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2-2-1
CHAPTER 2
IT Issues that Impact Data Sharing
and Data Integration
Several IT issues were identified during the course of the 2.1 High Impact
case study research for NCHRP 8-70 (NCHRP Report 666)
An issue was determined to have a high impact for several
as either having a positive or negative impact on decision
reasons. The issue may have a high (negative) impact on an
making at transportation agencies. There are several poten-
organization because it results in significant costs in staff and
tial solutions available including IT tools and procedures as
resources to implement. Alternatively, it may require a low
discussed in this primer. For the purposes of this primer, the
cost to implement, but results in a significant (positive) return
IT issues are grouped into the following nine data process
on investment (ROI) regarding productivity and timeliness
categories:
in delivery of data and information.
These high-value/low-cost issues are considered “low-
• Collection,
hanging fruit.” They would yield significant benefits to the
• Archiving/storage,
agency or particular business unit and might be solutions that
• Processing,
agencies would choose to implement first, as part of a data
• Analysis,
management program. Several high-impact issues identified
• Reporting/dissemination,
in Table 2.2.1 in the categories of sharing, processing, analysis,
• Sharing,
access, institutional, and new technology are discussed in the
• Access,
following paragraphs.
• Institutional issues, and
• New technology.
Sharing
These issues are described in Table 2.2.1. The table shows
Issue: Establish Common Location Referencing (#23)
an issue number, description of issue, benefits, challenges,
Many state transportation agencies use various types of
and severity of impact of the issue. Some issues also provide
location referencing methods in their road network linear
solutions for the IT challenges. These solutions are identified
referencing systems. Some of the methods may include route-
with an issue number from Table 2.2.1.
milepoint, distance from origin, and latitude/longitude loca-
The research from the eight case studies and additional
tions. These diverse methods of documenting locations across
Web-based and other research indicates that certain issues play
multiple agencies, or within the same agency, present challenges
a more critical role than others in impacting business decisions
when trying to integrate data from multiple systems.
(including PBRA).
The challenges associated with this issue can be illustrated by
Each issue was assigned a “severity-of-impact” value of high,
the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
medium, or low, based on the information provided by the
(ADOT&PF) case study. ADOT&PF currently uses a route-
agencies in the case studies. Assigning a severity-of-impact
milepoint scheme to identify locations on the Alaska road
value to each IT issue helps prioritize the issues that present
network. This linear referencing system is used for location of
the most significant challenges and warrant focused attention
attribute data in the Highway Analysis System (HAS), including
in this primer. These impacts either can provide benefits or
data used for traffic and crash analysis, as well as for Highway
present challenges for transportation agencies. Examples from
Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) reporting. HAS is
the case studies are discussed for each issue to further explain
a legacy system and does not have the capability for data
the potential impact to agencies.
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Table 2.2.1. IT issues that impact data sharing and integration.
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Internally (I), to External Negative –
Issues Related to
Stakeholders (E), or to High, Medium,
Issue Data
Both (B) Low
Benefits Challenges
No. Sharing/Integration
COLLECTION
1 Collect “right” data for Supports business need for a Need to determine how to collect I Medium
“right business use.” specific business unit. the right data to get it to the right
people at the right time.
2 Integration of real-time Increases richness and Need to determine I Medium
data with traditional completeness of traffic datasets how/when/where to use real-time
traffic data systems. data to supplement traditional
traffic data collection methods.
3 Collection and Provides for a comprehensive Data providers for local road B—It may not be feasible for Medium
integration of local road road network to support agency networks not required to external data providers to
data with on-state geodatabase. use/follow same data collection accommodate certain data
system road network. standards and definitions as state collection requirements (i.e.,
transportation agencies. level of granularity) based on
the type of equipment used by
them and/or limited staff to
complete data collection
activities in the required
timeframe.
4 Level of granularity Increases level of accuracy of Increased cost for data collected I Medium
(more detailed versus data used to support decision with increased data accuracy
less detailed). making. (data collected at 1-mile interval
versus 1-foot interval).
5 Collection of data across Provides comprehensive Consolidation of data and level of B— May impact external Low
jurisdictional transportation network on a detail at boundary lines, county to stakeholders too, if some of
boundaries. regional, state, and national county, state to state, and at data provided externally.
basis. international borders may be
difficult.
ARCHIVING/STORAGE
6 Costs associated with Archives provide a historical Need to determine what data to I Medium
data archiving and need repository of data for trends keep and how many years of data
for storage of large data analysis and forecasting for are needed.
files. investment purposes.
Need ability to store large files
(i.e. 4-6 GB of data) and to post
the files to the network.
7 Maintain archive in- Although costs of external B—Impact depends on whether Medium
Costs to house data externally
house or externally. archiving may be more the archive is housed internally
may be more expensive, and
expensive, outsourcing this or externally.
data must be accessible when
function can alleviate the strain needed by internal business
on limited internal agency units.
resources.
Additional hardware and
software may need to be
procured to serve as the
archive repository.
PROCESSING
8 Resources needed to Data can be collected in shorter Processing of data collected I Low
process volume of data timeframe. through outsourcing may require
collected through increase in internal staff to
outsourcing. process the data.
9 Redundant data kept in There were no benefits Produces inefficient business I High
duplicate systems identified with maintaining data processes, which may require
because of data silos. in silo systems. duplicate data collection, QA/QC,
and analysis, resulting in
potentially conflicting results in
reporting functions.
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2-2-3
Table 2.2.1. (Continued).
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Issues Related to Internally (I), to External Negative –
Data
Issue Stakeholders (E), or to High, Medium,
Sharing/Integration
No. Benefits Challenges Both (B) Low
10 Gain support from staff Increased efficiency and Staff may be reluctant to change I Medium
for replacing manual productivity using automated from doing things “the way
business processes with methods to replace manual they’ve always been done.”
automated processes. methods.
11 Conversion of legacy Conversion processes provide an Conversion of data and I Medium
data and information opportunity to cleanse data that information systems usually
systems is time- may not be reviewed otherwise. requires a period of parallel
consuming and costly. processing to ensure that
conversions of data and
application systems are done
correctly.
12 Need to identify update Updating data on standard Datasets provided from external B— Impact depends on Low
cycles required to cycles helps to ensure that the sources may not be refreshed or whether data is provided
refresh datasets. most recent data is available for updated in a timely manner. internally or externally.
decision making.
ANALYSIS
Data Quality
13 Need to identify and Increased efficiency and Automated analysis tools may I Medium
develop new automated productivity of staff responsible need to be developed to replace
analysis tools and for analysis of data for particular manual methods and procedures.
procedures. systems (i.e., traffic, crash, road There may be some resistance on
inventory, GIS, etc.). the part of staff to replace
existing procedures with
automated methods.
Development of new tools can be
time-consuming and costly
initially, but ultimately can
produce increased efficiency and
productivity of staff
14 Need to determine and Clearly documented definitions Need to identify which business I High
document each of the and standards applied to each of units in the agency are
following attributes to these data quality components responsible for determining each
ensure delivery of helps to ensure that the highest of these components of data
highest quality data: quality data is available for quality. Is it primarily the IT
accuracy, timeliness, decision-making. office, or the business unit that is
completeness, validity, responsible for data quality?
coverage, accessibility,
currency.
Use of Metadata
15 Need to develop and Helps to ensure that the data is It is time-consuming to develop I Medium
maintain metadata used for the right purpose. and maintain up-to-date metadata.
corresponding to data
and information
systems.
16 Need to determine best All stakeholders for a data Metadata standards and B—Developed internally and Medium
method for system benefit from the definitions need to be developed disseminated externally.
dissemination of widespread easy access to and methods for delivery
metadata and who metadata through the use of identified to ensure that the
(which office) is tools such as Web links, metadata is available to all
responsible for this knowledge management stakeholders.
function? systems, etc.
(continued on next page)
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Table 2.2.1. (Continued).
