01139081

Component

This paper describes a system developed by the Idaho Transportation Department and DKS Associates to produce visual displays of how growth in the key rural corridors in Eastern Idaho will affect the future heath of the state facilities and how investments can reduce the long-term impacts of the growth. The system includes a Geographic Information System (GIS) as the base platform where a variety of data on roadway characteristics, land use, population and employment forecasts, and traffic counts are stored and organized. The system also includes a module for producing travel forecasts from population and employment growth forecasts and from historical trends in growth in traffic volumes to reflect growth in the corridor and growth in recreational travel to the region. For a future scenario, the GIS program generates a graphic display of the level-of-service for different times of day, days of the week and seasons of the year. It also can generate a graphic display of the “health” of the corridor where health is defined by a set of factors and criteria that describe how the corridor would be perceived by travelers that use it and how the roadway facility affects the economic health of the corridor. The Visualization Tool has been successfully used by ITD to aid the counties in Eastern Idaho develop plans that anticipate and acknowledge the growth and other changes in the critical state route corridors.

01138544

English

13p

2008

11th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities

CD-ROM

Figures; Maps; References (12)

Decision support systems; Geographic information systems; Highway corridors; Network analysis (Planning); Recreational trips; Rural highways; Transportation planning; Travel time; Visualization

Idaho

Data and Information Technology; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration

TRIS, TRB

Aug 24 2009 1:47PM