Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page R1
NATIONAL
NCHRP REPORT 576
COOPERATIVE
HIGHWAY
RESEARCH
PROGRAM
TransXML:
XML Schemas for
Exchange of Transportation Data
OCR for page R2
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2007 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE*
OFFICERS
CHAIR: Linda S. Watson, CEO, LYNXCentral Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Orlando
VICE CHAIR: Carol A. Murray, Commissioner, New Hampshire DOT, Concord
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board
MEMBERS
J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY
Michael W. Behrens, Executive Director, Texas DOT, Austin
Allen D. Biehler, Secretary, Pennsylvania DOT, Harrisburg
John D. Bowe, President, Americas Region, APL Limited, Oakland, CA
Larry L. Brown, Sr., Executive Director, Mississippi DOT, Jackson
Deborah H. Butler, Vice President, Customer Service, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Subsidiaries, Atlanta, GA
Anne P. Canby, President, Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, Washington, DC
Nicholas J. Garber, Henry L. Kinnier Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Angela Gittens, Vice President, Airport Business Services, HNTB Corporation, Miami, FL
Susan Hanson, Landry University Professor of Geography, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA
Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Harold E. Linnenkohl, Commissioner, Georgia DOT, Atlanta
Michael D. Meyer, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
Debra L. Miller, Secretary, Kansas DOT, Topeka
Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington
John R. Njord, Executive Director, Utah DOT, Salt Lake City
Pete K. Rahn, Director, Missouri DOT, Jefferson City
Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson
Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Corporate Traffic, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, AR
Rosa Clausell Rountree, Executive Director, Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority, Atlanta
Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Senior Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin
Steve Williams, Chairman and CEO, Maverick Transportation, Inc., Little Rock, AR
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS
Thad Allen (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC
Thomas J. Barrett (Vice Adm., U.S. Coast Guard, ret.), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT
Marion C. Blakey, Federal Aviation Administrator, U.S.DOT
Joseph H. Boardman, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S.DOT
John A. Bobo, Jr., Acting Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT
Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA
George Bugliarello, Chancellor, Polytechnic University of New York, Brooklyn, and Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering,
Washington, DC
J. Richard Capka, Federal Highway Administrator, U.S.DOT
Sean T. Connaughton, Maritime Administrator, U.S.DOT
Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC
John H. Hill, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT
John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC
J. Edward Johnson, Director, Applied Science Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, John C. Stennis Space Center, MS
William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC
Nicole R. Nason, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S.DOT
Jeffrey N. Shane, Under Secretary for Policy, U.S.DOT
James S. Simpson, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S.DOT
Carl A. Strock (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC
*Membership as of January 2007.
OCR for page R3
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM
NCHRP REPORT 576
TransXML:
XML Schemas for
Exchange of Transportation Data
Eric Ziering
Frances Harrison
CAMBRIDGE SYSTEMATICS, INC.
Cambridge, MA
AND
Paul Scarponcini
BENTLEY SYSTEMS, INC.
Exton, PA
WITH
INFO TECH, INC.,
Gainesville, FL
MICHAEL BAKER JR. INC.
Moon Township, PA
CHARLES E. CAMPBELL
Orangevale, CA
Subject Areas
Planning and Administration · Design · Highway Operations, Capacity, and Traffic Control
Research Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
WASHINGTON, D.C.
2007
www.TRB.org
OCR for page R4
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY NCHRP REPORT 576
RESEARCH PROGRAM
Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective Project 20-64
approach to the solution of many problems facing highway ISSN 0077-5614
administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local ISBN-13: 978-0-309-09872-4
interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually Library of Congress Control Number 2007921915
or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the © 2007 Transportation Research Board
accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly
complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These
problems are best studied through a coordinated program of COPYRIGHT PERMISSION
cooperative research.
Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining
In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials published or copyrighted material used herein.
initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this
employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the
understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA,
a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the
FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product,
Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for
Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of
any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission
Transportation.
from CRP.
The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was
requested by the Association to administer the research program
because of the Board's recognized objectivity and understanding of
NOTICE
modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this
purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of
authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the
possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, Governing Board's judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and
state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research
Council.
relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of
The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this
objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of
report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the
specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed
research directly to those who are in a position to use them. or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have
been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of
The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified
the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American
by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway
and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according
Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive
Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council.
Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these
needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research
Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway
selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National
surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade
Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. or manufacturers' names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the
object of this report.
The needs for highway research are many, and the National
Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant
contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of
mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is
intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other
highway research programs.
Published reports of the
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM
are available from:
Transportation Research Board
Business Office
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
and can be ordered through the Internet at:
http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore
Printed in the United States of America
OCR for page R5
OCR for page R6
COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS
CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 576
Robert J. Reilly, Director, Cooperative Research Programs
Crawford F. Jencks, Manager, NCHRP
Christopher J. Hedges, Senior Program Officer
Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications
NCHRP PROJECT 20-64 PANEL
Field of Special Projects
Loren Risch, Kansas DOT (Chair)
Steven C. Brown, Nebraska DOR
Roemer M. Alfelor, FHWA
Todd R. Bergland, Minnesota DOT
Terry Hale, New York State DOT
Maurice Harmon, HNTB Corporation
Liang Y. Hsia, Florida DOT
David C. Lively, California DOT
Sandra B. Salazar, Johns Hopkins University
Gregory T. Witt, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
James Pol, FHWA Liaison Representative
James Ramsey, AASHTO Liaison
Thomas Palmerlee, TRB Liaison Representative
Ray Krammes, Other Liaison
AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank the following individuals who provided valuable input and perspectives on
transportation data exchange needs during the course of this effort:
The NCHRP Project Manager, Christopher Hedges; the members of the NCHRP Project Panel, Jim
Ramsey, Loren Risch, Steven Brown, Roemer Alfelor, Todd Bergland, Lyman (Terry) Hale, Maurice Har-
mon, Liang Hsia, David Lively, Thomas Rioux, Sandra Salazar, and Gregory Witt; the FHWA liaison,
James Pol; the AASHTO liaison, Mary Beth Leaf; Nathan Crews of LandXML; Chuck Conley of AASHTO;
Jennifer Whitted of Natek, Inc.; Carl Gonder of Alaska DOT; Michael Griffith of FHWA; Steve Jackson of
Idaho DOT; and the many individuals who actively participated in the TransXML community website.
