Keeping Roads Safe with the Transportation Safety Reporting Mechanism

VinayAchrekar1

TRANSPORTATION SAFETY REPORTING MECHANISM

 

Pueblo of Sandia GIS Program

Background: The Pueblo of Sandia is a Native American Community located on the northern boundary of the City of Albuquerque in central New Mexico, covering 22,877 acres on the east side of the Rio Grande River Valley. It is one of 19 pueblos located throughout the state and is known as one of the eastern pueblos which are located along the Rio Grande. The major roads through Pueblo lands include Interstate 25, State Highway 313, and NM556. The Village area has mainly paved roads, but many roads outside of the Village proper are dirt or gravel, and serve the various farming and ranching needs.

 

The NMDOT Rail Bureau also operates and maintains the Rail Runner Line, formerly Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. The Rail Runner is a commuter rail service between Santa Fe and Belen, with a major stop on Pueblo lands, located at the intersection of NM313 and NM556. There are three railroad crossings at the Pueblo. The three crossings at Sandia Loop entrances to the Village have automated crossing signals and arms, with a quiet zone in effect. Approximately 15,400 acres are used for agriculture (farmland and grazing) with approximately 4,000 acres continuing to be irrigated (this does not include land used for livestock grazing). The Pueblo is home to a small but growing herd of 37 bison. Sandia has five pastures totaling approximately 850 acres.

 

The majority of the Right of Ways (ROWs) are fenced, operated, and maintained by the specific ROW entity such as the NMDOT, NM DOT Rail Bureau, Bernalillo County, Sandoval County and the Pueblo of Sandia. These fences aim to prevent cattle from crossing roads and help keep pedestrians away from the travel lanes with fast-moving traffic. The maintenance of any fence breaks or any debris that were identified prior to implementation of this mechanism would take days, and a report would have to be called in or a work order would have to be created and submitted in paper format and then routed to the appropriate entity for maintenance. This was a major safety issue if a section of a farm fence along a State Highway holding cattle was to break and cause a collision with high-speed motorists. There was also a concern with pedestrians crossing roads and railroads ROWs where the fence was broken.

 

According to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, an estimated one to two million collisions between cars and large animals occur every year in the United States. The main goal of the Safety Reporting Mechanism is to promote and enhance safety as it allows users to report fence breaks and debris along the roadways and railroad in real time to Pueblo operations. This application allows the Pueblo's various departments to make accurate data reporting and to replace paper-based data collection and communicate with each other efficiently and analyze answers in real-time to support decision-making for maintenance and operations purposes.

 

Technology Solutions Adopted

ArcGIS Enterprise Server Advanced v11.3; Portal for ArcGIS; Survey123; ArcGIS GeoEvent Server v11.3; ArcGIS Pro v3.2.2.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Branch of Geospatial Support (BOGS) manages the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) software Enterprise Licensing Agreement (ELA) with ESRI for Indian Affairs. BIA Office of Trust Services employees and all federally recognized Tribal entities are eligible to participate in the ELA program. The Pueblo of Sandia participates in the ELA program. The development of this GIS application was conducted entirely in house by the Pueblo of Sandia GIS Program staff, and is constantly being updated to make the process of submitting reports quicker and easier. The GIS Program staff consists of a GIS Manager, a GIS Specialist and a GIS Intern.

 

Safety Reporting Mechanism Application

Safety Reporting Mechanism: Includes a combination of Survey123 forms, ArcGIS GeoEvent Server and Web App Builder Applications for reporting purposes. Users fill out Survey123 forms to submit reports. These forms are simple user-friendly solutions for creating, sharing and reporting data. These reporting forms are hosted on a site created on the Portal for ArcGIS and can be accessed via the Pueblo of Sandia’s GIS Portal home page.