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Issues Related to Internally (I), to External Negative –
Data
Issue Stakeholders (E), or to High, Medium,
Sharing/Integration Benefits Challenges
No. Both (B) Low
REPORTING
17 Need to identify whether Establishing and publishing Business processes in various I Low
reports are to be reporting deadlines across the offices may need to be modified
generated daily, weekly, organization can help with this to accommodate changes in
monthly, or annually to issue. reporting deadlines and
support business needs. requirements regarding the types
This may require a of reports and methods of
change in current delivery of reports.
business practices.
18 Need to identify the best Use of technology such as Reports may need to be produced I Medium
methods and tools to dashboards can improve in multiple formats, such as Excel
deliver reports. timeliness in delivery of reports spreadsheets, graphs, charts,
and the ability to use reports to tables, and through different
support decision-making. means, via Web link, or visual
methods using PowerPoint
presentations, use of dashboards,
etc., resulting in additional costs
to the agency in procuring these
tools.
DISSEMINATION
19 Need to define what is Establishing deadlines and Limited staff resources may find I Low
considered “timely” timeframes for delivery of data it challenging to provide data in a
dissemination of and information helps to ensure timely manner to all stakeholders
information: daily, that data is available when when needed.
weekly, monthly, needed.
annually, other?
20 Need to select the best User-friendly tools instill Delivery methods and tools used B—Can impact external Medium
tools and methods for confidence in the use of the data for internal and external customers too if training is
delivery of data and and information by the users. customers may vary, such as required in use of reports and
information to internal dashboards (for internal) and tools.
and external customers. Web links or wireless (for
external). This may result in
additional costs and required
training for staff in the use of
each of these tools.
SHARING
21 Need to balance data Ensures that agency resources Data requirements and needs for B Medium
sharing needs of all are aligned to meet the needs of all stakeholders differ and should
stakeholders: federal, stakeholders regarding data and be clearly identified and
state, local, private. information in a timely manner. documented.
Data conversion may be requi red B High
22 Data sharing standards Providing a copy of your agency
to prepare data for delivery
of all stakeholders may data catalog or data definitions
according to external stakeholder
not be co mpatible with and standards can help address
needs.
your agency standards. this issue.
B High
Use of a common georeferenced Developm ent of a common
23 Data sharing across all
database system supports georeferenced dataset may
modes of transportation
sharing of data across multiple require developm ent of an
needs to rely on a
modes of transportation. enterprise geodatabase and
comm on georeferenced
acceptance by all users regarding
dataset, with st andard
the level of accuracy of the linear
data definitions and
referencing system used.
dataset formats.
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2-2-5
Table 2.2.1. (Continued).
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Issues Related to Internally (I), to External Negative –
Data High, Medium,
Issue Stakeholders (E), or to
Sharing/Integration Low
Benefits Challenges Both (B)
No.
I Low
Use of meta data can help to Different business units within an
24 Need to address
address this issue. agency or the agency itself may
reluctance on the part of
be reluctant to provide data and
data providers to share
information to external users
data and information
without clearly identifying the
without knowing who
intended use of the data and
will use the data and
information.
how it will be used.
Requires give-and-take on the B High
25 Need to establish Clearly identifies expectations
part of all data sharing partners to
cooperative data sharing regarding quality and timeliness
agreem ents between of data delivery for all data provide data usable and mutually
agency and external sharing partners. beneficial to all data partners.
partners.
Use of cost-sharing met hods for Limited money and staff B High
26 Data sharing may be
data collection (such as pooled resources may inhibit data
difficult across
fund efforts) can decrease the sharing across multiple
organizations because
financial burden on any jurisdictions.
money and skilled
particular data partner.
personnel are not always
available across all
jurisdictions.
Certain business offices within I Medium
27 Need to integrate Use of external data products
publicly produced and (whether free or at a cost) can the organization may be reluctant
privately purchased data increase the richness and to purchase data products from
products. completeness of agency datasets. external sources due to additional
costs or lack of quality control
over the data delivered.
ACCESS
Access controls protect against IT offices often need to I Low
28 Data Security—data
unauthorized access and use of coordinate this effort with
system s must have
data by internal and external business units to approve access
authorized access for
sources. to various data systems.
internal and external
users; procedures have
to be established to
determ ine who/when/
under what circumstances
access is granted.
29 Data Privacy—privacy Agency policies and standards Need to balance the need of the B—Internal users may have High
of regarding what is considered public’s right to know with full access to data, while
individuals/organizations public vs. private information privacy laws. external users have limited
helps to protect the privacy access to data.
must be upheld
according to rights of individuals, and limits
federal/state/local laws. risks to the agency from
potential litigation.
INSTITUTIONAL
Data Management Policies/Procedures
30 Need strong executive Strong leadership supports data Changes in leadership may I High
leadership to support management through impact continuity of support for
data management establishing data governance data management programs.
programs. policies and standards for
collection, processing, and use
of data across the organization.
31 Need to develop shared Standard business terminology Requires close coordination I Medium
datasets and business dictionary supports development between IT office and business
terminology definitions of applications and data systems units to develop what is
between data program that are transferable across all considered the “standard business
managers and all depart- business units and transferable terminology” dictionary.
ments/business units, to external users of the
including IT office. application systems.
(continued on next page)
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2-2-6
Table 2.2.1. (Continued).
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Issues Related to Internally (I), to External Negative –
Issue Data Stakeholders (E), or to High, Medium,
Sharing/Integration Benefits Challenges Both (B) Low
No.
32 Data is needed to Helps to justify future Requires archiving of data for I Medium
support before-and-after investments in business before-and-after analyses
analysis regarding return programs and in the risk processes.
on investment (ROI) to management process.
agency to support future
investment strategies.
33 Different financial, No benefits identified for this Careful consideration must be B Low
legal, and technical issue. given to the differences between
environments exist at agencies (technical environments,
individual agencies that legal, financial resources, etc.)
may participate in data when establishing data sharing
sharing agreements. agreements.
Governance
34 Differences of opinions No benefits identified for these I High
Clearly identifying roles and
may exist between IT types of institutional barriers. responsibilities of IT offices,
offices and business business units, and
units regarding the roles stakeholders may take a
and responsibilities for significant investment in time
defining data definitions, and resources.
standards, and policies
The development of a data
for the use of data and
governance framework may be
information.
required to address this issue.
There is not a one-size-fits-all
model for data governance; the
model must be scaled and
adapted to the size of the
organization.
Need to identify the data
champions in the organization.
35 State standards or Establishment of standards and Information systems developers I Medium
agency standards and policies for use of agency and business data owners must
policies may dictate hardware/software helps to have access to, and become
contracting methods that protect the agency data systems familiar with, the state standards
prohibit the use of from unauthorized access/use, and policies governing the use of
certain hardware, and helps to streamline hardware, software,
software, application system development, communication devices, and
communication which must comply with the protocols that may be used to
protocols. agency’s preferred architecture share and integrate data at the
and database model designs. agency.
Data Business Plans
36 Need to demonstrate the B High
Ensures that agency data Need to develop a data
link between agency systems are aligned with its business plan framework with
mission and goals, the mission & goals, in order to input from the IT office and
business units, and support the core business business units working in
application systems, functions of the agency. partnership to develop the
which support the framework that supports
Helps to manage risks to the
business units. agency mission and goals.
agency associated with data
programs. Data business plans may take
several years to implement and
may require a phased
implementation approach.
Requires involvement of
multiple internal and external
stakeholders.
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2-2-7
Table 2.2.1. (Continued).
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Issues Related to Internally (I), to External Negative –
Issue Data Stakeholders (E), or to High, Medium,
Sharing/Integration Benefits Challenges Both (B) Low
No.
37 Need business Helps IT developers to Requires close coordination from I Medium
terminology dictionary understand business terminology both the IT office and business
to facilitate sharing of of the agency when developing units to participate in development
data and information applications to support business of the business terminology
internally and externally. needs. This may result in dictionary.
eliminating duplicate data
definitions across multiple
application systems.
