What will we learn?
By the end of Lesson 4, you should be able to:
- describe the importance of a transportation network;
- characterize the data elements which go into a street network and evaluate street data sources to determine their suitability in serving as the basis of a network dataset;
- create a network dataset from street data;
- list the key functions of the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA);
- describe the composition and purpose of the National Highway System (NHS);
- discuss FHWA’s Geospatial Data Collaboration (GDC) initiative; and
- talk about the importance of addressing environmental and community considerations early in the transportation planning process and provide some examples of how GIS can be used to facilitate this process.