5Conclusions:
The “Integrated Monitoring System” is a unique and innovative approach to planning research utilizing GIS tools to develop an online shared mapping system, and to provide a prototype an online geographic system that can contribute to transportation research statewide. The system provides an overarching platform with analytic, spatial tools coupled with a comprehensive database that cuts across regions and traditional silos. The database saves data longitudinally thus enabling users to monitor trends and evaluate performance.
The project provides a new regional prototype and enables all users to work with data for planning issues. The regional GIS enables professional and community representatives to conduct their own research, by comparing planning objectives with indicators of change.
The model is also important to both private and public sectors. For both groups and community at large there is value in the collaborative format and being on the common page. This allows private developers to gain a better understanding of marketing opportunities for a given community, and can help elected official make better and more informed decision.
In addition, the system can provide immense value to both the sectors to build relationship and to work with local communities. For planning improvements to effectively represent the concern and vision of the local community and also for development projects to receive local community support the system can help develop more transparent decisions among informed stakeholders.
One way of measuring the strength of the project is that it has demonstrated its versatility in planning problem-solving across a wide range of transportation related topics. The County of Los Angeles chose the LOTS platform as a framework for the analysis of the potential to convert industrial properties to residential uses in the blueprint growth areas. The City of Los Angeles chose the LOTS platform as the best vehicle for analyzing the on-the-ground built environment around the 46 transit stations in its jurisdiction.
However, this webs ystem, the first of its kind, faces some important challenges as well if it is to fulfill its potential as an easy-to-use GIS that enables users to fully explore the wide range of planning information.
Standardization of Data.
It is extremely difficult to integrate new datasets if the format for compiling information has changed. A related issue is that there are few similarities among database structures used by cities and counties and this challenge therefore requires a considerable amount of extra-programming to incorporate new data sets.
Integration of the Help Module.
Currently, the Help system stands alone and separate from the site and requires the user to print out the material and follow the directions. It would be better to incorporate help information directly into the site with pop-ups and other ways to answer questions as they emerge. One step that is being taken is the inclusion of animated tutorials that can be used to provide a feeling for the use of the site in real time.
More Outreach and Marketing
The system is slow to get the dissemination that it needs. Should there be funds available, there is strong interest at the Center for conducting training sessions around the region. The system has gotten excellent reviews from those who have invested the time to explore it. Many people just require a little encouragement and hand-holding to convince them that the system is not daunting.
Panning Across Geographies
Increasingly, users expect a GIS interface that is similar to those that are found on Yahoo or Google maps. Unfortunately, it is difficult to have both the density of data and the simplicity of operations that users have come to expect. New tools from ESRI, such as ARCGIS 9.3 will permit a user to move across maps with a single drag of a mouse.
Speed of the Site
The challenge here tends to be based on the broadband capacity of local agencies. Still, many are operating with a minimum level of speed for full participation in \web media. Over time, local governments and others are upgrading their systems and we believe that projects, like LOTS, provide impetus to move to the next stage in faster connection speeds.
Economic Sustainability
There is no ongoing budget for basic operational costs, much less funding for customizations and upgrades as requested by users. The plan is to continue to apply for funding from various sources to keep this important model moving ahead.
Usability
With additional resources, the Center would like to do some updating to the home page and other sections of the site. All systems must evolve based on ;user feedback. In particular, there are plans to increase the number of wizards on the system as users tell us the combinations of data that they use for their own research projects.
Missing Information
The GIS still needs to incorporate parcel data for Orange County in a way that make property research a reality for every location in the region. There remain a number of impediments to providing this information online. Another goal of the Center staff is to incorporate more information on Rapid Buses because they are the heart of much of our public transit system in Southern California.
More Collaboration with Caltrans
The Center is interested in making more information available on transportation projects that are proposed or under development throughout Southern California. We would also like to share our expertise so that LOTS could expand to serve the whole state.
Uploading and Downloading Data
The system should evolve such that planners and others with approval can upload data on the system both for personal use and for sharing with other users. Similarly, public data sets should ultimately be downloadable for further analyses on local PCs
System Reliability
The LOTS database is very stable. It does not go down; however, there have been some challenges with ARCSDE and the plan is to install an upgrade of this system and see if it improves performance reliability.
Immediate Opportunity for LOTS in Transportation Planning
As planners know, SB 375 builds on climate change legislation signed into law in 2006 (AB 32) and the regional “blueprint plans”. The bill’s core provision is a requirement for regions with high air pollution to develop a “Sustainable Communities Strategy” in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The SCS must represent a realistic development pattern that meets a state target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while taking into account the region’s housing needs, transportation demands, and protection of resources and farm lands. The state will allocate $6 billion a year to transportation projects that implement the SCS. The SCS will be updated every 4-5 years as part of the region’s transportation plan.
For localities to produce Sustainable Community Strategies, they will need to have access to a wide range of geographic indicators that provide necessary data on housing, transportation, the built environment the economy and so forth.
LOTS must evolve so that it can help localities access information that will be needed for building the nexus between transportation planning and growth management strategies. LOTS already has some key indicators currently on the system, including data from the Regional Transportation Plan, the Center for Neighborhood Technology Research, and the most recent addition, the CTTP data. These need to be made available in ways that connect directly to this new SCS planning process.