How Fort Worth moves millions

When the City of Fort Worth first set out to develop its Master Transportation Plan, the Transportation & Public Works (TPW) Department faced challenges in managing an infrastructure spanning multiple jurisdictions and a transportation network serving multiple regional partners, including TxDOT, five counties, four airports and public transit operators. Each of these stakeholders was creating their own maps using their own data, working in technical and administrative silos.

"Bringing it all together is the first necessary step, and GIS was the best choice," Annie Anand, TPW business process manager, said. "I haven't found another system that could make such a huge endeavor even possible."

Anand and Kelly Porter, TPW assistant director of the Regional Transportation and Innovation Division, chose to leverage an ArcGIS hub to achieve the scale of coordination and insights required for a successful Master Transportation Plan, especially in Fort Worth, one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.

Without the central hub, past transportation project development relied on disconnected databases, static maps that quickly went out of date and institutional memory. Porter and Anand championed the shift toward interconnected, up-to-date data that consolidated regional efforts and provided one of the most important stakeholders - the community - with transparent access to current planning efforts.

The Regional Transportation and Innovation Division knew that different groups would have different needs, so they undertook a dynamic approach, creating maps and visualizations that would work for everyone. For example, while a developer might want to know about right-of-way requirements, neighborhood associations might be more concerned about how a project will impact their local streets. With a centralized hub, data is now organized, accessible and available to view in different ways.

The hub approach also broke down internal silos that Porter and Anand hadn't anticipated. Data on water infrastructure, utilities and traffic impacts live in different City departments. In the past, coordinating this would have meant multiple meetings, with each entity presenting their own static maps and spreadsheets. By bringing them into a shared GIS environment, there's a visual common reference point, and everyone can make smarter and safer decisions.

The Master Transportation Plan is expected to be adopted this year following the May bond election. Unlike traditional capital plans, this one already has actionable items, including scope, schedule and deliverables.

Additionally, the City's USDOT SMART grant will be incorporated into the Master Transportation Plan hub as it progresses. Currently, the City is gathering data on weather and road safety to better understand when to treat roads, clear storm drains and potentially adjust speed limits. In addition to the real-time information, this will also feed in lifecycle analyses, generating better benchmarks for long-term maintenance planning. Porter is optimistic that this system will continue to provide value as the City faces new tests, such as autonomous vehicles, drone delivery and other modalities in transportation.

The Master Transportation Plan's GIS hub is a foundation that will evolve as the City adds new data sources, integrates with real-time systems like Waze and adapts to emerging transportation patterns. Porter and Anand have created the infrastructure for that evolution without starting from scratch each time, so that Fort Worth can continue to grow with a smart, safe project delivery program for everyone.

You can view the city of Fort Worth's Transportation & Public Works hub site at www.movingamillion.org