Texas Urban Triangle: Creating a Spatial Decision Support System for Mobility Policy and Investments that Shape the Sustainable Growth of Texas

This project developed a GIS-based Spatial Decision Support System to help local, metropolitan, and state jurisdictions and authorities in Texas understand the implications of transportation planning and investment decisions, and plan appropriately for the future. It provides an easily accessible, graphically represented, interactive database on infrastructural, demographic, environmental, agricultural, economic, hazard, and land use factors that affect transportation corridor location decisions. Specifically, the project team created an Internet-based spatial decision support system that will allow users to identify and visualize geographically those critical issues related to locating single mode or multi-modal surface transportation corridors for freight and passengers. Decision makers will be able to test multiple attributes in the decision making model to compare multiple transportation corridor scenarios for optimal mobility based on the decision parameters developed in the model. Jurisdictions and transportation authorities will use this tool to guide future decisions on transportation and its impacts on urban growth in a sustainable manner so that the need for economic development is balanced with environmental protection and human health, safety, and welfare. The system also helps address important research questions related to where future growth will occur in the Texas Urban Triangle, and at what scale, densities, and uses and to study selected impacts of this growth. Finally, the SDSS demonstrates the usefulness of WebGIS in facilitating sustainable transportation planning, policy making and investment decisions.

• Record URL:
  http://utcm.tamu.edu/publications/final_reports/Neuman_09-30-10.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This research is supported by a grant from the US Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program. Project Title: Texas Urban Triangle: Creating a Spatial Decision Support System for Mobility Policy and Investments that Shape the Sustainable Growth of Texas.
• Corporate Authors:

  University Transportation Center for Mobility

  Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University System
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  Office of University Programs, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Neuman, Michael
  • Bright, Elise
  • Morgan, Curtis
• Publication Date: 2010-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: 38p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Capital investments; Decision support systems; Economic growth; Geographic information systems; Land use planning; Mobility; Sustainable development; Transportation planning
• Geographic Terms: Texas
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01324956
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UTCM 09-30-10
• Contract Numbers: DTRT06-G-0044 (Grant)
• Files: UTC, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 14 2011 10:20AM