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from colleges and universities have the potential to be good STANDARDIZATION
visualization technicians because they have already been
trained on 3-D CADD. Most of the visualization technology As mentioned throughout this synthesis, there is a distinct lack
is done by these new hires, who might otherwise gravitate to of national standards and guidelines for the use of visualiza-
alternative employment opportunities if they cannot apply tion. Instead, there are only minimal guidelines to consult
what they have learned. within individual transportation agencies. Many interviewees
expressed the notion that standardization is needed to better
integrate visualization technologies into the design process.
3-D CADD Training National standards and guidelines similar to the standards
developed by NYSDOT (18) could be incorporated into the
To assist in incorporating visualization into the design process, CADD process.
3-D CADD needs to be taught and implemented. Most trans-
portation agencies already have the proper hardware and soft- In addition to standardizing the use of visualization,
ware assets in place to implement 3-D CADD. Transportation related issues need to be standardized to make visualization
agencies such as NYSDOT and UDOT have used their exist- a viable tool for transportation agencies.
ing 3-D CADD capabilities to progress to more advanced 3-D
CADD applications, such as virtual reality-based real-time
simulation. Each of these agencies has concluded that, in addi- Official Visualization Department or Discipline
tion to budgeting for training, there will be a need to budget
time to create content in 3-D. Initially, it will take longer to With the exception of Mn/DOT and NYSDOT, no transporta-
produce a 3-D plan set than a traditional 2-D plan set. There tion agencies interviewed have formally recognized visualiza-
are no factually based estimates; however, the agencies concur tion departments. Visualization is usually incorporated into
that, on average, it will take one and a half to two times as other departments, such as landscape architecture or structural
much time to generate a plan set using 3-D CADD as to gen- design. Because of this, there is inadequate measurement of
erate a traditional 2-D plan set. To fully justify these expenses, budgeting, expenses, and staff-hour requirements. Senior-
the agencies have recommended that a costbenefit analysis on level management continues to request a costbenefit analysis
the efficiencies of visualization be undertaken; there needs to to justify the use of visualization, but such an analysis is diffi-
be a distinct return on investment to justify the significant cult without a mechanism in place to measure budgeting,
training and production expenses associated with learning 3-D expenses, and staff-hours.
CADD. Many transportation agencies have trained staff on
using 3-D visual tools, but none are training specifically for the Official Job Titles
3-D design (i.e., 3-D CADD) process. All interviewees
expressed a desire to learn 3-D CADD, but none were willing Almost all of the transportation agencies interviewed have no
to implement 3-D CADD owing to the upfront costs associ- specific job titles for their visualization technicians. Such
ated with the training. employees are usually lumped into another category. For
example, the job title for the lead visualization technician at
In the early 1980s, when CADD programs were first ini- NYSDOT is Principle Drafting Technician. This title was
tiated within transportation agencies, there was a tremendous given to fit the salary structure of the technician to an existing
expense to train users. However, because the benefits of the and accepted position within the DOT. However, this nondis-
CADD training have outweighed the expenses, CADD cipline title undervalues the role of the technician and also
design has become prevalent. Many of the people inter- makes a visualization career path within the agency difficult.
viewed for this synthesis recognize the benefits of training Not having a defined career path can be detrimental to retain-
and using 3-D CADD design and would like to have these ing good staff. Agencies interviewed would like to see proper
benefits documented and verified, preferably through a recognition and titling of the people who create visuals.
detailed costbenefit analysis.
Guidelines for Use
Project Manager Training
Transportation agencies interviewed would like to see a national
A common theme mentioned in case study review was the set of guidelines that could be tailored to their specific agency.
recommendation of visualization training for project man- These agencies believe that such standards and guidelines are
agers. Because they are the primary decision makers for the needed if visualization is to become a viable discipline within
use of visualization, there should be resources available to the design process. The national guidelines should be basic and
inform them of their options. Currently, project managers rely written to the level of a project manager or decision maker. They
solely on consultations with visualization specialists, consul- should include, but not be limited to, the following:
tants, or general opinion. Project manager training can be aug-
mented by having a standardized guideline on visualization, · Tools available,
such as the NYSDOT Visualization Project Workflow. · Benefits of using each tool,
