MAPS ALIVE 5

Vermont Takes Charge of Enhanced 9-1-1 Rural Addressing

Tasked with a mandate to establish a statewide enhanced 9~ I-I system by Jul y 1997, the Vermont Enhanced 9-1 - 1 Board entered into a contract with the vendor team of GeoResearch, Incorporated of Bethesda, Maryland and microDATA of Vennont to map rural addresses in the state using GPS/G IS technology. At the end of this field map­ping project, every participating municipality in the state will be addressed, a statewide GIS will be developed and the Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) will be created. The finished MSAG will then be combined with telephone co mpan y records to become the Automatic Location Identification (ALI ) database - the primary database for E 9-1-\.

For the Vermont Enhanced 9-1-1 Board, the first step to development of the rural addressing scheme needed to sup­port 9-1-1 was acquiring accurate road maps for the state. Fortunately. much of the road map data had already been compiled in GI S format by the Vermont Center for Geographic Information (VCGI). In addition to providing road data in GIS fo rmat to municipalities, VCGI worked with the E 9-1-1 Board to establish standards for municipal­ities to foll ow in developing and maintaining local GIS databases whi ch will support community enhanced 9~ I ~ I systems. VCGI assisted the Vermont Enhanced 9-1-1 Board in the Request For Proposal (RFP) process which led to the se lection of the GeoResearch/microDA TA team for the rural address field mapping project.

Enhanced 9-1- I emergency telephone systems are designed to indicate the telephone number and address from which an emergency ca ll is being made. Before any enhanced 9- 1-I system can be implemented, particularly in rural areas, it is essential to develop an accurate database of approved road names and adopt a measured addressing system. In most rural communities, the only established addresses are US Post Office roUle and box numbers or sequencing num­bers. Rural route box numbers are Fine for delivering the mail , but are not useful for providing emergency services. Street-style address ing needs to be in place for enhanced 9-I-I to operate. In this address ing scheme each street has a name, and struclUre address numbers are assigned based on ei ther geocoded locations or some fi xed distance between structure dri veways along the road. Street-style address ing is also preferred because it can be used by both emergency service di spatchers and the post offi ce to locate and find occupied structures.

The Consultant's Recommendations Based on the curre nt state of available technology. the Vermont Enhanced 9-1 - 1 Board considered the costs and benefits of various addressing methodologies. Fi ve address­ing alternatives were evaluated for implementation and

maintenance of an enha nced 9-1-1 address ing system. Based on a cost/benefit analysis, the Board concluded that vehicle mounted GPS with dri ve-to-drive field data collec­lion and GIS-assisted address assignments with modifica­tions was the fastest and most accurate method. The consul­tant's recommendation for each alternative is summarized:

I. Mal/ltal Addressillg with Distance Measllriflg Instrum ent UiJt ll II'IIeel) alld Field Data Col/ectioll- Fifth wheel tech­nology is nearing the end of its evolutionary use for rural addressing. Other tools such as GIS and GPS offer excel­lent alternatives which can provide a wider variety of uses for more applications. Although the learning curve for these devices is short, fifth wheels are less responsive to immedi­ate address calculations which the citizenry will require.

2. Address ing alld Field Dafll Collectioll wilh CIS and OrrhopholO Products. alld Updates with CPS - Thi s method of mapping and addressing produces a user-friendly map depicting house and driveway locat ions, which is use­fu l for map interpretation. The method was also criticized as locking the mapping and occupant in time as the updates and corrections are made. thus creating database decay problems. The approach was also the most expensive one compared to the others.

3. Vehicle Momlted CPS wilh Drlll e-IO·DriJle Field Dara Col/ectioll, and GIS-assisted Address Assigllments - The drive-lo-drive approach offers the fastest and most accurate

Field Crews with Postal ROllte Maps lIsed to Identify Owners

MAPS ALIVE, Willle r, 1997, Page 6

method for collecting occupant data, position determination for GIS addressing and data turn-around.

