Puget Sound Pilot Project

Various objectives are sought for the WA-Trans Pilot in the Puget Sound area. These are:

Implement and test the concept of using a translator for exchanging geospatial transportation data from various local providers into WA-Trans and then providing WA-Trans data back to local providers and federal partners, specifically The National Map and MPO's.

Test the usability of the WA-Trans database design as a data source for integrated geospatial transportation data.

Develop and document processes for data integration (vertical and horizontal), and quality assurance and quality control processes (QA/QC).

Create a two county regional data set that can be tested for business benefit by various regional entities as a proof of concept and justification for a statewide implementation.

Use the pilot as a basis for more detailed estimates and implementation plans for other pilots and for a statewide implementation.

Establish agreement points between jurisdictions where necessary, documenting the process established.

Develop data sharing and partnership agreement in long-term support of WA-Trans where time permits, utilizing memorandum of understanding until formal agreements are reached.

Develop plans for long-term maintenance of the pilot data set and use those as the basis for statewide long-term maintenance plans

Provide a two county data set to The National Map via a WA-Trans Translator

Develop detailed lessons learned documentation that will benefit other WA-Trans pilot implementations and the statewide implementation.

Expand to Kitsap and Snohomish Counties if funding is available.

Using the translator requirements to develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) for purchase and customization or development of the translator as described in the requirements. No RFP proposals were accepted.

Demonstrations of commercial, off the shelf (COTS) translators that are proposed as solutions and review of customization required to meet requirements. Demos and training were conducted.

Testing of COTS translators being considered as solutions for how well they implement in the WSDOT environment. For initial testing the ESRI Data Interoperability Extension was used. The FME translator was tested and has become the preferred Spatial ETL tool for WA-Trans.

Selecting a vendor solution for implementation as the WA-Trans Translator. The Safe Software FME Spatial ETL software has been selected for the Puget Sound Pilot.

Developing a contract with successful vendor of the RFP. No RFP proposals were accepted.

Working with the vendor in a standard software development lifecycle process to implement the WA-Trans Translator. FME will act in an advisory and training role and has been contracted for this purpose.

Performing testing and approval on the translator at WSDOT, Pierce County, Puget Sound Regional Council, The National Map and the Oregon Department of Transportation. Translations have been completed, both into and out of the WA-Trans database. These datasets were tested by the data providers and data users. the National Map is impressed with the quality of the data and would like to get the rest of Washington.

Implementation of the Translator in a stable test environment at WSDOT so it can be used during the pilot project. This task has been completed.

Using the translator to get data from providers including King and Pierce Counties. These are currently the tasks being performed in the Puget Sound Pilot.

Using the translator to provide WA-Trans data back to King and Pierce Counties. This has been competed and the data providers have tested the data. The test results were very positive.

Using the translator to provide data to The National Map for hosting. This task has been completed and is repeatable for all data in WA-Trans.

Many processes will be developed, implemented and documented during WA-Trans Pilot I. These processes include:

Deciding which data to use when more than one data provider possesses, and will submit, the same data to WA-Trans.

Conflation of attribution on line work. Conflation work is being researched in the One-Road Pilot. Several conflation processes have been proposed.

Development of data sharing agreements and memorandums of understanding regarding data sharing. Some data sharing agrements have been signed. Documention of this process has started.

Development of agreement points and related documentation. Agreement Points between King and Pierce counties are completed. Documentation of this process has been completed. This Agreement Point process has been implemented with several other counties and the the state of Oregon in the One-Road Pilot.

Use the translator software. WA-Trans has created a Template translation workspace, which can be used as a basis for creating different data providers data translations.

Maintenance of agreements, data and software. Change detection research has been started. A high level process is taking form.

The ultimate goal of the pilot project is to have a two county data set made available to The National Map (TNM). The following data services must be implemented in the most reasonable manner possible to assist with meeting that goal:

A test version of the WA-Trans data base must be available for testing the proposed translator solutions during the RFP process. This task has been completed.

A test version of the WA-Trans database must be available for Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) to use during the process of integrating data. A test version of the WA-Trans database is available for testing of translator software. This database is also being used for the One-Road Pilot.

A populated test version of the WA-Trans database must be available at WSDOT to provide the integrated pilot dataset to TNM and other groups who may wish to use the data and test the viability of the WA-Trans data for various business needs. Test data has been translated into WA-Trans and that data is directly available to GIS software, which correctly displays that data. How the WA-Trans data will be made available to the TNM and various groups is currently being tested in the One-Road Pilot.

Successful completion of a working WA-Trans Translator.

Successful completion of memorandum of understanding with King and Pierce Counties, PSRC, US Geological Survey and WSDOT.

Successful completion of integrated data sets from Pierce and King County in the WA-Trans test database.

Documentation of processes and policies used to guide decisions made and technical work to be used by future pilots.

Successful testing of the combined WA-Trans dataset by various data users for a variety of business needs to demonstrate usefulness.

Documentation of the skill sets, time, and cost of the pilot work done for use in future estimation.