SUPER-REGIONAL, VERY LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION MODELING WITH A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM

An application is presented of a geographic-information-system (GIS)-based modeling system to a regional transportation problem in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina, area, specifically an evaluation of a proposed super ring road around the region called the "Carolinas Parkway". The use of a GIS, in conjunction with the transportation modeling system, allowed for a fairly complete analysis of a very long range transportation proposal to be evaluated at the super-regional scale. Basically, the GIS system allowed the analysis to be completed in a short period of time with a minimum of complexity. However, software limitations and compatibility issues reduced the overall effectiveness of the effort. In summary, transportation planners and analysts in super-regional environments are encouraged to look carefully at geographic information systems, particularly those blended with transportation models, as a means to facilitate and encourage coordination and cooperation. In the future, more sophisticated models will be required if GIS-Ts are to be fully usable.