OCR for page R7
FOREWORD
By Christopher J. Hedges
Staff Officer
Transportation Research Board
This report develops a proposed common framework for exchange of transportation
data in eXtensible Markup Language, known as TransXML. This framework can be used for
developing, validating, disseminating, and extending current and future schemas. The
research team conducted an extensive review of current XML efforts in the transportation
sector, identified specific gaps and opportunities, and developed a plan to address the high-
est priority needs. The team developed a number of pilot schemas and applications, as well
as recommendations for tools and platforms that can simplify XML coding for other trans-
portation applications. The report summarizes the benefits that can be achieved by the
adoption and expansion of TransXML, and outlines future efforts that will be needed to
ensure its success.
The planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operation of transportation
infrastructure all require exchanging large volumes of data. Until recently, transportation
agencies have been hindered by the lack of common data formats that would facilitate the
exchange of data across different platforms and applications. XML (eXtensible Markup
Language) has proven to be a universal structured data-transfer methodology with great
potential for the transportation sector. Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-
scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the
exchange of a wide variety of data on the web and elsewhere. XML data structures, known
as schemas, provide a mechanism to develop and adopt common formats for data exchange.
The XML schemas that are of interest to AASHTO and its member departments typi-
cally support transportation infrastructure-related business processes in local, state, and
federal departments of transportation (DOTs) as well as the work of their partners. These
schemas are of equal interest to vendors who develop software products to support the
transportation industry. There are currently several open consortia of private- and public-
sector organizations working to create schemas to support the transportation industry,
including LandXML, aecXML, ITS XML, and OpenGIS. For some transportation applica-
tions, XML schemas do not yet exist, but their availability would facilitate the exchange of
transportation data broadly across multiple business areas in a format independent of the
software that produced it. However, there existed no formal mechanism or framework
within the transportation community to develop and maintain XML schemas, promote
schema consistency and acceptance, solicit broader input, and build consensus.
There is a need for development and long-term support of XML schemas for exchange of
transportation data that are widely accepted, thoroughly documented, and published on the
Internet for access by any organization or individual. The long-term vision is an overall set of
XML schemas for transportation applications in a framework to be called TransXML.
OCR for page R8
Under NCHRP Project 20-64, a research team led by Cambridge Systematics developed
XML schemas in four pilot business areas in the transportation sector: roadway design,
construction/materials, bridge structures, and transportation safety. Sample applications
were developed for each of the schema to demonstrate their use. Data models were devel-
oped for each schema using Unified Modeling Language (UML). Geographic Markup Lan-
guage (GML) was used as a consistent framework for XML coding across the four areas.
This final report is accompanied by several appendices in electronic format that can be
downloaded at http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=7338. These include (1) a detailed
review of the XML schema and relevant data standards, (2) a summary of an experiment
that led to a recommendation to use a common features profile within GML to simplify the
generation of XML code, (3) UML models used as the primary design tool for the Trans-
XML schemas, and (4) the actual TransXML schemas and applications developed in this
project.
This project should serve as the beginning of an effort that will become a broad umbrella
for a wide variety of interrelated data exchange formats in all areas of transportation data
exchange. The success of TransXML will rely on a sustained effort over time by the trans-
portation community. Communication must continue among all of the stakeholders
involved in business processes that require the exchange of data; those who will be the pri-
mary beneficiaries of common data exchange formats.
OCR for page R9
CONTENTS
1 Summary
5 Section 1 Introduction
5 1.1 Research Context
6 1.2 Research Objectives
6 1.3 Research Approach
7 1.4 Contents of Report
9 Section 2 Surface Transportation Data Exchange Needs
9 2.1 Overview
9 2.2 Roadway Survey/Design
9 2.3 Transportation Construction/Materials
10 2.4 Highway Bridge Structures
10 2.5 Transportation Safety
10 2.6 Broader Framework for TransXML
13 Section 3 Current Practice Review
13 3.1 Overview of Existing Schema and Standards
20 3.2 Screening and Evaluation of Schema and Standards
22 Section 4 Gaps and Opportunities for TransXML
22 4.1 Criteria for Identifying XML Schema Candidates
23 4.2 Roadway Survey/Design
26 4.3 Transportation Construction/Materials
29 4.4 Highway Bridge Structures
30 4.5 Transportation Safety
32 Section 5 TransXML Process and Products
32 5.1 Schema Development Process
32 5.2 Technical Framework for TransXML
35 5.3 Stakeholder Involvement
36 5.4 UML Modeling
37 5.5 GML Encoding and Validation
38 5.6 TransXML Schema and Sample Applications
45 Section 6 Future Stewardship of TransXML
45 6.1 Introduction
45 6.2 Existing Models for XML Stewardship
46 6.3 Lessons Learned
48 6.4 Goals and Mission Statement for the TransXML Project
49 6.5 Function and Roles of a TransXML Stewardship Organization
50 6.6 Criteria for TransXML Stewardship
51 6.7 Recommended Model for TransXML Stewardship
51 6.8 Work Plan for the TransXML Project
OCR for page R10
54 Section 7 References
55 Appendices A Through F
56 Appendix G: Additional Feedback on Schemas
and UML Models
58 Acronyms
