1. March
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Transportation for the Nation
Case Study – Michigan:
Michigan’s GIS Office Assists the State DOT
TFTN Strategic Plan Case Study

2. Overview:
The Michigan State GIS office is currently undergoing an effort called the
Transportation Data Stewardship Enhancement Plan. This initiative has
been accomplished under a project funded as part of the National
Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP)
Category 5—a grant program administered by the U.S. Geological Survey.
It defines a framework and specific initiatives to enhance and expand the
Michigan Geographic Framework transportation data themes through
building an environment that encourages broad participation through
shared responsibility, shared costs, shared benefits, and shared control.
Project Background:
Work on plan preparation began in March of 2010 and after a rigorous
review and comment process, it was completed in September of 2010.
The project was administered by the Center for Shared Solutions and
Technology Partnerships (CSSTP) of the Michigan Department of
Technology, Management, and Budget (MDTMB). The CSSTP assembled a
project Steering Committee to oversee plan preparation and have
engaged a consultant team from the firm GeoPlanning Services, LLC to
gather information and prepare the plan. Input was gathered from the
project Steering Committee, and project participants from the statewide
GIS community.
This initiative is intended to establish a foundation and work program for a
long-range sustainable stewardship program for the Michigan
Geographic Framework (MGF). Transportation data, particularly road
centerline and address ranges, are used by nearly all of the GIS users in
Michigan. Nearly half of all GIS users reported that they either produce
their own road centerline data or receive it from an outside source and
edit it prior to use. The duplication of effort on these elements combined
with the vital utility of these data to support nearly all GIS applications
make it clear that building a core stewardship program for these data
should be a priority for the State of Michigan.
Stewardship is a sustained program with clear roles and responsibilities for
organizations or individuals supporting regular update of and access to
spatial data. It is a concept rooted in the belief that data should be built
once, incrementally improved in quality where possible, and used many
times to maximize the return on investment in data creation and
maintenance. To achieve an acceptable end result for this project, a
culture of “shared responsibility, shared costs, shared benefits, and shared
control” has to be embraced by the GIS community in Michigan.

3. This broad perspective includes not only the data and programs currently
in place at the Department of Technology, Management and Budgets’
(MDTMB) Center for Shared Solutions and Technology Partnerships but also
include those statewide data themes which have been identified by the
GIS user community as being needed statewide. These data themes
constitute the traditional framework spatial data as identified by the
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC): geodetic control, ortho-
imagery, elevation, transportation, hydrography, governmental units, and
cadastral information.
These data are to provide a basic data set that can be used in
applications, a base to which users can add or attach geographic details
and attributes, a reference source for accurately registering and
compiling participants’ own data sets, and a reference map for
displaying the locations and the results of an analysis of other data.
Lessons Learned and Challenges:
Keeping the network up to date is a huge challenge for the team. There
are five full time staff members who work constantly to maintain the data
through the use of standardized models and systematic workflows from
the county level up to the State. These workflows help to identify change
in the system and reduce the amount of error in the final data set.
Because of the strict nature and use of the State data model, it has been
reported that the State’s submission to HPMS has had no errors over the
past several years.
Another challenge within the State is identifying how the centerline data
properly models reality. Again, the use of a standardized model and strict
workflow for incorporating the data in to the working data set allows
individual road segments to be identified and categorized. An example of
this would be properly identifying a rotary vs. an intersection. If any errors
should arise throughout the entire process, a logging system has been
implemented and the problem is corrected as soon as possible.
Areas for improvement include the improvement of the county
participation workflow to allow a more seamless update in to the working
data set and the creation of a single statewide file. Additionally, all
counties must participate in the program without State involvement but
the business process for this is already under way. Funding is also an issue
in that it cannot be linked to a single project and must be a long term
investment. This is ultimately the most important factor related to the
future of the project.

4. Conclusions:
The Michigan State GIS office has assembled a robust and accurate road
centerline that covers a majority of the State. These data meet the
business requirements and accuracy standards that are essentially
unmatched among other states. The data are also wholly owned by the
State and freely disseminated without any vendor licensing restrictions or
reliance on external partnerships.
Sources: Laura Blastic (Geo-Framework Services Manager, Center for
Shared Solutions and Technology Partnerships (CSSTP), Michigan
Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB)), Rob Surber
(Director, Office of Shared Solutions / DTMB), Stephen Aichele
(Geographer, USGS Geospatial Liaison), Charles Hickman (Geographer,
USGS National Map Liaison to Ohio)