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 Conference
October 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
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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 Diego
Military 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.