THE USE OF GIS IN THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION'S OFFICE OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT

The Office of Policy Development (HPP-1) was the first office within the FHWA to make use of GIS. HPP-1 began working on a national highway database in the mide 1980s and has had a fully operational GIS since early 1988. At the FHWA, the database of most importance is the National Highway Network database. It has been developed over the last several years, primarily through contracts with GEOPLEX Corporation and Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL). The database is a geographically based analytic network of the major highways in the continental U.S. The foundation of the database is 1:2,000,000 scale United States Geological Survey (USGS) maps. Attributes for each link in the network include the FHWA functional classification, Federal-aid administrative classification, sign route number(s), length, median type, access control type, number of lanes, pavement type, and flags for designated truck routes and designated Strategic Highway Corridor Network (STRAHNET) links.