1 GIS Transit Applications in Fairfax County, VA Brendan Ford Department of Information Technology (GIS) Wendy Jia Department of Transportation June, 1999

2 Fairfax County DOT Transportation Planning Transit Operations Highway Operations PlanningOperationsMarketing Fairfax County DOT - Organization

3 GIS and Transportation County Exec. Health Human Services DPW&ES County Attorney DOT DPZ Police Fire & Rescue DTA CSB GIS

4 Fairfax County Transit System u u FAIRFAX CONNECTOR bus system static bus routes 2 2 xxx bus stops u u Other bus systems also serve Fairfax County

5 Transit Pilot Project 103, 105, and 108 u Three FAIRFAX CONNECTOR routes: 103, 105, and 108 u Routes are complex u Have overlap

6 Transit Pilot Project - Objectives u u Demonstrate GIS potential in transit planning, operations, and marketing u u Effectively model Fairfax Connector bus routes and bus stops using GIS. u u Develop custom desktop applications for planners u u Integrate existing the transit data sources with GIS database

7 Existing Data Sources: u Street Centerline Network u Stop Database (Paradox) u Boarding and Alighting Data u Ridership Data u Census Block Groups u Planimetric Data u Public Facilities u Digital Ortho Photography Pilot Data: u Created bus route layer created using Dynamic Segmentation u Geocoded Bus stops using ArcView u Collected stop locations using GPS. u Related stops to routes using ADDROUTEMEASURE Transit Pilot Project - Data

8 u ARC INFO C reate bus routes using Dynamic Segmentation u ARCVIEW Develop desktop applications u Map Objects Design Internet information query tools Transit Pilot Project - Software

9 u u Created in Arc/Info u u Used MAKEROUTE, SUBSELECT, APPEND, REMEASURE, etc. u u Time consuming and difficult for routes with loops. u u Errors difficult to fix without rebuilding route u u Results were excellent Pilot Project - Bus Route Creation

10 Transit Pilot Project - Applications Marketing - Mapping Bus Routes - Internet Data Viewing - Internet Bus Trip Planning - Map Origins of “Park & Ride” Operations Planning - Transit Shed Analysis - Route Performance Comparison - Optimal Bus Routes - Boarding and Alighting Activity Analysis - Determine Route Miles - Measure Distance between Stops

11 Types of Applications: u u Analyze land use and demographic features within the service area u u Compare route performance u u Determine optimal bus routes Transit Pilot Project - Planning

12 Transit Planning - ArcView

13 Transit Pilot Project - Planning

14 Benefits: u u User friendly tools for planning tasks u u Scenario analysis for new service design, routing adjustment, etc u u Baseline study of the service area u u Easily applicable for traffic & planning studies Transit Pilot Project - Planning Power

15 Types of Applications: u u Mapping bus routes u u Internet data query u u Internet bus trip planning u u Efficiently collect & store bus stop information Transit Pilot Project - Marketing

16 Westbound Stop (GPS) Eastbound Stop (GPS) Geocoded by Intersection, not the actual stop location. East and westbound stops in same spot. Stops not in intersections database, located with GPS

17 Benefits: Transit Pilot Project - Marketing u Reduce the number of phone calls to the information center u Efficient / accurate field data collection and maintenance u Reduce staff time for mapping applications

18 Transit Pilot Project - System Implementation and Future Plans u u Develop all bus routes using PATH command in Arc/Info u u Collect bus stops using GPS u u Refine developed applications u u Identify new applications u u Transfer maintenance responsibility to each section in DOT u u Develop Internet/Intranet Applications with Arc/IMS

19 Speaker - Immediate Plans u Be on the first tee of the USF golf course by 5:30 pm today.