1. GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Minhua Wang
GIS Enterprise Architect
GIS in Transit Conference 2013
October 16-17, 2013
GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer

2. GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer
Issues to Visualize Rail Line Assets
Location Referencing for Rail Line Assets
Rail Line Linear Reference (LRS) Model
Challenges in Constructing WMATA Rail Line LRS Model
Design of GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer
Demo of GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer

3. Visualizing Rail Line Assets
Engineer's View
Straight Line Diagram: Track Chart
What track chart tells you: track line and chain marker location
GIS Map View
Asset location with X/Y coordinates
How do you get X/Y locations for assets in underground tunnel?
How to convert Track Chart location (one-dimension) to X/Y location?

4. Location Referencing for Rail Line Assets
Common Location Referencing Models
X/Y Coordinates: e.g., GPS locations
Address Locations
Place Name or Landmark Locations
Linear Referencing Model
Definition: Location Referencing based on linear distance
Distance along specific route (track) and from the defined starting point
Locating points and linear events along specific route (track)
Key components
LRS route: network segment with spatial coordinates and measurements: e.g., track segment with chain markers
LRS event: attribute tables with location reference data items: LRS route identifier and measurements: incidents, assets along track

5. Linear Referencing System Concept
Emergency Exit at Track
Bridge from to
Track 2
Track 1
Incident Happened at this location (chain marker )
Platform from to
Emergency Exit at Track
Linear Events:
Bridge: location from ft to ft on Track line A1 & A2
Platform: location from ft to ft on Track line A1 & A2
Point Events:
Emergency Exit: location at ft on Track A1 & A2
Incident: location at ft on Track A1

6. Constructing WMATA Rail Line LRS Model
Track geometry
Challenge: Equation point for chain marker stationing
Track Segment definition
LRS Definition
Define Begin and Ending Chain Marker Values for a track segment
Dual Track LRS
LRS Generation
ArcGIS LRS generation tools
Event Data Processing
Standardize trackside event location data structure
LRS Segment
LRS Measures(single measure for point events, dual measures for linear events): chain marker value
Tool to process event data automatically
Make LRS Events
ArcGIS LRS Tools

7. Design of GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer
Three Viewing Panels
Straight-line Diagram Panel
Asset View Panel
GIS Map Panel
LRS Search
Align Location Reference (from 1-D straightline diagram to 2-D map)
Visualizing Asset Locations and Attributes
Integration with Other Applications based on LRS (e.g., Track Geometry, Workorder Management, Train Positions, etc.)

8. GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer
WMATA Rail Line Asset Viewer Interface

9. GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer
Demo

10. Conclusion
Linear Referencing System (LRS) model is a preferred location referencing model for locating assets and incidents along Metro track network
Due to the complexity of Metro track network stationing (chain makers), a custom-built LRS model has been developed for Metro track network
Based on the LRS model, a custom-built Asset Viewer application has been developed to visualize assets (both point and linear assets and incidents) along the track network
This Asset Viewer application provides a means to transfer one-dimension location referencing (Track Chart based) to two-dimension location referencing (GIS map based) hence enabling other GIS functions such as routing for locating assets and events along the track network and navigating to the locations

11. GIS-Based Rail Line Asset Viewer
Questions?
Thank You!

12. GIS-BASED RAIL LINE ASSET VIEWER
Select chain marker range to show track segments and asset locations

13. GIS-BASED RAIL LINE ASSET VIEWER
Use Auto Rotate View to Align Map Orientation with Track Straight Line Diagram

14. GIS-BASED RAIL LINE ASSET VIEWER
Toggle Basemap option to turn on aerial imagery

15. GIS-BASED RAIL LINE ASSET VIEWER
Select an asset from the asset panel to view selected asset attributes and the location on the map

16. GIS-BASED RAIL LINE ASSET VIEWER
Resize map view area

17. GIS-BASED RAIL LINE ASSET VIEWER
Switch track using Track Select Tool from the map

18. GIS-BASED RAIL LINE ASSET VIEWER
Track straight line diagram automatically changed from C line to B lince