Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data.

CARTS utilizes GIS as a powerful tool to provide key highway safety stakeholders with data-driven location analysis of crashes and the ability to identify problematic areas and rank these areas by severity, cause, or frequency.

CARTS GIS provides maintenance and data quality improvements of location information for all crashes on Louisiana’s state and local roadways. Integration of officer supplied crash location information and Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) roadway databases allows CARTS GIS the ability to further standardize and improve the information for location-based crash data elements collected by officers.

Through collaboration with LADOTD Highway Safety and GIS, CARTS GIS maintains a GIS roadway database for integration within MapClick, a mapping application within Louisiana eCrash. This roadway database allows officers to determine precise crash locations within MapClick and populate required data elements to benefit the quality of location-based data collection and improve timeliness of officer crash reporting. Additionally, this advanced crash and roadway data integration allows for improved highway safety analysis by CARTS and LADOTD engineers.

The CARTS GIS Team is actively involved in mapping application development, hot-spot analysis, online mapping advancements, geo-locating roadway crashes, adapting ESRI Safety Analyst Tools, and providing GIS support to Louisiana’s highway safety stakeholders.

GIS Projects and Processes

Crash Location Map Spotting

• Perform location data review and correction on all Louisiana roadway crashes. This involves review of all crash reporting location elements through a form of automated or manual applications generated by CARTS. Additional audits of crash locations are achieved by examining all portions of the officer supplied crash reports and geolocating the most accurate location for the crash.

Crash and Roadway Data Integration

• Assist in establishing a GIS roadway database consisting off all state and local roads within Louisiana’s roadway network by working alongside LADOTD. This roadway database contains roadway inventory elements that are crucial to roadway safety analysis, safety research, and additional toolsets created and used by CARTS and CARTS stakeholders. Each segment of roadway has been defined from specific roadway safety elements and assigned a unique identifier. From the generation of this GIS roadway database, crashes are seamlessly integrated with their associated roadway identifier and data by integrating the roadway database directly within officer crash reporting and through CARTS map spotting applications.

Louisiana eCrash & MapClick

• Works alongside eCrash’s MapClick developers to provide officers with a more seamless and user-friendly process of properly locating and recording information within Louisiana’s crash reporting. By providing the LADOTD GIS roadway database and utilizing within Louisiana eCrash’s MapClick application officers can populate location-based reporting fields by clicking on a map. Implementation and enhancement of MapClick and the underlying roadway database has resulted in improved timeliness and accuracy of location data reporting by officers.

Stakeholder Mapping and Location Analysis

• Provide mapping support and various location analysis for LADOTD Highway Safety, law enforcement, and numerous statewide stakeholders. Through use of GIS crash and roadway location data, CARTS fulfills these mapping and location-based requests through various GIS applications and techniques.