About FTGIS

Transit agencies have a major need for planning data that are often spatial in nature. While there are various sources of spatial data, they have not been integrated and, frequently, are difficult for transit agencies to use effectively. The Florida Transit Geographic Information Systems (FTGIS) was developed as a one-stop shop for planning-related GIS data for Florida’s 26 fixed-route transit systems. Together with INTDAS, FTGIS was first developed as a stand-alone desktop GIS system using ESRI’s MapObjects developer library. While this system is still available for download, the current, updated version of FTGIS is a stand-alone server-based application developed using ESRI’s powerful ArcGIS Server.

FTGIS provides a comprehensive set of GIS functions that range from very basic mapping functions to highly specialized applications that are customized for transit planning. FTGIS currently supports the following GIS functions:

Map Viewing: Allows maps to be zoomed-in, zoomed-out, panned, zoomed to the extent of all layers, and zoomed to the extent of the current layer.
Map and Layer Properties: Allows customized map background color, line color, line width, and line style.
Map Legend: Includes an ArcView-like map legend, which allows the users to choose which layers to display and in what order the layers are to be displayed.
Map Labeling: Includes a set of functions to display labels based on a selected variable. The user can change the text color, font type, font size, location, and style.
Map Queries: Includes the usual Identity function to retrieve data for a specific spatial unit and a Find function to search for spatial units containing a search text.
Map Select: Allows the users to select spatial units by point, line, circle, rectangle, and polygon. Selected items can be saved to a new data layer.
Thematic Map: Includes a set of functions for creating different thematic maps.
Map Charting: Allows the users to create pie and bar charts on the map based on one or more data attributes.
Map Editing: Allows the users to edit point and line shapes. The editing functions include copy, move, split, merge, insert, and delete line and point features.
Buffer Zone Analysis: Allows the users to perform buffer zone analysis for either selected features of a layer or for a whole layer.
Table: Allows the user to view the tabulated data for all records or selected records only. Selected data can be exported to an Excel file.
Applications: Includes functions (1) to query, retrieve, and analyze Florida’s transit stop inventories; (2) to identify transit service areas based on the TCQSM method; and (3) the calculate transit coverage level of service as defined in TCQSM.
Google Functions: Allows Google maps to be embedded on top of the GIS window, generates KMZ file for map display in Google Earth, and launches Google’s Street View within the GIS window.
Layer Upload: Allows authorized users to upload data layer in the shapefile or geodatabase format and converts to the standard lat-long coordinate projection on-the-fly.
Layer Download: Allows any users to download any available layers in the shapefile or geodatabase format in a chosen coordinate projection.

A major feature of FTGIS is that it comes with ready-to-use data for each of the 26 fixed-route transit systems in Florida. The system currently includes the following layer for each transit system: county, street, transit route, transit stop, census tract, census blockgroup, census block, census TAZ, water, and park.

For more information about FTGIS, please contact:

Albert Gan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Lehman Center for Transportation Research
Florida International University
Email: gana@fiu.edu (preferred)
Phone: (305) 348-3116