Empowering Data, Elevating Transit, Optimizing NPMRDS
Empowering Data, Elevating Transit, Optimizing NPMRDS
In the ever-evolving world of transportation analytics, data accuracy and integration are paramount. 1Spatial is revolutionizing how transportation agencies manage and analyze roadway performance data. By automating the conflation process of integrating 3rd party data with State’s data, 1Spatial is helping organizations streamline workflows, improve data reliability, and enhance decision-making.
In a recent webinar, 1Spatial and the Center for Advanced Transportation Technology (CATT) Laboratory at the University of Maryland showcased their innovative approach to automating the conflation process for the National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS). This collaboration has significantly improved the accuracy and efficiency of transportation data management.
NPMRDS: What is it? Why do it? How does it work?
The National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS) is a valuable tool used for assessing transportation system performance. It provides travel time data that helps agencies evaluate congestion, reliability, and overall network efficiency.
Why use NPMRDS?
- It allows for data-driven decision-making in transportation planning.
- Agencies can analyze trends to improve traffic operations.
- It helps meet federal performance reporting requirements.
How does it work? NPMRDS sources anonymized probe vehicle data, compiling travel times on highway and arterial segments. This information is used to create performance metrics such as delay and reliability indexes.
The NPMRDS data is “located” on linear TMC (Traffic Message Channel) segments. This creates a nationwide traffic monitoring and reporting network, but for many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), it’s not directly useful, because DOTs maintain their own all-roads network. Because of this, it’s necessary to link the TMC and state networks together through conflation.
What is Conflation? How do you automate it?
Conflation is the process of aligning multiple datasets with different geographic and temporal attributes to form a unified dataset. In the case of NPMRDS, conflation helps merge travel time data with other spatial information, such as roadway characteristics or historical event records.
Manually conflating datasets can be time-consuming and prone to errors, which is why automation is crucial. Automated conflation processes use algorithms to match roadway data with travel time records.
Key automation techniques:
- Spatial Matching: Ensuring that roadway segments in different datasets align correctly.
- Attribute Alignment: Standardizing metadata like road names and speed limits.
- Temporal Synchronization: Matching travel time records with specific timeframes.
Automation improves the efficiency and accuracy of data integration, enabling faster insights and better planning.
The Role of 1Spatial's Tools in Conflation
- 1Integrate and 1Data Gateway streamline the process of aligning INRIX Traffic Message Channel (TMC) data with Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) datasets.
- These tools automate 94% of the conflation effort, reducing manual workload and improving efficiency.
Why this matters for Transportation Agencies?
The insights shared in this webinar underscore the importance of automated data integration in transportation planning. By leveraging 1Spatial's conflation tools, agencies can:
- Improve data accuracy for performance measurement.
- Reduce manual processing time, allowing for faster decision-making.
- Enhance predictive capabilities, leading to more effective transportation strategies.
The collaboration between 1Spatial and the CATT Lab represents a significant step forward in transportation data management. As automation continues to evolve, agencies will benefit from more efficient, accurate, and scalable solutions for integrating critical datasets.
For more details, you can explore the full on-demand webinar here.