A Day in the Life Working on NPMRDS

As a 1Spatial Inc. (USA) GIS consultant on the transportation team, I see my fair share of roads data. One of these such datasets is the National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS).  
 
For our project with the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory at the University of Maryland (CATT Lab), we conflate the NPMRDS with Linear Reference System Routes. This project uses the power of 1Data Gateway and 1Integrate to create a unique deliverable for each state that describes information on freeways and arterials, from average annual daily traffic (AADT) to functional classifications and facility types. For this work, we conflate over 400,000 miles (about 643737.6 km) of roads data. The data is used by the University in their research of transportation solutions, safety analysis, incident management, transportation operations, and more.

The workflow on this five-year project has been fine-tuned as consultants have identified opportunities for greater efficiency in our process.  
 
We have collaborated with the 1Spatial Production Mapping Team, and they have helped us increase output quality and overall productivity over the past two years. As we have learned and grown with them, our relationship has blossomed into an incredible precedent for intra-company efforts. We meet with them bi-weekly to discuss plans for the upcoming sprint, goals we all would like to hit for deliverables and potential tweaks moving forward. We also have bi-monthly retrospective meetings where we set time aside to reflect on what is and is not working for the project.  
 
In this way, we are continuously bettering ourselves and the solutions we can deliver. This partnership has improved our workflow, productivity, and quality of output, not to mention the cultivation of a rewarding relationship with a fellow team.

The day-to-day activities for a consultant on the project vary depending on the time of year and where a state’s data is in the workflow. At the beginning of the year, we perform a data quality assessment for the raw data layers used in the project [National Highway Systems, National All Road Network of Linear referenced Data (ARNOLD), and Traffic Message Channel segments (part of NPMRDS)]. The data quality assessment focuses on ensuring the validity of each layer’s geometry and ensures schema accuracy, completeness, and standardization.  
 
After this is complete, we begin moving each state through an automated validation process using 1Spatial’s 1Integrate and 1Data Gateway. This process automates nearly 90% of the conflation effort. We then follow this process up with a manual check workflow in collaboration with the Production Mapping Team. After multiple iterations of this are completed and the data is finally deemed ready, it is put through one last 1Integrate session that generates a deliverable output. To ensure we deliver a high-quality product, each deliverable goes through multiple reviews then is sent to a folder to wait for the remaining states to be finalized. At the year's end, the outputs of all 50 states, including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, are compiled into a single file passed on to CATT Lab.

Even during “down time” between deliverable submissions, our team is always looking to find ways to identify and implement further efficiencies in our tools and processes. These improvements pay dividends on future deliveries.   
 
As new software versions of 1Integrate and 1Data Gateway have been released since the project's inception, we have migrated the rule package to the most up-to-date software.

Additionally, we are always looking for ways to optimize the performance of the rules package. This can mean reviewing and editing rules and actions using test data to speed up a session. Or it can mean cross-team peer reviews to get another set of eyes on the package.  
 
Let’s just say, there is never a dull moment on the CATT Lab project front!