Maturity Models
38 Need to use maturity Helps the agency to assess their Need to develop the maturity I High
models to assess overall progress in the evolution of data model that best suits or is the best
progress of agency’s data governance. fit for the agency. This may
governance evolution, require the help of external
which ultimately impacts consultants if internal staff is not
the agency’s ability to trained in developing data
share and integrate data governance maturity models.
and information systems
with other internal or
external data sources.
Risk Management
39 Need to identify risks to Helps to prevent loss of mission- Persons from all business units I High
an agency associated critical data and information and the IT office need to
with the loss of data. used for policy making and participate in the risk
decision making. management process.
40 Need to develop risk Identifies persons/offices This may require additional tasks I High
management plan and responsible for addressing risks to be assigned to already limited
routinely (e.g., annually) to data and information on staff resources to support the risk
re-evaluate the plan. behalf of the agency. management activities identified
in the risk management plan.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
41 Need to continually Keeps the agency at the This on-going evaluation carried I High
evaluate when/where/ forefront in the use of new out as part of a Data Management
how to integrate new technology to support business Program for the agency, will
technology through a operations. require time and dedicated
data management resources to accomplish.
program.
42 Need to assess impact to
agency through the
integration of the
following types of new
technology:
I High
a) Business intelligence Useful for sharing data and Commercial dashboards often
(BI) tools (dashboards, information from an have to be customized for use
scorecards) executive-level overview in an agency.
perspective.
In some cases, there may not
Has capabilities to access data be any commercial dashboards
stored in many formats available that meet an agency’s
including databases, needs. In this case, the agency
spreadsheets, reports. may develop the dashboard in-
house, or, use consultant
Provides agencywide access services.
to staff for monitoring goals,
Training usually required for
targets, and performance
staff maintaining the information
of core business programs.
on the dashboards and/or
scorecards and also for general
staff using these BI tools.
(continued on next page)
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2-2-8
Table 2.2.1. (Continued).
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Issues Related to Internally (I), to External Negative –
Issue Data Stakeholders (E), or to High, Medium,
Sharing/Integration Benefits Challenges Both (B) Low
No.
I Medium
b) Knowledge KM systems can be used to Agency needs to determine
management (KM) basic functions required in
Provide easy and quick access
systems their KM system so they scale
to data, information, reports
the KM system to meet their
in a variety of formats to
needs.
support business needs;
Some KM systems are more
Provide automated versioning
costly than others, and an
control for documents;
agency may not need all
features offered by some of the
Serve as repository of
more expensive solutions.
information on lessons
learned;
Contain contact information
for data stewards, data
business owners for specific
data systems; provide links to
data dictionaries, data
catalogs; and
Provide information on data
governance policies and
procedures.
c) Extensible Markup No challenges were identified N/A High
Easy to use for formatting
Language (XML) for with the use of XML.
files for transfer of data;
data sharing and storage
Offers automated security
protocols for data;
May be more economical
means of data transfer
compared to File Transfer
Protocol (FTP) servers.
d) Wireless technology B—Coordination may be Medium
Use of Smart Phone apps for Transmission of
for data collection, required between internal
instance, for GPS data data/information with Smart
dissemination agency and external data
collection, may be less costly Phones relies on the use of
providers regarding the
than the use of commercial cellular network towers, which
use/transmission of data using
GPS data collectors. may be limited or non-existent
wireless technology and the
in remote areas.
applications used, such as
Smart Phone apps.
No challenges were noted with I Medium
e) Automatic vehicle Provides real-time
the use of AVL systems.
location (AVL) systems departure/arrival information
for transit data collection for transit vehicles, such as
buses. Data can then be used
for real-time trip planning.
AVL systems also are used
with snowplow operations to
track GPS locations of
equipment and amount of
time needed for snow
removal in a geographic area.
AVL systems used with
snowplows also are capable
of tracking the temperature of
the road and the speed of the
vehicle.
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2-2-9
Table 2.2.1. (Continued).
Impacts (Potential Cost in Severity of
Terms of Money, Time, Impact, Either
Resources) to Agency Positive or
Issues Related to Internally (I), to External Negative –
Issue Data Stakeholders (E), or to High, Medium,
Sharing/Integration Benefits Challenges Both (B) Low
No.
f) Global positioning Provides increased accuracy of B—Type of data collection High
Cost of GPS data collection
system (GPS) data location data in real-time, which equipment and format of data
devices and supplemental
collection can be used in applications that to be collected needs to be
equipment varies and may be a
support dynamic routing of coordinated between external
factor in determining which
vehicles, and for updating data collectors and agencies
equipment to procure.
agency’s linear referencing needing/using the data.
Commercial GPS data
system and GIS.
collectors rely on satellites,
which may be unavailable
from time to time, or have
limited transmission
capabilities in remote areas.
GPS data requires transfer
from GPS device to another
device such as a PC/laptop for
post-processing of the data,
which includes data validation,
differential corrections, etc.
Differential corrections are
used to improve the GPS
location data.
g) Closed-circuit I Medium
Supports emergency Telecommunication relays
television cameras operations during extreme from cameras may be
(CCTV) for data weather conditions or other intermittent during a 24-hour
collection types of emergencies period, based on weather or
impacting flow of traffic. other factors.
Provides real-time data Cameras may be costly to
including travel time, speed, procure, install, and maintain.
incidents, and weather for a Therefore, their deployment
geographic region in the location should be carefully
range of the camera. selected to maximize
collection of data/information
in the most critical areas.
h) Non-intrusive Can be used effectively for No challenges were identified I—Cost of non-intrusive Medium
technology (such as collection of speed data with the use of non-intrusive technology may be more than
Minnesota GuideStar) technologies, except perhaps cost, traditional data collection
for traffic data collection compared with the use of methods using road tubes.
including infrared, traditional tubes across a
magnetic, radar, Doppler particular section of road for
microwave, pulse traffic volume data collection.
ultrasonic, passive
acoustic, and video.
integrate data from additional road networks, as needed.
analysis within a geographic information system (GIS) envi-
When the geodatabase is implemented, it will be the source
ronment. Therefore, ADOT&PF’s Program Development
of location data for a new Traffic Data System and Crash Data
Division is developing an enterprise geodatabase that will
System, as well as support existing department business
eventually replace the HAS system and will be used to support
programs.
their business needs including highway safety and traffic
This example illustrates the challenges associated with
analysis, traveler information, and asset management.
developing a location geodatabase, that must have the capa-
This enterprise geodatabase will need to integrate road net-
bility to integrate new road networks and to update existing
works for all functional classifications of roads required for
networks to meet the needs of all stakeholders. ADOT&PF
reporting. Projects are underway to collect this additional
will continue to encourage internal and external stakeholders
linear referenced data for integration into the geodatabase.
to use this database as the source for their location needs.
The database model is being designed with the flexibility to
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2-2-10
Solution are data systems, which are most likely legacy systems, built
to address business needs in separate business areas of the
Implementing a geodatabase containing a comprehensive
agency.
network of state and local roads will encourage stakeholders
Although many of these systems support certain business
to use it for their location data needs. Outreach to stakeholders
needs, they lack the ability to meet the majority of business
to solicit contributions to this single geographic road network
needs for the agency. The use of silo systems often results in
will help ensure it contains the most accurate location data
duplicate data being maintained across multiple systems, which
available.
requires continued costs to maintain separate data systems.
Providing a means for data sharing partners to transmit
Integrating these silo systems into an enterprise database has
local road data and multiple types of roadway attribute data
the potential to reduce maintenance costs.
through a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server, or via a Web
portal, encourages their use and continued contribution to
Solution
the master dataset.
Six state DOTs were surveyed for this primer and many of
One of the most effective methods identified for addressing
them indicated that there is an office that maintains GIS maps
the existence of silos is the development of enterprise databases.
and databases that are used by other offices within the agency
The implementation of an enterprise database usually relies on
and by external users (via a Web portal). They also indicated
participation from the business units and IT offices. This
that GIS and associated data are transmitted through the use of
ensures that the enterprise data warehouse meets the needs of
extensible markup language (XML) formats or FTP processes.
each individual business unit as well as the agency as a whole.
