Center for Transportation Research and Education

About the research

Transportation is an inherently spatial phenomenon. With recent advances in geographic information systems (GIS), spatial referencing of a host of transportation system attributes, performance characteristics, and usage patterns has become increasingly feasible. GIS enable such spatial data to be correlated, thereby facilitating a host of analyses in support of the transportation planning process.

The objective of this research has been to develop a methodology for transforming and dynamically segmenting data. Dynamic segmentation enables transportation system attributes and associated data to be stored in separate tables and merged when a specific query requires a particular set of data to be considered. A major benefit of dynamic segmentation is that individual tables can be more easily updated when attributes, performance characteristic, or usage patterns change over time.

Applications of a progressive geographic database referencing system in transportation planning are vast. Summaries of system condition and performance can be made, and analyses of specific portions of a road system are facilitated.