant award/announcement databases– FTA grant management databases (TEAM)

• GIS vendor (Caliper Corp)-supplied databases– Geographic databases supplied with program– NAVTEQ U.S. geographic files– Census data by 5-digit zip code with estimates– Transportation data package– 113th Congressional District Databases

Desktop GIS applications for VTCLI

• Thematic maps and transit routes– e.g. density of veterans and access to fixed route transit

• Custom service areas– Areas served by VTCLI applicants for U.S. and by State

• Spatial Relationships– Proximity of awardees by location, size of award, and key

word– Proximity of awardees to military bases -- VTCLI round

one and round two grant processes

VTCLI Round 1 Service Areas CONUS

VTCLI Round 1 Service Areas in FL

Relationship of Cape Cod Bus Routes to Veterans Themed by Population by Zip Code --1

New Service Identified Underserved Areas in Upper Cape Cod Region

Relationship of Cape Cod Bus Routes to Veterans Themed by Population by Zip Code -- 2

Round 1 VTCLI Service Areas in MA with Military Bases

Post Round 1 Analysis – San DiegoMilitary Bases and Bus Routes

Post Round 1 Analysis – Monterey Military Bases and Bus Routes

Web-Mapping Applications – VTCLI Round One and Round 2 Overview

• link to VTCLI Round 1 and 2 Overview map

http://www.geolabvirtualmaps.com/VTCLI_Overview.aspx

Conclusions

• For those programs where national distribution and specific population characteristics are important, GIS applications using desktop GIS and web mapping can be very useful for Federal program managers.

• FTA should look into the availability of Google GTFS files and GTFS .shp files to re-create the national Transit GIS database of the mid-1990’s.