An enterprise data warehouse architecture includes links to
Issue: Variety of Data Standards and Skill Sets data marts, which are used to distribute reports and predefined
Used at Multiple Agencies (#22 & #26) datasets to users.
At Hennepin County in Minnesota, enterprise data is
Another critical issue having a high impact on data sharing
maintained for use by other departments within the county,
with external partners is that independent agencies each have
including the Public Works Administration. This department
their own set of standards used for data collection, processing,
uses accounting, payroll, GIS, and global positioning system
and reporting. There also are a variety of skill levels among
(GPS) data to support their business operations in the county.
staff at individual agencies, and certain staff may have more
This includes performance-based management, which evaluates
advanced technical training than others in the maintenance
the performance of county programs from four perspectives—
of data programs. Others may have more experience or knowl-
financial, customer satisfaction, internal processes, and learning
edge in the tools used for integration and sharing of data,
and growth.
which can present challenges when exchanging data between
agencies.
Analysis
Solution Issue: Ensure Data Quality (#14)
Although state agencies cannot dictate the required standards Another issue identified as having a high impact on staff
and skill sets of personnel at other agencies, data sharing and resources is the necessity for access to quality data. This
agreements and memorandums of understanding (Issue #25) includes having the staff and business processes in place to
can be used to facilitate the exchange of data and information. ensure that data, especially data used for target-setting and
These types of documents are used to specify data file format performance measures, is of the highest quality. The quality of
requirements, data definitions, data collection requirements,
data can be assessed in terms of the following seven attributes:
and any quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures
required for datasets. They also can be used to document • Accuracy—degree to which data are free from error,
required update cycles for delivery of refreshed data to par-
• Completeness—degree to which data values exist in the
ticipating agencies.
data system,
• Timeliness—degree to which data are available when
Processing required,
• Validity—degree to which data are in the domain of accept-
Issue: Silo Systems (#9)
able data values,
• Coverage—degree to which sample data accurately represent
One of the most notable high-impact issues identified by
transportation agencies is the existence of silo systems. These the entire set of data,
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• Accessibility—degree to which data are easily retrievable, tags is to capture when a toll tag appeared at a location. Any
and information about the driver that may be linked to the toll tag
• Currency—indicates how current the data must be in order (including name, address, and telephone number) is not
to meet business needs (e.g., is a daily, monthly, annual needed to track travel times of a particular vehicle. This type
update sufficient?). of data must be protected from unauthorized use.
Citizens also may use the traveler 511 system in the Bay Area
The challenge is to ensure that data quality is maintained for personalized trip planning services, with the “My 511”
consistently throughout an organization, even though the option in the system. Use of this service requires setting up a
determination for acceptable levels of data quality may vary customer account with information including a phone number
across business units. and a location. Again, this information may be considered as
There are also temporal issues to be considered, which may sensitive or private and must be protected from unauthorized
impact the determination of data quality. Particularly regarding or unlawful use.
currency, some datasets may need to be developed for future
use (such as GIS datasets), while others are no longer used and Solution
may need to be deleted or replaced with databases that offer
The privacy of individuals can be maintained using busi-
more advanced query, analysis, and reporting capabilities.
ness processes and software that encrypts the data at the source
of data collection. This is the method used by the 511 Program
Solution
at MTC. The toll tag ID is encrypted and the data is destroyed
A method for addressing data quality issues across the within a 24-hour period.
enterprise is to document clear definitions and standards for
each of the seven attributes as they pertain to particular data
Institutional
systems. Data catalogs can be used to document this informa-
tion and the catalogs can be made accessible through the use Issue: Need Strong Executive Leadership to Support
Data Management Programs (#30)
of an enterprise knowledge management (KM) system.
Michigan DOT has a structured data management program
One of the most significant institutional issues impacting
that includes data policies and standards, and data dictionaries
the success of data management programs at transportation
for the many applications systems that are used to support
agencies is the need for strong executive leadership and support
business operations. In order to provide the highest quality
for an overall data management program/data governance
data and information, a concerted effort is made to evaluate
framework. This includes the need for policies, directives,
what data are (and will be) collected to meet business needs.
and procedures that are sanctioned from the highest levels of
Some data may be used to develop performance measures
the organization regarding how data is to be collected, used,
for the department. In this case, all parties responsible for the
and managed within the organization.
collection and use of the data have to agree on what type of
data will be used to monitor the performance measure before
Solution
it is implemented. This requires close coordination among
business units, which supports the goal to “collect data once,
There are several approaches that have been, and can be,
and use it many times.”
used to solicit strong executive support for data management
programs in both the private and public sector. One of the
Access most effective is the use of IT tools such as executive dash-
boards that demonstrate how the agency’s business programs
Issue: Data Privacy (#29)
are performing when compared to established performance
Several agencies identified that protecting the privacy of goals and targets. The use of dashboards is an effective and
citizens regarding the collection and distribution of data is a understandable method of relaying this type of information to
high priority. For example, much of the data collected as part of executives. It is the responsibility of the various offices within
crash data programs at state transportation agencies includes the agency to explain, via presentations or other methods,
how the information available on the dashboards relies to a
the collection of data that is considered sensitive or private.
great extent on access to timely, accurate, complete, and high-
The case study at the Metropolitan Transportation Com-
quality data.
mission (MTC) in the California Bay Area illustrates the
Depending upon the level of detailed information needed
challenges regarding maintaining privacy when a transit agency
by leadership, business data models also can be used to clearly
is collecting travel-time data from an electronic toll tag system.
show how the collection, processing, and reporting of data to
In this case, the primary purpose of collecting data using toll
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Solution
such entities as FHWA results in a significant apportionment of
highway funds to the state highway agencies on an annual basis.
Risk management plays an important role in evaluating
Demonstrating the ROI resulting from strong data programs
and addressing several of the IT challenges discussed in this
is another effective method for gaining strong executive lead-
report. Therefore, risk management is discussed as a stand-
ership support for data management programs.
alone issue in Part 2, Chapter 3 of this primer.
Issue: Need to Use Maturity Models to Assess
Issue: Identify Roles of IT Offices and Business
Overall Progress of Agency’s Data Governance
Units for Data Stewardship (#34)
Evolution (#38)
A common institutional issue that exists in many agencies
Agencies that are in the process of developing or imple-
is the difference in opinions over the roles and responsibilities
menting data governance programs also need the ability to
of the IT offices and the business units for maintaining and
assess their progress as they evolve from being ungoverned
supporting data systems. Without clearly defined roles for all
to fully governed, regarding their data programs. They need
data stewards and business data owners, duplicate processes
a tool to assess where they currently are, compared to where
may be developed for sharing and integration of data, especially
they started and where they need to be, in order to obtain the
data used for PBRA. This can result in the delay of timely
highest level of data governance.
delivery of data and information to decisionmakers when
needed.
Solution
The use of data maturity models is the recommended Solution
solution for assessing how well the agency is progressing in
A data governance framework and data governance
achieving various levels of data governance within the organ-
maturity model can be used to address this issue. Establishing
ization. It is important to scale the maturity model to the
clearly defined roles for data stewards, business data owners
needs of the organization and to focus on the most critical
and communities of interest (COIs), which are the stake-
institutional, technical, and resource issues that may (or will)
holders who share a common interest in a particular type of
impact the implementation of data governance. An example
data (e.g., safety, traffic, crash, 511, and GIS), helps to address
of a Data Management Maturity Model Matrix can be found
this issue.
in Table 2.1 of NCHRP Report 666: Target-Setting Methods
More information on data governance and the data gover-
and Data Management to Support Performance-Based Resource
nance maturity model can be found in Volume 2, Chapter 2,
Allocation by Transportation Agencies.
Section 2.1 of NCHRP Report 666.
