David A. Holdstock, Program Director

Project Highlights

GIS Training/Technology Transfer Laboratory

In March 1993, the GIS Program was the recipient of a grant from Sun Microsystems, Inc., of Mountain View, California. Donated in the form of Sun workstations, the grant was awarded to promote the development of GIS in the public sector. ITRE used this grant to facilitate the establishment of a five-seat, hands-on GIS Laboratory, and immediately began developing a GIS curriculum centered around ARC/INFO, the GIS software generally acknowledged as the standard in its field. Today, ARC/INFO courses in the Lab offer instruction for the beginner as well as the expert. Attention is paid to the technical user, who creates a database and programs its software, as well as the casual user, who needs only to query geographic databases on an occasional basis. In addition, courses in the Lab are offered in Unix for both beginning and advanced users, and also on the use of the Internet.

Students have been instructed from all levels of government, including City, County, State and Federal Agencies. A current schedule of courses is always available.

City of Wilson Pavement Management System

City of Wilson, NC

The City of Wilson wanted to adapt the PMS-ITRE pavement management system to a GIS environment. Under the terms of this project, the City's centerline street file was converted to PMS database format, and the entire PMS-ITRE application was written to run under ARC/INFO. Users in the City's GIS Department are now able to produce spatial queries and thematic maps of the condition of its streets.

Student Assignment Plans for Durham Public Schools

Durham Public Schools

The GIS Program was contracted by Durham Public Schools to develop and study the impact of three alternatives for developing student assignment plans necessitated by the merging of city and county school systems. The scenarios were modeled, using 1993-94 facilities and enrollment for elementary, middle, and high school grade levels; neighborhood assignments; and assignments based on race and income balance.

GIS Development Program

NCDOT/DOH

ITRE and the North Carolina Department of Transportation have a special relationship designed to instruct DOT personnel in the use of GIS and also to provide GIS consulting. During the past year, numerous groups of NCDOT employees have been instructed in the use of ARC/Info and related topics in the ITRE GIS Lab. In addition, ITRE works closesly with NCDOT to develop customized courses for DOT procedures and requirements.

Transportation Information Management System Street File Conversion

NC Department of Public Instruction

An ongoing project of the ITRE GIS Program is to provide a low-cost source to the public of North Carolina county street files. The files are a product of the TIMS school bus scheduling and routing program, and are generally recognized as the best source of street name and address information for the state's 100 counties.

The street files are converted to ARC/Info format and aligned with TIGER census block group geography, and offered to the public in a number of different formats. As each county is processed, it is archived to use as a source of yearly updates. A listing of counties that have been processed to date is available from ITRE.

Accident Analysis for City of High Point

City of High Point, NC

Accident studies can benefit from the spatial analysis, data merging and thematic mapping capabilities of GIS. The City of High Point asked the ITRE GIS Program to adapt an existing NCDOT Accident Analysis system, running under ARC/Info, to City use. A sample accident file was address-matched and tied a GIS representation of the City's streets, and City personnel were trained on the use of the system.

Richmond County Bicycle Map

NCDOT/PTD

ITRE's GIS program was asked to create basemap layers for a new bicycle map of Richmond County for the NCDOT bicycle program. ARC/Info software was used to create layers for roads, railroads and water features, and the county boundary. This basemap was then subcontracted to a professional artist for the addition of bike routes and descriptive text and decoration. Other bicycle map projects are in the planning stages.

Student Enrollment Projection Database

Forsyth County Schools

Forsyth County Schools asked ITRE to create an initial database to project future enrollment in its elementary, middle and high schools. The database was prepared using an optional module of the TIMS software that allows modeling of future enrollment patterns given current enrollment, rates of progression, and the birth rate by planning zone in the county. District personnel were also instructed on the use of the Enrollment Projection software.

Internet Presence for ITRE

The 1991-92 and 1992-94 ITRE Annual Reports were converted into computer text and images and introduced to the users of the Internet as the centerpiece of ITRE's presence on the World-Wide Web. Computer users worldwide can connect to a server at the ITRE office and obtain information about ITRE's program areas and centers, projects, finances, class schedules, and data products. The exhibit has resulted in interest in ITRE from over 40 countries, and has brought ITRE new students and project opportunities as a result.

In addition, a demonstration exhibit was developed for the NCDOT that allows a user to click on a map of the state and obtain information about highway construction projects and ferry schedules.

Write to us! gis-info@itre.ncsu.edu

Home Page