A GIS Data-Driven Process for Identifying Rail Infrastructure Improvements

The identification of infrastructure critical to regional rail freight operations has many implications. Primarily, such a process informs policy-makers and directs funding to areas of high importance and/or greatest need. For the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), analysts at Cambridge Systematics developed an infrastructure identification process designed to evaluate which key areas of the regional rail network likely require investment. The process utilized geographic information systems (GIS) tools and available public-sector data regarding regional rail movements to craft infrastructure investment recommendations to CMAP for further analysis. The evaluation began with a blank slate, allowing the data to drive the initial stages of the project identification process and, thus, limiting assumption and bias. Analysts evaluated all rail infrastructure equally and key infrastructure were identified in a three-step process, with each step eliminating or refining potential improvements. Specifically, this data-driven process analyzed a number of variables: infrastructure usage, regional freight rail flows, the importance of specific infrastructure to the regional economy, geographic relationships, and stakeholder views. From all regional rail infrastructure, 14 improvement areas were recognized through this process as potential investments, including improvements for 11 specific rail corridors. As the analysis progressed, three classes of rail infrastructure improvements emerged – Rail Capacity Improvements, Recommended Rail Corridors for Capacity Study, and Increased Utilization. Each of the 14 improvements fall into one of these three classes. Additionally, 21 at-grade crossings and four road-rail viaducts were identified for consideration for investment.