Guidebook for Managing Data from Emerging Technologies for Transportation

Book excerpt: With increased connectivity between vehicles, sensors, systems, shared-use transportation, and mobile devices, unexpected and unparalleled amounts of data are being added to the transportation domain at a rapid rate, and these data are too large, too varied in nature, and will change too quickly to be handled by the traditional database management systems of most transportation agencies. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 952: Guidebook for Managing Data from Emerging Technologies for Transportation provides guidance, tools, and a big data management framework, and it lays out a roadmap for transportation agencies on how they can begin to shift - technically, institutionally, and culturally - toward effectively managing data from emerging technologies. Modern, flexible, and scalable "big data" methods to manage these data need to be adopted by transportation agencies if the data are to be used to facilitate better decision-making. As many agencies are already forced to do more with less while meeting higher public expectations, continuing with traditional data management systems and practices will prove costly for agencies unable to shift.