In addition to establishing data governance models, an or-
Issue: Identify Risks Regarding Data Systems and
ganization should consider implementing the appropriate
Establish Risk Management Programs (#39 & #40)
technical infrastructure, using business intelligence tools, to
support data governance. This could include KM systems that
An issue that could require significant investment in
are used to store information and archive best practices relat-
resources is the development of a risk management program.
This includes identification of potential risks and development ing to stewardship for application systems.
of strategies to address those risks. This requires participation
from multiple business units and the IT office to assess risks
Issue: Need to Demonstrate the Link
regarding systems in each business area. The IT office also
Between Agency Mission and Supporting
may evaluate risks differently than the business units; this is
Data Programs (#36)
also an issue that needs to be resolved. For example, the IT
office may tend to focus more on potential risks pertaining There is a need to clearly communicate how an agency’s
to the agency IT infrastructure. This includes securing the ability to achieve its mission and goals rely on data systems
intranet and hardware and software from loss of service due that provide information for decision-making purposes.
to power disruption or equipment failure. The business units, Many decisions, including PBRA, are based on available
however, may focus their risk management efforts on the data and information from data support systems. Attention
potential failure of infrastructure assets, such as bridges or to investment in data systems becomes a higher priority
pavements in a state DOT. Each of these types of risks is once management is aware of the relationship between the
important and should be addressed as part of an agency’s risk data systems and their importance in supporting business
management program. operations.
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C-TIP, still under development, identifies four main com-
Solution
ponents in its Concept of Operations (2009). The component
Development of a data business plan framework can be used
of the system that includes the use of wireless technology is
to address this issue. The framework not only ensures that the
the wireless drayage updating (WDU) component. According
data systems are aligned to support agency goals and business
to the proposed system design, motor carriers can receive infor-
processes, but it also helps to identify the data systems that need
mation about pending load assignments, pickup and delivery
to be addressed as part of a risk management program.
instructions, and traffic congestion information through the
More information on the use of a data business plan frame-
use of a truck-mounted driver interface device (T-MDID),
work can be found in Volume 1, Chapter 4, Sections 4.2 and 4.3
which is an iPhone.6
and Volume 2, Chapter 2, Section 2.1 of NCHRP Report 666.
The following scenario, illustrated in Figure 2.2.1, including
process steps, depicts how the C-TIP system can be used to
New Technology relay information for moving containers between two railroad
terminals.7
Issue: Need to Identify Best Approaches
The C-TIP system illustrates how the integration of different
for Integrating New Technology Tools
types of technology and tools can be used to improve timely
and Procedures (#41 & #42)
delivery of freight containers between multimodal terminals
and helps to eliminate empty container trips across town. The
The use of IT tools and procedures has a significant impact
system integrates the use of real-time traffic information, GIS
on data sharing and integration. Although several benefits
mapping tools for routing, and GPS technology for location
can be derived from the use of such tools, challenges often
of trucks and containers. The system takes advantage of wire-
exist with the use of particular types of technology.
less communication through the use of iPhones for relaying
These challenges include the need for customization of
information to/from the motor carriers and the railroad ter-
certain tools to make them usable at an agency. Additional
minals and dispatchers.
training also may be required for staff in the use of the new IT
Overall, this system looks promising. There are some human
tools and there may be additional costs for procurement of
and technical challenges, however, associated with the use of
hardware and software needed to implement a particular
the system.8
technology tool.
These challenges include the following:
The benefits and challenges identified by the case study
research for each of these IT tools and procedures are sum-
• Validating the dynamic route guidance (DRG) and real-time
marized in Table 2.2.1.
traffic monitoring (RTTM) output,
• Providing useable output to drivers,
Solution
• Getting truckers to trust the dynamic routing recommen-
dations, and
Several types of IT tools and techniques are available to
• Accommodating human behavior variables.
facilitate sharing and exchange of data and information. This
includes GIS tools used for display of maps and the use of
In spite of these challenges, the C-TIP system provides con-
business intelligence tools, such as dashboards and scorecards,
tinued opportunities for improved transportation of freight in
and KM systems for storing and sharing data and information.
the Kansas City metropolitan area through the use of integrated
For the purpose of identifying a unique proposed solution,
technology tools.
the following discussion explains how GPS, GIS, and wireless
technology are used as part of a study involving sharing and
exchange of data to support electronic freight management.
2.2 Medium Impact
Research for this primer included investigation of the
A medium-impact value issue indicates that some additional
Cross-Town Improvement Project (C-TIP) in the Kansas City
investment in resources and new applications may be needed;
metropolitan area. C-TIP is under the direction of the FHWA
however, the ROI in productivity and ability of the organization
Office of Freight Management and Operations.
to meet its business needs justifies the investment.
In this example, the sharing of data and information
between the motor carriers and the railroad terminals in the
Kansas City metropolitan area relies on a sophisticated net- 6
http://www.ctip-us.com/ctip_files/CTIP Scope Statement_V6.pdf
work of smart phones (iPhone), cellular network relay towers, 7
Randy Butler, Transportation Specialist, FHWA Office of Freight
satellites, and roadway sensors that collect traffic volume data. Management and Operations, Talking Freight Webinar, November 17,
Real-time routing information is provided using GPS location 2010.
data and GIS databases. 8 Paul Belella, Delcan, Talking Freight Webinar, November 17, 2010.
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Process Steps
1. Information is relayed to an Intermodal Move Exchange (IMEX) server to coordinate pickup
and delivery of containers from railroads, terminal operators, and trucking companies. IMEX
acts as a clearinghouse where railroads and terminal operators post transportation needs and
trucking companies can indicate hauling capacity and daily load assignments.
2. The IMEX produces work orders for truck carriers to move containers, which are sent over the
network to a dispatcher.
3. Truck carriers query and receive information either through a dispatcher or the WDU compo-
nent. The WDU forwards travel-time information to the trucks.
4. Real-Time traffic information is collected from roadway sensors and relayed to drayage
operators through the WDU. The information is sent to the T-MDID device (iPhone) in the
truck.
5. The drayage operator begins the trip using the real-time traffic information and the dynamic
routing component of C-TIP.
6. The drayage operator picks up container(s) at railroad terminal #1 to transport the shipment to
railroad terminal #2.
7. Drayage operator then proceeds to railroad terminal #2 to deliver the container(s).
Figure 2.2.1. C-TIP freight movement.
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This will help to align the data systems to support the business
The issues in the medium-impact-level range are relative to
operations of the organization.
other issues identified by the case studies that may have a higher
or lower impact level on the agency. The medium-impact-level
issues include the categories of collection, archiving/storage,
Solution, Part 2: Develop/Maintain/Distribute
processing, analysis, reporting/dissemination, sharing, and
Good Metadata (#15 & #16)
institutional, and are described in the following paragraphs.
One of the most effective methods that can be used to
ensure that the right data is used for the right purpose is to
Collection
develop metadata for datasets. This is an example of how an
Issue: Collect Right Data for Right Business Use (#1) IT issue can be used to provide a solution to address other
issues. Metadata includes a description of the data fields for
Several agencies are faced with the challenge of collecting the
a dataset, the date of last update, and the intended uses for
right data and using it for the right purpose. Clear expectations
the data. The metadata also needs to be accessible to all
must be identified for the intended use of data to justify stakeholders as needed.
the cost of data collection programs. Many state DOT data
collection programs exist to support operations of the agency
Issue: Level of granularity (#4)
and to meet federal and/or state legislative mandates. This
may result in duplicate data collection efforts across multiple The level of granularity or precision level that is needed for
business units within the agency, in order to satisfy legislative data collection programs may vary across business units within
requirements that pertain to planning (HPMS), safety (Fatality a state transportation agency. For instance, although a 1-mile
Analysis Reporting System, or FARS), environmental, and other increment unit may be sufficient for road inventory data
programs. The right data also are needed to support develop- collection programs, pavement management programs may
ment of performance measures and, subsequently, PBRA. require 1/10-mile segments to be used for data collection in
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), like many order to meet federal or other reporting requirements.
state DOTs, has found that they are “data rich, information
poor.” The agency must find a way to process the abundance
Solution
of data collected and translate data into information that is
available on an enterprise basis for use in making business There are many approaches that can be used to address
decisions. this issue of the level of granularity needed for a particular
data collection program. One of the best approaches is to
combine the processes used at Hennepin County in Minnesota
Solution, Part 1: Evaluate What Data Need
and the processes used at Michigan DOT for roadway loca-
to be Collected for Business Needs, Prior to
tion data.
