5.5 Summary of Lesson 5

In this lesson, we learned about network analysis and the broad set of transportation problems it can be used to address. We examined how network analysis is implemented in ESRI's Network Analyst extension to ArcMap and examined the 6 categories of network analysis or solvers which it provides. In addition, you had the chance to get some hands-on experience with a few of the solvers. You will have additional opportunities to apply these tools in upcoming lessons as well.

Our transportation organizations of the week were state DOTs. We reviewed some the key functions these organizations perform and looked at how their roles have changed over the past century. You also explored a state DOT of your choice and became familiar with an example of how they use spatial technologies.

In our weekly webinar, we had the chance to interact with Frank DeSendi, the Manager of PennDOT's Geographic Information Division, and review how PennDOT utilizes spatial technology to help them identify potential impacts a transportation project could have on the environment. We also had the opportunity to interact with Greg Ulp, a senior project manager who was the technical architect for MPMS-IQ, a GIS application used by PennDOT to disseminate project information to the public and other interested parties.

In preparation for next week's webinar, we learned a bit about LRSs and dynamic segmentation, important topics in GIS-T which we will cover in more detail in next week's lesson. We also learned about the National Transit Atlas Database (NTAD) and some of the important datasets it contains.