With leaps forward in technology - more powerful computers, internet capability, and sophisticated geographic software programs - GIS became an indispensable tool that allowed Caltrans planners and engineers to plot project details in a digital realm. The use of GIS at Caltrans began in the early 1990s, when the Department first began collaborating with GIS pioneer and industry leader Esri (Environmental Systems Research Institute), based in Redlands. Caltrans planners use GIS to sandwich layers of information about a particular project to analyze its impacts. GIS is one form of geospatial technology, the computer rendering of location-based data into digital map layers that can be viewed, organized, analyzed and integrated through geographic software programs.
Here, Caltrans’ San Diego-based District 11 created a visual presentation featuring freeway art in the region.Īs steward of the State Highway System, Caltrans was one of the early users of geospatial technology, which refers to the acquisition, manipulation, and storage of geographic information.
A pioneering software program, StoryMap, takes GIS in a new direction. The state geoportal is the leading edge of the data revolution that Caltrans and other state agencies have been rolling out for public viewing and reference. The Department also collects and posts GIS-based data on its website that’s readily available to the public, featuring 57 map datasets separated into highway, railroad, airport and boundary categories. Trucking firms whose business depends on knowing state highway restrictions and conditions can pull up information on allowable weight loads for specific routes, locations of freight intermodal points for transfers, or the status of inspection facilities.Ĭommuters visiting the state site can view where traffic bottlenecks are, average daily traffic counts, locations of park-and-ride locations, or, tiring of the daily drive, look up train and bus facilities.Ĭaltrans continually refreshes and verifies its existing information on the state geoportal, and is working on new categories of collected transportation data to introduce. Emergency responders can get quick access to datasets giving specifics about Caltrans and local bridges, public airports, heliports or Caltrans’ postmile system to pinpoint locations of incidents on the highway system. The Caltrans-supplied transportation component of the state geoportal doesn’t just serve vacationers. Or, since the route travels the dramatic east side of the Sierra Nevada, they can find out how many vista points there are (10), and exact locations. 395 through the state can call up the dataset showing the number of rest stops along the route (five), listed on a graphic table, and a map displaying the services of each (vending, dog walk, RV facilities, etc.). Site visitors can choose overlays embedded with the particular data points of information they are seeking about the highway system, its location and its functions.įor example, a family that plans to travel along U.S. There are 12 general data categories presented on the site, including water, health, energy, environment, education, emergency, and transportation, with data supplied by state departments or agencies overseeing those functions.Ĭaltrans, through its Division of Research, Innovation and System Information (DRISI), posts 42 datasets about the State Highway System that each contain layered map levels of information. Visitors to the site can get big picture views of location-based information grouped by category, or drill down to find more granular detail about state services or operations. On the Caltrans section of the state geoportal site, users can choose from 42 different datasets of location-based travel information that features layered maps of the particular attributes chosen. The California State Geoportal website offers an easy-to-use format for finding information posted by state departments such as Caltrans and other agencies, rendered in map-based or 3D visual representations. The site uses the latest Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to gather millions of points of data generated by state government and organize it into map-based or 3D visual representations. The California State Geoportal debuted last December. With help and contributions from Caltrans, the state of California has created a vast data storehouse detailing its services, facilities and geographic information available at the click of a mouse to the public. Caltrans and the State Have Built a Tower of Information.
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