4. GPS wilh Door-to-Door Field Data Collectioll, and G/S­Assisted Address Assignmenls - The door-la-door approach is an excellent means of capturing positional information and maintaining high public awareness of the project. However, the difference in data collection times and costs, when compared to the drive-ta-drive alternative (number 3), could not easily be justified.

5. Phased Mallllal Addressillg willi Addressing Maps, Digital OrrllOpholOgraphy, and Field Data Collection -This alternative creates addresses by two methods. The first is the interactive assignment of addresses as houses are dig­itized from orthophotos. The second is determining addresses while in the field from the addressing maps creat­ed in the office. Although this alternative will engage local governments in the collection of data, it is unlikely to be as successful as the other allernatives. Reasons for the lack of success include decay of occupant databases, manual errors in geocoding database records to structure locations on the maps, and possible elTors in the manual addressing process. This alternative was thought to be an excellent method of maintenance after addressing has been completed.

The Addressing Plan Since addresses are used by many members of the commu­nity, it is important that 9-1-1 committees cultivate good working relationships and open lines of communications with all stakeholders, including the US Post Office, emer­gency service personnel, town governments, regional plan­ning commissions (RPCs), utilities, local businesses and citizens. According to Spatial Data Research, the consulting firm which analyzed addressing alternatives for the Vermont initiative, "It is not uncommon for communities to use the 9-1-1 addressing implementation as the source of funding for mapping applications which may eventually be used by utilities and other government agencies for differ­ent purposes." By political necessity, addressing plans may not be entirely logical, but they must be in place and accepted by all stakeholders before a field addressing pro­ject starts.

The goal of the Vermont Enhanced 9-1-1 Board has been to guide the development of regional addressing plans through established standards and assistance. By coordinating regional plans on a state-wide basis, personnel traveling within the state will understand the addressing schemes and not get lost.

Road Naming Once the addressing plan is established, road naming must occur. It is important that road names or at least road IDs are in place before field crews proceed to map address loca­tions. For example, two roads that join may initially have

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Diagram of the Address Coordillate Capture Program ill GeoLillk

separate names, only to be changed to a single name after tield addressing has taken place. A situation such as this may require crews to go back into the field for fe-address­ing and re-notification purposes. The road naming approval process can also become very politi zed.

"Road naming cannot be completed from the office. Many roads will be discovered during the collection of field data and protocols for ad hoc road naming should be established so that official road naming can be determined quickly," cautioned the report. Other suggestions include having local residents name their roads whenever possible, and provid­ing maps showing approved road names and the addressing plan to the public for comment before Field work starts.

Database Construction The GIS for the enhanced 9-1-1 provides links to several databases and map layers which will make-up the 9-1 - 1 system. These include the road naming database, addressing plan database, the community boundary database, the emer­gency service zone (ESZ) database, the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) jurisdiction database, the address calculation database, and the MSAG database. Also linked to map locations are such attributes as occupants ' names, old mailing address, new mailing address and phone num­bers. Frequently ESZ boundaries need to be researched and verified during field work. Community boundaries are used in the construction of the MSAG and are more in line with post office ZIP code boundaries. They may not coincide with legal community boundaries. Defining boundaries in the GIS and keeping them current is a challenging task.

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MAPS ALIVE

Vermont's Implementation Once it was decided that Alremlltive 3, Vehicle MOllllfed CPS \IIi,h Dril'e- fO-D rive Field data Collectioll alld GIS­assisted Address A\'sigI1111ems, WliS the preferred method for enhanced 9-1-1 addressing and mapping, the Vermont Enhanced 9-1-1 Board sent Ollt a Request for Proposal to interested vendors in August of 1995. After evalualiing the nine proposals received and interviewing the top firms, the Board selected the GeoResearch/microDAT A team as the winning contractor. According to Evelyn Bailey, Executive Director of the Vermont Enhan ced 9-1-1 Board, the GeoResearch/microDATA proposal ranked highest on tech­nical merits and also had [he rnost attractive cost.

