The Federal Highway Administration has published a summary of the fourth in its quarterly series of webcasts on the application of GIS and other geospatial technologies to transportation. The Sept. 25, 2009, webcast focused on the development of the Nevada Department of Transportation’s GeoTrans multi-level referencing system and Event GeoLocator application to track and analyze data on crash events. The summary covers the PowerPoint presentation at the webcast and includes details of the question-and-answer session following the presentation. For more information, including summaries of previous webcasts, link to the Quarterly GIS Webcasts. (10-20-09)

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The Federal Highway Administration has published the Fall 2009 issue of its quarterly newsletter on efforts by state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and other transportation organizations to develop and implement GIS and geospatial technologies. The current issue features a Q&A with Washington State Department of Transportation officials on WSDOT’s GIS-based winter operations system. The application has allowed WSDOT to better track and manage maintenance activities and respond to winter storm events. The newsletter also includes an editorial on a new web-based GIS Portal developed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and includes updates on recent GIS reports. For more information, link to the GIS in Transportation Newsletter – Fall 2009. (10-19-09)

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A compilation of new technologies, practices, and other tools for environmental field data collection during the analysis of existing conditions, impacts, and potential mitigation required under the National Environmental Policy Act are provided in a new report produced under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 48). The research sought to develop and maintain an ongoing compendium of environmental fieldwork technologies through an online survey of all state departments of transportation. Detailed follow-up interviews also were conducted with state DOTs that identified themselves as leaders in environmental fieldwork technologies and practices in four disciplines: cultural resources, ecology, water permitting, and noise analysis. Additional surveys of selected consultants of some of the state DOTs were also performed. The report documents results of the surveys for each of the discipline areas and presents conclusions. For more information, link to the Compendium of Environmental Fieldwork Technologies (NCHRP 25-25, Task 48). (10-16-09)

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The Federal Highway Administration has published a report summarizing the proceedings at a peer exchange held on Aug. 22-23, 2009, for recipients of FHWA’s Eco-Logical grants to discuss various GIS activities implemented under the program. In 2007 FHWA funded 15 cooperative agreements totaling $1.4 million with state and local departments of transportation, resource agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, and others for pilot projects supporting the new planning provisions and environmental review process under SAFETEA-LU and Executive Order 13274. The report summarizes the presentation sessions and discussions at the peer exchange and is intended to serve as a resource for transportation agencies on the uses of GIS to support implementation of an ecosystem approach to project development. For more information, link to GIS Applications in Eco-Logical Grant Projects – Peer Exchange Summary Report. (10-13-09)

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AASHTO is sponsoring the 23rd Annual Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIS-T) Symposium to be held April 12-14, 2010, in Charleston, W.Va. The symposium will feature keynote speakers, discussion forums, workshops, presentations, and a technology hall where exhibitors showcase their services. Organizations and individuals from government and private industry with information related to GIS in transportation are encouraged to share their experience by presenting at the symposium.  For more information, link to the GIS-T Symposium Website. (9-2-09)

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A report summarizing the proceedings at a peer exchange on the implementation of GIS for bicycle and pedestrian planning held on May 11-12, 2009, in Miami, has been published by the Federal Highway Administration. The peer exchange included demonstrations and presentations by several state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations on their application of GIS to support bicycle and pedestrian decisions. Issues included data collection and maintenance, obtaining funding for development of bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and determining what factors to consider when assessing the need for multi-modal facilities and enhancements. The peer exchange concluded with discussions of observations and lessons learned. For more information, link to Geographic Information Systems Applications for Bicycle and Pedestrian Decision-Making – Peer Exchange Summary Report. (July 2009)

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The Federal Highway Administration has published a summary of the third in its quarterly series of webcasts on the application of GIS and other geospatial technologies to transportation. The June 10, 2009, webcast addressed the evolution of a decade-long effort by the Maryland State Highway Administration to develop a unified, comprehensive, enterprise GIS framework. A PowerPoint presentation and question-and-answer session focused on the agency’s Shared Centerline Program initiative to develop a statewide centerline dataset and the development of the “One Maryland, One Map” (MD iMap). For more information, link to the summary. (June 2009)