Beginning Data Collection Efforts
Hennepin County evaluates the level of granularity needed on
Michigan DOT begins the process of defining data collection a case-by-case basis. The precision level required by surveyors,
that is used for performance measures by asking the following for instance, is not the same as that required for snowplow
questions: operators. Snowplowing operations may be able to use aerial
photography to meet their location needs and to determine the
• For what is the data being used? resource allocations needed to complete snowplowing oper-
• What is really being measured with the data? ations. However, if data is collected at a more detailed level for
• What is the quality and meaning of the data? use by surveyors and is made available through a GIS, the data
still could be used to support snowplow operations.
Any data collection program should be organized to ensure Michigan DOT provides an alternative solution for address-
that the primary business needs for the use of the data are met. ing the issue of level of granularity by making this decision
Caution should be exercised in adding additional data collection at the design stage for their databases. In designing their
requirements with stricter levels of accuracy because this may GIS database used in the Asset Management Section of the
increase the time and cost of the data collection process. Bureau of Transportation Planning, a specific precision level
Before beginning this process, evaluating the data collection is used for the roadway network data layer, which also allows
needs of the organization and the best approach for managing data collectors to segment the linear network road layer
data collection will help to ensure more efficient management according to the data attribute being collected. This design
of resources. The databases that store the data also should be provides flexibility in the use of multiple data layers within
designed with consideration for how the data will be used. a GIS framework.
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Issue: Integration of Real-Time Data traditional traffic data collection programs. Archives need to be
and Local Road Data (#2, #3) maintained to store the data and access to the archive should
be provided to users as needed.
All state DOTs are required under federal regulations to
report data that documents the extent, conditions, and per-
Archiving/Storage
formance of the public road network in the state on an annual
cycle to FHWA. This is for the HPMS report. This includes Issue: Costs Associated With Archiving/Storage (#6)
information on the mileage, pavement conditions, traffic
Archiving and storage of data is also an issue that each state
volumes, vehicle classification, and weight data as some of its
DOT must address since much of an agency’s historical data
primary components. The states maintain various databases
is used as a source for trends analysis (i.e., comparing travel
for HPMS reporting. These databases include the higher
volume trends) and for evaluating future investments in agency
functionally classified roads, such as interstates, state roads,
programs that support business needs.
and principal arterial roads. However, states do not always
Many agencies rely on external data archive services and
have up-to-date local road data since much of it is provided
some use their own internal archive systems for storing data.
by local government sources. The ability to integrate this type
The costs vary depending upon the archive method used and
of data from external sources is cumbersome because local
access to the data also must be maintained so that it is available
entities do not have the same data collection requirements or
when needed.
cycles as the state transportation agencies. Much of the local
road data is not typically in a format that allows for easy trans-
fer or integration with state datasets, and to facilitate the use Solution: Determine Whether to Maintain Archive
Internally or Externally (#7)
of this data requires the development of additional conver-
sion programs.
Such decisions are best made on the basis of a thorough
A similar data integration challenge exists with the use of
benefit-cost evaluation of the hardware and software require-
real-time traffic data collected from Intelligent Transportation
ments for data archiving and storage using an internal or
System (ITS) programs. One of the primary challenges asso-
external archive. The amount of data and other archive require-
ciated with the use of real-time data is to determine how
ments should be scaled to the needs of the organization and
much data to archive for future use. Unless the real-time data
will affect the evaluation.
is archived, it is unavailable for further analysis. If it is archived,
Other options for data storage also may be explored, such
it usually needs to be processed further to combine data col-
as the use of cloud and/or Web-based services, especially if
lected at 15-minute intervals into a value representing 1-hour
implementation of these options does not require the pro-
intervals. The format of the data also has to be converted to a
curement of additional hardware or software.
format that can be integrated with a state’s traffic database.
Decisions also have to be made regarding how long to keep
Processing
the archived data and opinions on this may vary from office
to office within a state DOT based on the business uses of
Issue: Conversion of Legacy System Data (#11)
real-time data.
Another issue that impacts resources at state agencies is the
need to convert legacy data from existing systems for use in
Solution
new applications. This can be illustrated in the development
Designing databases with flexibility to allow for easy inte- of enterprise databases at a state transportation agency.
gration of external datasets can help to ensure that data from Much of the data that is needed for incorporation into the
local governments and other external sources can be effectively enterprise database may reside within legacy systems typically
integrated when it becomes available. Entering into data used for traffic, pavement, and bridge management.
sharing agreements that establish specific data definitions Resources from IT offices and business units must be applied
and requirements also encourages the exchange and use of to develop software that is used to extract data from existing
such data. systems and convert the data for use in the new applications.
Integrating real-time data requires coordination between
the state DOT IT office, the internal users of the real-time data,
Solution
and the transportation management centers that collect the
Business units and the IT office must work together to
data. Data sharing agreements, which include detailed system
establish clear data definitions and file formats for the new data
requirements for data collection, storage, QA/QC, and process-
systems. This can be accomplished through the use of internal
ing, are needed to ensure that the data is available to supplement
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work groups that define the needs and uses for data systems data. Manual review and analysis, to some degree, is a useful
from the perspectives of the business units and IT office. method depending upon the amount of data to be analyzed
To ensure that the conversions work properly, the neces- and the resources available to perform the analysis. However,
sary conversion programs can be developed by programmers any QA/QC of data that relies primarily on manual methods
in the IT office and system testing can be conducted by the has the potential for introduction of human error. The eval-
business units. uation process also can take longer to complete when multiple
staff and/or offices are involved in the analysis processes. This
may delay reporting of data and information, especially data
Issue: Need Staff to Support and Participate
that is used to support PBRA, to decisionmakers at all levels
in Replacing Manual Processes with
of the organization.
Automated Processes (#10)
An example of this issue is demonstrated by the Colorado
Department of Transportation (CDOT) case study. In the
Some issues that impact data sharing and integration are
Traffic Analysis Unit (TAU) there are a number of manuals,
not symptomatic of the use of a particular technology tool or
paper tracking, and electronic software systems used to ana-
procedure, but are instead embedded in the culture of the
lyze and manage daily, monthly, and annual year-end traffic
organization. It may be difficult at times to convince employees
statistics, as well as to store continuous and short-duration
to replace manual processes that they have been using for many
count raw traffic data. Traffic data at CDOT is currently dis-
years and are costly in terms of full-time equivalent (FTE) hours.
persed over a number of different databases and systems.
This is true even if the new business processes that rely on new
Although CDOT is still able to meet its traffic reporting
technology increase productivity and shorten processing cycles.
requirements, there is the potential for improvement in the
use of automated tools to support traffic analysis, including
Solution the use of GIS tools.
Identify stakeholders to participate in work groups for
various data systems. These may be business data owners and Solution
data stewards for particular systems such as road inventory,
Several automated tools can be used to enhance analysis
traffic, pavement, bridge, and asset management systems.
and processing of data, including data used for performance
Providing training opportunities to staff in the use of new
measurement. Analytical tools include GIS mapping tools,
technology and tools also encourages their support of letting
which can be used to identify anomalies in data. Excel spread-
go of “doing things the way they’ve always been done.” The
sheets also can be used to produce tabular reports to identify
work groups are used to identify potential solutions and best
erroneous data that may be outside a given tolerance range.
approaches for implementing improved business processes.
