GIS Mapping as Part of Transportation Infrastructure

GIS

Where Easy is Hard and Hard is Easy

Sample Project:

Let's locate some crossings

How to define a crossing?

Crossings occur where a railroad and a road 'cross' each other.

Step 1: Grab some road data

State Sources

Pros:

  • Official Data Source
  • Well Maintained

Cons:

  • Local Projections
  • Different Data Schemas
  • Ever so slightly different border connections

Freight Analysis Framework (FHWA)

Pros:

  • National Dataset
  • Designed for Routing

Freight Analysis Framework (FHWA)

Cons:

  • Only Major Roads
  • Inaccurate Geometry

Commercial Sources (ESRI, TomTom)

Pros:

  • Usually Good Data
  • Designed for Routing (Sometimes with lane data)
  • Consistent Schema
  • May already have license from Software Vendor

Cons:

  • Costs Money
  • May have use restrictions

OpenStreetMap

Pros:

  • Global Coverage
  • Data comes from multiple sources (offical and unofficial)

Cons:

  • Unconventional Data Format
  • Community Editable/Maintaned

Step 2: Grab some rail data

Be a Railroad (Class 1)

Pros:

  • Detailed track data
  • Designed for Operational Needs

Cons:

  • Company-wide + Extras Coverage
  • Shortlines coverage may be spotty
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State Sources

Pros:

  • Public Source

Cons:

  • Single State Coverage
  • Most States probably don't have one

Federal Sources

Pros:

  • Nationwide Coverage
  • Public Source

Federal Sources

Cons:

  • All Tracks vs Main Tracks
  • Data Maintenance Frequency?
  • High Scale

OpenRailMap

Pros:

  • Global Coverage
  • Appears well maintained

OpenRailMap

Cons:

  • Community Maintained Resource
  • Euro-Centric

Step 3: GIS!

intersect(road_network, rail_network)

Examine the results

Simple Crossing

Multi-Lane Road Crossing

Multi-Track Crossing

Multiple Crossing Groups

Multiple Crossing Groups

Extra Long Crossings

Extra Long Crossings

Ideal way to identify crossings

  • Geographic: Event on Road Network
  • Geographic: Start and Stop Event on Rail Network
  • Database: AAR Identifier

What else can you do?

Locate missing crossings

  • Large datasets always have missing points
  • Comparing calculated crossings with collected crossings can identify oddities and prompt investigation

Crossing Safety Corridor Analysis

  • Use rail topology to identify corridors
  • Can group crossings to quantify effects of closure+gate combos
  • Can begin to use cost-benefit methodology

Capacity Modeling

  • Simulation software can model the movement of trains over a multi-track network
  • Track can be simplified into logical segments with estimated throughput
  • Can be used to identify bottlenecks and prioritize intrastructure investment
  • Simulations can be used to test new operational procedures without impacting business

Intermodal Routing

  • Adding intermodal/transload locations can join road+rail datasets into a routable network
  • Must use a non-distance based metric
  • Recommend a cost based metric. (Dollars per mile)
  • Mode change events can have a static cost and be commodity aware (Containerized/Bulk)
  • Early project results highlighted the efficiency of rail transport for medium-long distance routes