The GeoResearch/microDATA technical plan fo r comple­tion of the work speci fied an integrated series of tasks dis­tributed among the vendor team and the twelve regional planning commissions in Vermont who were participating in the project. The RPCs performed all aspects of town coordination including complet ion of the road naming pro­jecl. The vendor team completed all the field data prepara­tion, GPS data collection, OIS post processing and cartog­raphy tasks. Teamwork. communications and coordination among all the parties involved in the project was a key fac­tor in the project's ultimate success.

Th e project's technical plan was broken down into six essential stages:

Stage J: Road Namillg alld Towll Coordillatioll - The formal road namin g task was performed by the many Vermont municipalities participating with assistance and guidance from the RPCs. Fortunately, at the beginning of this project a Vermont Department of Health road naming project was well under way in several areas, so the continu­ation of these efforts provided a rapid start for the E 9-1-1 project. To assist each town, the RPCs prepared sets of three or four lawn composite road Ilame maps ~md se ts of tables listing road names by highway number. O ne of the map Iypes also showed ZIP code boundaries for confi rma­tion by the postmaster. At the first meeting by an RPC with each town 9-1-1 Cammillee, these town maps were distrib­uted, and town personnel instructed on procedures to gather and update information on the maps. Three map types were used to enter three separate themes as follows: I) ro:.Jd name upd ate and prefe rred direction ; 2) ZIP code boundary rev iew and postal carrier route entry (general path) ; and 3) emergency service zones (ESZ) for law enforcement, fire protection and emergency med ica l serv ices. In seve ral cases, the towns had to update the original maps with new housing developments not shown on the maps.

Stage 2: Preparatioll for Field Operatiolls - For this s tep, a combination of exist ing data and fie ld observations were used to develop a fully populated database while keeping cos ts down by minimizi ng the number of site visits

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required. Using the GeoLink® GPS/GIS Field Mapping Syste m developed by GeoResearch, all existing data is ava ilable for query, update or edit in the fie ld while real­time OPS coordinates and field observations are being col­lected.

Preparation of data fo r fie ld use began with the entry of USPS edit sheets into a data file (dBase) in the GeoLink field computers. A unique number for relating the USPS address locations with GIS site data was established. All lown, postal and exis ting dig ital data was combined to form a uniform data set for field viewing and update.

To reduce the number of home sites requiring a visit during field data collection, a method of de livering brightly col­ored cards to post office box holders was devised. Each recipient of a card was notified to place the card in a win­dow fac ing the ir driveway or tack it to the hOllse during the period of GPS/GIS data capture fie ld work. This procedure sped-up the work of data collection fie ld crews.

Stage 3: Field Operatiolls - Collection of GPS address coordinates was performed with the assist<lnce of laser rangefinders. The rangefinder was used to record offset bearings and distances from the GPS receive r/an tenna mounted in the vehicle. This approach allowed the capture of coord inate poi nts wi thin view of the vehicle without req uiring a person to exit the vehicle. The bearing and azimuth data was easily processed in GeoLink to detemline the precise coordinaLe of the actual site.

For sites vis ible fro m the road, access points and actual building site locat ions were captured in a single operation (GPS point is the access point and the offse t point is the site location). For s ites served by long driveways and sites nol visible from the road, two alternative methods of mapping were used: I) Driveway line work and site points were cap­tured using GPS by dri ving to the s ite along the private dri­veway; and 2) If the driveway and site were visible on

III-vehicle GeoLillk System witl! Separate FUllctioll Keypad Used for E9-/-/ Project

MAPS ALIVE, Willler, 1997, Page 8

available digital aerial photography, then this information was screen digitized to record coordinate locations. Addressing coordinates were of three types:

• Access coordfume pOlm (Type A)- The point of access to the structure from the road. • Building coordinate (T,-"pe BJ- For locations where build­ing site density is high and using the structure's actual loca­tion would improve locating the site. This type was com­monly used where houses were separated by less than 50 feet, or for two adjacent houses that share the same drive­way access point to the road. • Driveway node 011 rile road (Type D)- For structures with long driveways or driveways serving obscure sites. The dri­veway as well as the site location was captured. This method was also used where multiple sites are served by a single long driveway.