CDOT is continuing to improve access to its traffic data for
These work groups can be implemented through the use of a
internal and external stakeholders through the development
data business plan, as was done at the Minnesota Department
of a GIS with a front-end portal that allows users to access and
of Transportation (Mn/DOT). Mn/DOT used work groups
use traffic data to meet their own business needs.
to identify the gaps and needs regarding their data systems.
The work groups were part of a data assessment process to
determine the health of existing data systems. Reporting/Dissemination
The states that have begun the implementation of data busi-
Issue: Need Automated Tools to Deliver/
ness plans, or are currently using them, are already experienc-
Disseminate Data Information in Timely
ing the benefits derived by gaining support and input from
and User-Friendly Manner (#18 & #20)
stakeholders who contribute information about business needs
for particular data systems. At Mn/DOT, the data business plan
In some cases, it may be a challenge to identify the best
development resulted in recommendations for improved busi-
IT tools to distribute reports and disseminate data and infor-
ness processes and development of data systems that support
mation. The decision to select one type of technology over
traveler safety, infrastructure preservation, and mobility.
another depends a great deal on the audience using the data
and information. If the audience is more technically inclined,
Analysis tabular reports, charts, or raw data files may be appropriate.
However, in other cases, it may be more useful to provide
Issue: Need Automated Analysis Tools
information on an interactive GIS map where users can select
and Procedures (#13)
a specific location on the map to generate reports regarding
Many agencies still rely on a combination of manual review traffic counts or locations of construction projects within a
processes and some automated tools to evaluate and analyze specific travel corridor.
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Solution Data and information are needed to comply with legisla-
tive mandates and are used to support statewide transporta-
Clearly identify the target audience for the use of data
tion improvement programs and manage agency assets. An
and information. Is it executives who are making decisions
abundance of transportation data also is used for research
about PBRA? If so, dashboards and scorecards may be the
to identify best practices in managing all modes of trans-
more appropriate choice for disseminating information
portation, including highway, rail, transit, air, and marine
than providing raw data files. However, if the audience
transportation.
includes software developers, then raw data files may be
Limited resources are available to meet the needs of all of
exactly what is needed to perform system testing for new
these groups, and therefore, agencies must increasingly rely on
applications.
improved business processes and automated tools to address
The IT tool selected should be user-friendly for the intended
the competing needs of all of the stakeholder groups.
audience.
A variety of automated tools and services are available
Solution
to facilitate the dissemination of data and information.
Some of the more commonly used options identified by the
The solution to address this need involves a combination of
case study participants are listed below and are included in
the use of business intelligence tools including data business
Table 2.2.1.
plans, KM systems, risk management programs, and the right
combination of IT tools.
• FTP servers can be used for transmission of large, raw data
The implementation of each of these solutions has a medium
files;
level of impact to the organization. These solutions require a
• Wireless networks can be used for collection and relay of
certain amount of dedicated resources to develop and imple-
data, as was illustrated by the use of wireless technology
ment compared to other issues identified through the case
to support freight management in the Kansas City metro-
studies.
politan area;
Data business plans can be used effectively to clearly identify
• Closed-circuit television cameras (CCTC) can be used to
which data programs and data systems are used to support
relay traffic- and weather-related information to the public;
the business functions of an organization. These plans also
• Cloud computing services can be used for file transmission
are used to identify data management policies and standards
and sharing of large data files;
and data governance structures that are used to manage the
• Electronic dashboards and scorecards can be used to relay
collection and dissemination of data and information.
information about Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to
Data governance also can be used to identify the data
executives and decisionmakers in an organization;
stewards, data business owners, and COIs for particular data
• XML file formats can be used to facilitate sharing of data
programs. The COIs are comprised of the multiple offices
and is the preferred format for file transmission at several
and agencies who share a common interest in the use of
agencies, including the 511 Program at MTC and Hennepin
the data.
County Public Works Administration in Minnesota; and
Data business plans and data governance can both be
• Automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems can be used to
effective methods in addressing the needs of all stakeholders
collect and transmit information about GPS locations
as illustrated by the case studies from ADOT&PF and VDOT’s
of vehicles, which is particularly useful in monitoring
Systems Operations Directorate. Each of these agencies are
arrival/departure times for transit operations and is used
defining COIs that can be used to identify data and informa-
effectively to manage snowplow operations in Hennepin
tion needs from the stakeholder’s perspective.
County.
KM systems are another option for documenting and archiv-
ing information about stakeholder needs associated with specific
Sharing data systems. KM systems can also contain contact information
about the business data owners, data stewards, and COIs who
Issue: Need to Balance Data Needs
work with a particular kind of data, such as traffic, crash, pave-
of All Stakeholders (#21)
ment, bridge, environmental, rail, and transit data.
Transportation agencies routinely face the challenges of VDOT has implemented an Office of Knowledge Manage-
balancing needs of all internal and external stakeholders. ment that stays very involved in coordinating outreach to the
The stakeholders are the users of data and information for COIs for two specific areas: (1) work planning and tracking,
various data systems. These groups include federal, state, and (2) ITS assets. VDOT is able to use the COIs to define the
and local governments, as well as the general public and the needs of the stakeholders and evaluate the processes and tech-
private sector. nology that can be used to address their needs.
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Issue: Need to Integrate Publicly Produced, can be documented in a business terminology data diction-
Privately Purchased Data Products (#27) ary maintained by data business owners and accessible for use
by IT developers, describing also how data are defined and
Certain business offices within an organization may be
used by specific divisions or offices. Such a dictionary will help
reluctant to use free sources of data or to purchase data from
developers ensure that applications meet the business needs
external data sources, due to costs or lack of quality control
of data users.
over the data delivered. External data products also may require
At Michigan DOT, streamlined data definitions are used
additional internal agency processing before the data is ready
across multiple application systems instead of creating new
for integration into internal database systems.
data definitions for similar uses. For example, a particular type
of traffic data collection device would not need to be a new
data field in a system but could be included as one of the valid
Solution
values for a data field known as “traffic data collection device.”
When external sources of data are used to supplement data
collection activities for a state transportation agency, the
Issue: Data Needed to Support ROI Analysis (#32)
collection requirements should be very detailed and include
data definitions, file formats, and any QA/QC procedures that
Data is needed in state transportation agencies for ROI
must be applied to the data.
analysis and investments in particular projects and programs
Well-defined internal QA/QC procedures will serve as a
that support business operations.
secondary validation to ensure that the data provided is in
With current anticipated budget shortfalls from federal and
accordance with the requirements of the organization.
state sources, it is imperative that data is available to support
An abundance of free public data is available for use by
ROI analysis and decision-making regarding investments in
state transportation agencies—including traffic and weather
transportation programs, including PBRA.
data—from federal, state, and local sources. Consideration
Historical and current data are needed for this comparative
should be given to the use of free data sources to improve the
analysis. A data archive can be used to store the historical data
completeness and richness of state transportation databases.
required. ROI analysis also requires access to financial data to
Data sharing agreements can be used to document the proce-
complete the cost analysis component for various investments,
dures for the exchange of free data between public agencies.
including the procurement of hardware/software to support
business operations.
Institutional Data is also needed to document the tangible and intangible
benefits regarding investments in particular projects and
Issue: Need to Develop Shared Datasets Based on
programs. Justification for development and maintenance of
Use of Business Terminology Definitions (#31 & #37)
such programs as highway safety improvement programs,
statewide transportation improvement programs, and traffic
There is a need in state transportation agencies to develop
monitoring programs, usually require documenting the tan-
and maintain data that is shareable across many business units.
gible and intangible benefits of each program, compared with
This usually requires coordination between the IT office or
the costs of developing and maintaining those programs.
division and the other divisions and offices within the agency.
