Chair: Gregory Slater, Maryland DOT Vice Chair: April Blackburn, Florida DOT
April 2021 Newsletter -
GIS and Work Zone Safety
Committee News
A Word from Mike
This month’s newsletter highlights GIS in transportation. As the 2021 GIS-T symposium approaches, I want to remind you all of the value geospatial data and analysis has to the transportation industry.

The AASHTO Committee on Data Management and Analytics supports the GIS-T Task Force and their work in coordinating this year’s virtual symposium. There are myriad applications for spatial analysis, all of which help improve safety and efficiency for state DOTs. The opportunities to utilize geospatial data in our work to improve safety, better inform decision makers, and improve our asset management capabilities are but a few of the many applications for GIS in transportation.

I hope this month’s newsletter is informative and I hope you have an opportunity to participate in this year’s GIS-T symposium.

Mike Bousliman
Chair, Technical Services Subcommittee
Chief Information Officer, Montana DOT
AASHTO GIS for Transportation Symposium
The AASHTO GIS for Transportation Symposium is going virtual for 2021. The symposium is being hosted by Minnesota DOT on April 19th to 22nd. There is a great variety of sessions for geospatial professionals. Safety related workshops and sessions include:
  • Workshop:
  • Safety GIS Workshop. Presented by FHWA, University of Kentucky, Arizona DOT and VHB on April 19th from 10-12:30 pm CT. The workshop will cover a range of GIS safety topics including Kentucky's strategic highway safety plan. 
  • Sessions:
  • Locating crashes accurately - it's more complicated than you might think. Presented by Minnesota DOT on April 22nd from 10-10:30 am CT. The session will showcase the integration process of crash records onto the MNDOT linear referencing system.
  • Predictive hot spot detection for Wisconsin law enforcement resource allocation. Presented by TOPS Lab on April 22nd from 11-11:30 am CT. The session will review algorithms used to identify hot spots for a data driven resource allocation.
  • Utilizing spatial econometric models for highway safety performance analysis. Presented by WSP on April 22nd from 11:30-12 pm CT. The session will discuss the use of spatial location for safety performance measures.
  • Breaking barriers, and breaking barrier data: on-going lessons learned from asset data analysis. Presented by Utah DOT on April 22nd from 1:30-2 pm CT. The session will review lessons learned for LiDAR asset management collection.
  • Challenges and solutions for creating automated GIS roadway intersection dataset. Presented by the University of Florida on April 22nd from 2-2:30 pm CT. The session will discuss the importance of quality intersection data for safety analysis.
  • Maryland DOT bike lane level of stress methodology. Presented by Maryland DOT on April 22nd from 3-3:30 pm CT. The session will focus on pedestrian and bicycle safety and integration with the linear referencing system.
  • MnDOT's mobile LiDAR barrier assessment project: approach, benefits and findings. Presented by Minnesota DOT on April 22nd from 3:30-4 pm CT. The session will discuss how MnDOT developed a statewide inventory to improve safety and asset management.

For additional information on the conference program and registration, click here.
Work Zone Data Exchange Update Webinar
There will be a Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) Update Webinar on April 29 from 12:00 until 1:30 PM Eastern, and you are invited to participate.

The WZDx Specification aims to make harmonized work zone data provided by infrastructure owners and operators (IOOs) available for third party use, making travel on public roads safer and more efficient through ubiquitous access to data on work zone activity.

The goal of WZDx is to enable widespread access to up-to-date information about dynamic conditions occurring on roads such as construction events. Currently, many IOOs maintain data on work zone activity. However, a lack of common data standards and convening mechanisms makes it difficult and costly for third parties such as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and navigation applications to access and use these data across various jurisdictions. WZDx seeks to be a common language for describing road events, simplifying the design process for producers and the processing logic for consumers, and making work zone data more accessible.

To register for the webinar on April 29, visit https://wzdxupdatewebinar.eventbrite.com.
Committee on Data Management & Analytics Leadership Transitions
This newsletter sees some changes in leadership for Data. We say thank you and good bye to John Selmer, chair of the communicating Data Subcommittee, who has gone on to be the director of Nebraska DOT; Also to Tarun Malhotra, our Policy Chair, who has left Michigan DOT to work for the City of Cincinnati. Both John and Tarun served on the Joint Task Force on the Impacts of Digitalization on the DOT Workforces (JTF-Dig), and both were instrumental in shaping the Committee on Data Management and Analytics. We welcome Denise Whitney-Dahlke of the Oregon DOT back to leadership as the new Policy Chair. The Subcommittee on Communicating Data chair remains vacant.

It is with mixed feelings and wishes for a bright future that we congratulate our Vice-Chair, April Blackburn, on her impending retirement from Florida DOT. Thank you April for all you’ve done for Data!
Coming Soon: CDMA New Member Guide
  • I'm new to the Committee on Data Management and Analytics. What happens now?
  • I have a research idea that could benefit the committee. Who can I talk to?
  • The monthly newsletter is awesome. Can I help?
  • Can I join a subcommittee if I'm not a member of the committee?

These questions and more are answered in the CDMA New Member Guide, which will be published soon. Although this packet is intended for incoming members of the CDMA, it is hoped that seasoned committee members will learn even more about the committee and AASHTO's services.

The completed product will be posted online to data.transportation.org, e-mailed to all committee and subcommittee members, and shared in this newsletter.
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