Geographic Information Systems

Geographic information systems (GIS) are used to store, integrate, analyze, and map spatially defined data, including travel patterns, demographics, land use, economic, and environmental databases. For more than 15 years, Cambridge Systematics has been perfecting the integration of our geospatial technology services with our transportation domain expertise. We are committed to delivering GIS solutions to our clients for better decision-making in the transportation planning process.

Safety, mobility, economic competitiveness, regulatory compliance, and community preservation all depend on the ability to collect, access, analyze, and display relevant and accurate data. Geospatial analysis and tools improve the speed and accuracy of decision-making in all of these areas by turning complex volumes of data into powerfully displayed communication of transportation alternatives. Maps and charts, equally familiar to the technical experts and the public, provide invaluable communication tools that bring together agencies, commercial companies, partners, and the public. Because transportation planning typically requires spatial data from many different sources, Cambridge Systematics has extensive experience in the full range of geospatial technologies, including GIS, global positioning systems (GPS), and multimedia.

Our Services

• Map Composition. Cambridge Systematics provides presentation-quality mapping services for a variety of transportation projects ranging from local to statewide to national planning efforts. The firm maintains comprehensive GIS software platforms to manage a variety of geographic formats and offers a staff of experienced cartographers as well as full production capabilities.
• Geostatistical Services. Cambridge Systematics has several geographers on staff who understand spatial relationships and can provide analytical tools to measure spatial patterns.
• Database Design and Development. Cambridge Systematics has extensive experience in geographic data compilation, transformation, and integration. Our considerable experience includes developing and implementing data models for complete geodatabase solutions to our clients.
• Custom Application Develop ment. Cambridge Systematics has developed and delivered many GIS-based applications to our clients that facilitate the process of transportation planning and help bring about more informed decisions. Applications range from mapping and inventory systems to GIS-based travel demand modeling systems.
• Internet-Based Mapping. Cambridge Systematics provides Internet-based mapping services and solutions. We have experience developing, hosting, and maintaining custom Internet mapping systems to meet project needs.
• Systems Integration. Cambridge Systematics provides services to integrate geospatial technologies with existing transportation applications and business processes.

Why Cambridge Systematics

Cambridge Systematics has extensive experience at the forefront of applying the full range of geospatial technologies to transportation challenges. We develop solutions that enable clients to apply geospatial methods to their business activities, from visualizing and measuring the impact of transportation projects to designing enterprise GIS systems. Our staff includes specialists in GIS programming and analysis, applications development, database design and management, and systems planning and implementation. We have expertise in a variety of GIS products, including the full suite of ESRI software and the TransCAD program. Cambridge Systematics is an ESRI Business Partner. Highlights of our recent GIS experience are described below.

• GIS facilitates easy communication of analysis results to partner agencies and community groups, which is especially helpful in examining issues of environmental justice, as illustrated by a recent study prepared for the Atlanta metropolitan area and in work conducted for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) where we pioneered the use of geostatistics to understand environmental justice considerations in transit planning
• For the New Jersey Transportation Planning Agency (NJTPA), Cambridge Systematics is analyzing the spatial relationships of crash locations and various explanatory factors
• For the Florida Strategic Intermodal System (SIS), Cambridge Systematics developed a spatial database and mapping interface system that incorporates data from Federal, state, and local sources to provide a geographic perspective on intermodal planning
• For the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), Cambridge Systematics developed HEAT, the Highway Economic Analysis Tool, in ArcGIS that provides an economic benefit/cost analysis of highway improvement projects; in a similar project for the Arizona DOT, we developed an ArcGIS-based decision support tool that uses performance measures to analyze highway investments
• In partnership with the I-95 Corridor Coalition and the Maine DOT, Cambridge Systematics developed a web- and map-based passenger information system; in Missouri, we are working to update and improve an ArcIMS web site that allows users to learn about current construction work zones
• For the Contra Costa Transportation Authority in California, Cambridge Systematics developed an interactive mapping web site, intended to facilitate the local review process, which incorporates transportation model data and orthophotography using TransCAD for the web