Each site captured was attributed with the USPS address ID, the road name number, type of site, and type of address capture used (Access, Building, or Driveway).

Stage 4: Processillg, Database Developmellt alld Draft Maps - Data collected in the field for this project was uploaded daily to an electronic bulletin board system (BBS) for review by the Director of Field Operations. Problems identified during the review were posted on the bulletin board for confirmation and recapture as required. This method provided rapid integrity checks of field data so cor­rections could be made while the data was fresh in the minds of field crew members. After road names, road cen­terlines, and address coordinates were complete and quality checked, addresses were generated using the dynamic seg­mentation feature of ESRl's ARC/INFO GIS software, Special software routines were developed using AML to insure that odd/even numbers were generated appropriately based on the left/right road side designation of the address coordinate.

Once town Emergency Service Zone (ESZ) and postal ZIP code polygon coverages were finalized, address points were automatically updated with appropriate ESZ and ZIP data. After this step, all components of the new address were reviewed by the town and used to generate the Master Street Address Guide (MSAG). Draft map atlases covering the entire town in a series of II" x 17" maps at I: I 0,000 scale were also generated and provided to lawns for review.

Stage 5: TaWil alld Postal Addressillg Review - This step involved a formal review of the new address data by the regional planning commissions (RPCs). A special program was developed by the GeoResearch/microDAT A project team to provide a straight forward means for RPC person­nel to review, edit and confirm existing and new addresses. The program provided data filtering capabilities which enabled lIsers to view only unconfirmed addresses, for

example. The program also supported the sorting of data records by new addresses, occupant name, or an TD based on the existing address. Address edits were made to the data records using the software, and features requiring spatial updating were marked on the draft atlas map sheets for update by the contractor.

Stage 6: Filial Update alld Delivery - After all edits were made , address geocoding was performed by building address coverages in ARCIINFO. For towns with existing addresses, the draft maps included address ranges. For towns where all new addresses have been generated, the draft maps displayed individual addresses and 1/IOOth mile hatch marks along the road. Upon entry of any changes, the final address ranges were generated directly from the route system, displayed on the final maps and included as an address coverage in the final GIS database.

Conclusions The Vermont Enhanced 9-1-1 Board is well down the road of implementation. and may become the first state to com­plete a statewide enhanced 9-1-1 system. Prior to starting this project, a major concern was the availability of the right technology do the job. Use of GPS/GIS technology not only provided the complete and accurate maps and data the Board required, but also proved to be the most economi­cal approach for building the 9-1-1 GIS.

The Vermont E 9-1 - 1 initiative is an example of coopera­tive community efforts, a blending of local and state gov­ernment activities, and excellent project management. Combine these factors with the Board's selection of appro­priate technology for the project, and you have the winning formula for producing a statewide E 9-1-1 system on-time and within budget.

World's First Pentium Pen Computer Shipped

In the "sooner or later" category, MicroSlate Incorporated of Brassard, Quebec, Canada announced the shipment of the world's tirst Intel Pentium® powered pen computer. Powered by a 90 or 120 MHz Pentium processor with 256k of high speed L2 cache, the Datellite 500P is ideal for field AM/FM/GIS and GPS/GIS applications, including use with GeoLink PowerMap from GeoResearch. Ruggedized for field use, this pen and touch computer has 8MB of memory expandable to 32MB and internal hard disk drives provid­ing from 540MB to 2.1 Gigabytes of storage. Internal radio/CDPD wireless modems are available as well as inter­faces for GPS receivers. Both 640x480 and 800x600 resolu­tion displays in monochrome or color are available for the unit. Datellite SOOP supports Microsoft Windows® 95 as well as Windows 3.11 and DOS,

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