Introduction

ESRI is sponsoring the development of a series of “essential data models,” which will allow users to take greater advantage of ArcGIS 8 and the new geodatabases. One of those models is focused on transportation, and is called UNETRANS — the Unified NEtwork-TRANSportation data model.

ESRI staff and researchers at University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) are leading this consortium.  The group is headed by Dr. Michael Goodchild.  The user  members represent highway agencies and DOTs, transit and railway organizations, city streets departments and airport authorities. We also have a number of transportation planning consultants, ESRI Business Partners and other  software developers, as well as a few university faculty. We now have members from North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim.

The current phase of this work has assigned top priority to roadway and railway infrastructure features for highway agencies, public transit authorities, railways organizations, and municipal public works agencies. There is also a sub-committee studying airport infrastructure and facilities.  Key GIS functions related to network topology and linear referencing (DynSeg) are included in the focus.

The outcome will be a basic data model that works easily with Arc8+ software.  There are 3 components:

• A conceptual object model of transportation features, incorporating multiple modes of travel, and accommodating multiple scales of interpretation of the real world (e.g. modeling a large freeway interchange as a point at one scale, and a series of ramps and even lanes at a larger scale)
• UML code which is easily transformed into an ESRI geodatabase.  The average user can immediately begin to populate the geodatabase rather than to design it, and the inherent commonality between users facilitates exchange of data.
• Documentation in the form of a book on transportation GIS.

• one-on-one correspondence
• web discussion
• organized consultations

2000 May		Administrative launch
2000 Jun 24/25		Stakeholder consultation, San Diego CA [details]
2000 Jul/Oct		Refinement of stakeholder inputs and supporting research Development of draft book/whitepaper and UML code
2000 Nov 3/4		European stakeholder consultation, Turin, Italy [details]
2000 Nov/Dec		Refinement and development
2000 Dec 7/8		Presentation of draft and consultation, Redlands CA
2001 Jan/Apr		Final refinement and development
2001 May 11		Release of UML and white paper
TBA		Release of UNETRANS book

Drafts of models and other documents are posted to this web site from time to time.  We invite your comment at any time.  Please sign up on the mailing list to receive notification of updates and consultations.