GIS Model for State DOT Maintenance Planning and Scheduling, Part Two

Partner Relationship

“Maintenance-IQ is transformative technology helping the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) better handle maintenance operations through the power of GIS.”

Building upon a decades-long partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and a thorough understanding of state agency’s maintenance community needs, GeoDecisions developed Maintenance-IQ to empower DOT staff and stakeholders to perform data visualization and mapping tasks without needing a strong GIS background. A collaborative relationship and long history with PennDOT proved an advantage when overcoming project obstacles.

Integrated Functionality

Maintenance-IQ is just one of many application development initiatives that PennDOT has partnered with GeoDecisions to implement and improve their business process. As a long-time partner, GeoDecisions is able to help PennDOT capitalize on opportunities that enhance multiple applications at once. For example, built on Esri and Oracle® platforms, GeoDecisions created common core components called “PennBOTs” – plug-and-play widgets for PennDOT web applications, such as Maintenance-IQ. These widgets can be reused for new PennDOT GIS initiatives which reduces duplicative coding efforts.

In many “big data” agencies, it can be difficult for the average staff member to find the information they need when the data is owned and maintained across a number of different agencies or bureaus. To address this challenge, GeoDecisions’ solution needed to integrate with PennDOT’s robust, yet complex, data structure and software platform, and to provide the end user with an intuitive interface.

On-Cycle Solution

The Maintenance-IQ interface provides users with the tools to easily visualize and compare data from systems owned by various PennDOT groups and seamlessly perform complex spatial queries through the application to create a map. For example, the application enables users to process data on planned and completed projects and compare it with asset and condition information, including highway and bridge inventory or environmental areas, to correct out-of-cycle maintenance activities.