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The Federal Highway Administration has published the Summer 2009 issue of its quarterly newsletter on efforts by state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and other transportation organizations to develop and implement GIS and geospatial technologies. The current issue highlights the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority’s use of geospatial technologies in transportation planning. The newsletter also features a guest editorial about the next generation of GIS in transportation, or “GIS-T 2.0”; recent GIS reports; and upcoming events. For more information, link to the GIS in Transportation Newsletter – Summer 2009. (Summer 2009)

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a companion document to the newly adopted Wetlands Mapping Standard that describes technical procedures and requirements for mapping wetlands and deepwater habitats. The document explains the appropriate application of the wetland classification and mapping process and how to achieve the data quality requirements under the new standards. The document applies to all wetland map data submitted for inclusion in the Wetlands Geospatial Data Layer maintained by FWS. For more information, link to the Data Collection Requirements and Procedures for Mapping Wetland, Deepwater and Related Habitats of the United States on the National Wetlands Inventory website. (8-21-09)

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U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced the adoption of a Wetlands Mapping Standard that provides minimum requirements and guidelines for wetlands mapping efforts funded or conducted by the federal government. The new standard, which was developed and formally endorsed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee, is designed to guide current and future wetlands digital mapping projects. The standard also is intended to improve the overall quality and consistency of new wetlands data added to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s wetlands geospatial data layer. For more information, link to the FWS news release and to the National Wetlands Inventory website. (8-18-09)

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Conservation Fund will conduct a course on how to apply GIS tools, methodologies, and analyses to strategic conservation planning using a “Green Infrastructure” approach. The four-day course will be held on Oct. 27-30, 2009, at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The course will feature lectures, demonstrations, small group discussions, and hands-on problem-solving exercises. Participants will use GIS software to apply principles of strategic conservation planning and address a realistic conservation scenario using GIS. Students also will use data sets from coastal areas to develop conservation priorities and strategies. For more information, link to GIS Tools for Strategic Conservation Planning. (7-29-09)

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A study performed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has estimated that the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) – the national coordinate system providing measurement of latitude, longitude, elevation, and other geographic information – provides over $2.4 billion in potential economic benefits to the United States annually. Managed by NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey, the system serves as the foundation for mapping, state boundaries, transportation, land records, and other applications. According to the study, modernization of the system for measuring elevation could provide an additional $522 million in annual economic benefits. Improved vertical data will help reduce elevation errors in floodplain mapping, potentially affecting the placement of highways, buildings, and public safety requirements. For more information, link to the report. (6-15-09)

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has updated its National Wetlands Inventory website to allow users to download geospatial digital wetlands data by state from the Wetlands Mapper tool. The Wetlands Mapper is designed to integrate digital wetland map with other resource information to assist resource managers and the public with wetland conservation. For more information, link to the Geospatial Wetlands Digital Data webpage. (6-12-09)

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The next GIS in Transit conference will be held on November 16 – 18, 2009, in St. Petersburg, Fla.  This conference is jointly sponsored by URISA and the National Center for Transit Research at the University of South Florida with support from APTA and FTA.  It is intended to bring together transportation professionals to share information about the use of GIS technology in transit planning and operations.  For more information, link to the GIS in Transit Information Site. (June 2009)

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The 22^nd AASHTO Geographic Information Systems for Transportation (GIS-T) Symposium was held April 5-8, 2009, in Oklahoma City, OK, hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.  This conference, held annually since 1989, brings together transportation professionals from Federal, State, and local governments, private industry, and academia who are interested in the use of GIS for transportation purposes to share experiences, see state-of-art software, and learn more about this field. The symposium annually attracts over 400 registrants in addition to the 50 exhibitors in the technology hall.  For more information, link to the GIS-T Symposium Website. (April 2009)

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A new research report provides a synthesis of state practices in developing linear referencing systems. The report, which summarizes the results of NCHRP Project 8-36, Task 8, summarizes the results of a survey of state DOTs regarding their linear referencing system (LRS) activities. It also documents five case studies highlighting technical and institutional issues related to LRS implementation.  For more information link to Synthesis of State Practices in Developing Linear Referencing Systems. (April 2009)

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The Federal Highway Administration is taking an active role in promoting GIS and geospatial technologies through courses, workshops, webcasts, and now through a quarterly newsletter. State DOTs, MPOs, and other organizations are invited to exchange their knowledge of geospatial technologies and their experiences with using them by contributing to this Newsletter.  For more information, link to GIS in Transportation Newsletter – Spring 2009. (Spring 2009)

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