Tangible benefits include costs savings through the use of
Traditionally, the roles of the IT staff were to develop data
automated data collection devices and development of enter-
systems on behalf of the business units and to implement and
prise databases that provide data and information in a timely,
train the business areas in the use of these systems. Business
efficient manner.
units are now more involved in the development of applications
Intangible benefits include the ability of the agency to meet
to meet their business needs.
federal and/or state legislative requirements within deadlines,
They have staff that is very knowledgeable in the use of IT
or to maintain the confidence level of the public regarding
tools and motivated to use this knowledge to support their busi-
access to, and use of, state transportation systems including
ness operations. In some cases, the business units may develop
highway, rail, and transit systems.
their own applications to meet their business needs. A more
comprehensive understanding of how data systems are used in
the business areas of the organization is needed by IT offices. Solution
A data catalog can be developed to identify data systems
Solution
used in the organization by various business units. The catalog
An understanding of the business terms used to describe can include data fields and data definitions by data system.
data is important to specifying datasets. These business terms Access to the data catalog through a KM system, or internal
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intranet site can help to quickly identify where to find data information to other agencies that is considered to be private
that is useful for ROI analysis. or confidential. Technology environments vary widely from
agency to agency, which can inhibit the exchange of data and
information. Although many of these issues are beyond the
Issue: State Statute or Agency Policies May Dictate
control of individual agencies, there are solutions that can be
Contracting Methods that Prohibit Procurement
used to address them.
and Use of Certain Hardware/Software (#35)
State level legislative requirements that prohibit the use of
Solution
certain hardware or software clearly will limit the ability of
state transportation agencies to procure a product that may Develop data sharing agreements between agencies that
best suit their business needs. Such limiting policies typically exchange data and information, to ensure that data is provided
are intended to ensure that data and information are reliably within the financial, legal, and technical requirements of each
secured and maintained to be available when needed to sup- agency.
port business decisions. The data sharing agreements should include, at a minimum,
the following items:
Solution
• Costs of data collection and processing, if there is a cost
A sound business case may justify a request for exceptions incurred, for delivery of data from one agency or organiza-
to restrictive legislation or policies. The business case will tion to another;
document the benefits, costs, and risks associated with the • Legal requirements regarding the use of the data; and
hardware and software sought. Demonstrating that other • Specific technical requirements regarding the integration
agencies or state programs will not be exposed to significant of the source data into other data environments (i.e., does
risk, including descriptions of security protocols to be adopted, the data have to be converted into a different format, or
and presenting examples of successful applications in other does the data require special software to process it within a
states or federal agencies can be very effective arguments for GIS environment?).
why the exception should be made.
For state transportation agencies that provide data and
information in compliance with federal and/or other state
2.3 Low Impact legislative requirements, data sharing agreements are not
necessary; however, data file format requirements and delivery
A low-impact value indicates that this IT issue was not
methods must be defined clearly.
identified as a high priority by the majority of the agencies in
This includes whether data is to be uploaded to a specific
the case studies. These issues usually have limited impact on
Web portal, such as the User Profile and Access Control System
agency resources or require little or no cost to implement.
(UPACS), which is used for submitting HPMS data to FHWA,
In some cases, the low-impact issues are beyond the control
and any data file format specifications.
of the agency, and therefore cannot be addressed by invest-
ments in particular programs or data systems at an agency.
The low-level impact issues include the categories of insti-
Access
tutional, access, sharing, reporting/dissemination, collection,
Issue: Need to Assign Authorized Access
and processing. These issues are discussed in the following
to Data Application Systems (#28)
paragraphs.
There is a need to identify clearly who within the business
Institutional units and IT offices at state transportation agencies are author-
ized to query, update, process, and use data from particular
Issue: Different Financial, Legal, Technical
applications.
Environments Exist Across Multiple Agencies (#33)
This is usually easily identifiable, based on a person’s job
There are differences that exist in the financial, legal, and function in the organization. Human resource officers, for
technical environments across agencies and organizations instance, would have access to certain employee or financial
that share and exchange data. These differences may limit the information that should not be shared with everyone in the
ability of some agencies to procure certain hardware and soft- agency.
ware based on policies or legislation, or due to fiscal constraints. This issue has a low level of impact because it typically does
Also, organizations may prohibit the release of data and not require procurement of additional hardware or software
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to make these types of business decisions. Managers are usually and local partners, as well as the private sector and the
responsible for submitting forms authorizing their employees public.
to have access to particular data systems. There is a need to clearly identify the methods to be used
for distributing reports, as well as the timeframes to be used
for disseminating information and data to internal and external
Solution
stakeholders.
Assigning authorized access to data systems that support
business operations is usually the function of business line
Solution
managers and supervisors. Those persons responsible for
A data management plan is an effective method for docu-
establishing the user logins and passwords normally reside in
menting policies, standards, and procedures used for the
the IT office or division of the agency.
release of reports, data, and information to any internal and
The IT office also has a responsibility to report any un-
external users, including specifying if reports are to be distrib-
authorized access to, or use of, data to the business owner of
uted on a weekly, monthly, or annual cycle. Additional infor-
the data, or to others as outlined according to department
mation on developing data management plans can be found
policy, for resolution of the issue.
in Volume 2, Chapter 2 of NCHRP Report 666.
Sharing
Collection
Issue: Some Reluctance May Exist for Sharing Data
Issue: Need to Collect Data Across Jurisdictional
if the Purpose of its Use is Unknown (#24)
Boundaries (#5)
The possibility always exists with the sharing and exchange
Since state transportation agencies often are required to
of data that it may be used for purposes for which it was not
submit data that has been aggregated at a statewide level, they
intended. This is typically not a major issue in sharing and
may need to integrate data that crosses jurisdictional bound-
exchange of data between state and local transportation
aries, such as counties or regions within the state.
agencies.
Border states often participate in national or regional pro-
If a state DOT exchanges and shares traffic data with and
grams that require the exchange of data across state or national
between local governments and metropolitan planning
boundaries. One example of this case is the exchange of GIS
organizations (MPOs) for instance, what the data is used for
and roadway network data between the states on the southern
is usually clearly identified by each agency. In this case, the
U.S. border and Mexico. The GIS data is used for many pur-
data is most likely used to support statewide transportation
poses including planning, design, and construction of roads
planning and urban and regional transportation planning
and bridges near and at border crossings.
programs.
Solution
Solution
Integrated database systems, such as GIS, can be used
Data sharing agreements can be used to document any data to store, process, and display data across jurisdictional
that is made available by one agency for use by other agencies or boundaries. GIS data models can be developed to allow for
organizations. Metadata also should be provided with datasets, multiple data layers to be integrated within the GIS. Although
to describe the intent for the use of the data. It is incumbent each data layer can be linked to a specific jurisdiction (region,
upon the receiving agency to use the data as intended and to county, city), GIS allow the user to integrate data for use on
clearly identify when it may, or may not, be using the data a statewide level.
according to its original intent.
Processing
Reporting/Dissemination
Issue: Resources Needed to Process Large Volumes
of Data Collected Through Outsourcing (#8)
Issue: Need to Establish Reporting Distribution
and Data Dissemination Cycles (#17 & #19) and According to Specific Update Cycles (#12)
Inconsistency in reporting of data and information, on As transportation agencies rely more on external sources
varying cycles, by a state transportation agency can impact of data, to enhance the completeness and richness of their
its credibility with all stakeholders including federal, state, own datasets they will need to have enough resources to
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preserve the data for future processing at a time when additional
process the data internally in order to provide information
resources are more readily available.
when needed.
Summary—IT Issues
Solution
The incorporation of automated tools for QA/QC of exter- Each of the IT issues that impact data sharing and integra-
nal datasets can reduce the amount of time and, in some cases, tion have been discussed in this section. The issues were ex-
the number of resources needed, to manually review and amined in terms of their impact to the organization, based on
process data. By saving processing time in one area, resources a high-, medium-, or low-level of impact.
can be reallocated to other areas to handle large volumes of data. Some of the issues discussed actually provided positive
Even with the use of automated QA/QC tools, there still impacts and presented solutions to address other IT issues.
may be minimal resources available to handle the volume of Examples were presented to illustrate how these issues impact
data received. In this case, data archiving may be an option to the organizations interviewed.
