A New Database Framework for Florida's Transportation Planning: Integrating Work Program, Multimodal Transportation Networks, Planning and Environmental Databases

At present, the transportation planning databases, transportation networks and applications associated with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Work Program (WPA), Roads Characteristics Inventory (RCI), Florida Intrastate Highway System - Decision Support System (FIHS-DSS), Florida Standard Urban Transportation Model Structure (FSUTMS), Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL), Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) and Strategic Intermodal System (SIS) are not fully integrated in a connected Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment which impedes the efficient exchange of information in transportation planning. The goal of this research was to develop a database framework that establishes connections among the transportation planning databases in order to facilitate data sharing and exchange. The analysis of the data connectivity identified problems that for the most part arise due to discrepancies among street reference data used at different levels of transportation planning, the lack of a database tracking mechanism of projects as they progress in the planning process and the lack of a database framework for management of the multimodal transportation data. Recommendations include (a) the use of a statewide consistently maintained GIS street reference layer to mediate the exchange of information between local networks, FSUTMS network and RCI basemap; (b) a database structure to enable tracking of GIS project information from inception to RCI; (c) the use of Environmental Systems Research Institute's (ESRI’s) network dataset for organization and management of the intermodal transportation data that support SIS and (d) integration of socioeconomic databases into a larger transportation database framework by geographic boundaries and similar data entities. It is envisioned that the documentation of the data connectivity, the methods for establishing the missing links and the tools developed for facilitating implementation will contribute to streamline data sharing and exchange among databases used in transportation planning.