 

Survey123 Form - Reporting: Field Users use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access these forms on their mobile devices for reporting. Users can input their current location to mark the site (geopoint) that is integrated directly into the Survey123 form. Users can also upload pictures and other files associated with the report, such as related documents and comments. Data captured is immediately available in the ArcGIS Enterprise. ArcGIS Survey123

ArcGIS GeoEvent Server – Instant Email & Text Notification
Initially, operations had no way of knowing when reports are submitted unless operations manually check the Survey123 website. In order to alleviate this manual aspect, ArcGIS GeoEvent Server is configured to send instant emails and texts whenever reports are submitted. GeoEvent Server enables real-time event-based data streams to be integrated as data sources in enterprise GIS. Event data is filtered, processed, and sent to multiple destinations, allowing to the user to connect with data and to automatically alert personnel when specified conditions are met, all in real-time. 

 

Configuration:
Input Connector: Poll an ArcGIS Server for Features: This input connector is used to retrieve features from the feature service layer.

 

GeoEvent Processor: Once the features are retrieved from the feature service layer, a processor is added to obtain the X & Y coordinates from the geopoint geometry input.ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor

Send an Email - Output Connector: This Output Connector is used to send a formatted message containing data from processed event data as an email. Messages are structured as HTML and are sent instantly as a request to a configured SMTP server for the identified recipients. The email message also lists the X & Y coordinates that are calculated by the GeoEvent Processor. URL parameters are modified with a marker at a readable scale to map location data, which can be launched directly from the email body that is hyperlinked to the Web AppBuilder application. 

Email Output

Send a Text Message - Output Connector: Formatted messages containing data from processed event data is also sent as a text message. Messages are structured as plain text and are sent as a request to a configured SMTP server for the identified recipients.

 

Web AppBuilder – Portal for ArcGIS
Web AppBuilder Application is developed using the feature that is generated from the form submissions. The configured web application allows for real-time data editing and responses. Access to this information allows for maintenance work orders or any other necessary requests to be created immediately. The web applications are also configured with a custom widget that allow the users to close the report if the work order task been completed.  

Web AppBuilder

 

Mechanism Workflow

Mechanism Workflow

 

Business Problem Solved

The implementation of this technology and its relevant operational sequences has facilitated an enormous growth in GIS usage across all departments of the Pueblo of Sandia. These user-friendly web applications facilitate data access and data delivery to all authorized users (including our non-GIS audience), to data that is centralized, secure, and that they can then use in Pueblo-wide decision making and planning processes.

These reporting mechanisms allow Pueblo-wide departments to communicate with one other more efficiently, and to analyze answers in real-time to assist in decision-making. Access to this information allows our Public Works Department, Police Department, and Realty Group to work together, create and process work orders, and to complete any other necessary requests related to fence breaks. This includes forecast budgeting and the ordering of necessary materials without causing delays. These web applications also allow us to identify hotspots for fence breaks so the Pueblo can allocate appropriate resources and communicate with neighboring jurisdictions to implement traffic control and safety measures. Fence breaks can often be accompanied by damage to road signs, which is an extreme safety hazard that can lead to fatal accidents. The instant nature of these reporting mechanisms minimizes the time spent addressing issues which would be otherwise spent filling out physical documents in older systems. The quicker that issues such as fence breaks, debris reporting, or sign damages are resolved, the less likely that a fatal accident will occur.

 

Industry Recognition

The FHWA and New Mexico LTAP Center chose and selected the Pueblo of Sandia's Transportation Safety Reporting Mechanism as the recipient of the 2022 New Mexico Pioneer Award! See more information here. 

 

Contact Us

Vinay Achrekar, GISP, CFM – GIS Program Manager

Pueblo of Sandia GIS Program

GIS@sandiapueblo.nsn.us

 

RicklynHukriede

Absolutely outstanding work by the Pueblo of Sandia GIS Program! This innovative Safety Reporting Mechanism is a game-changer for transportation safety and community well-being. Real-time reporting and interdepartmental coordination like this set a powerful example of how technology and tradition can work hand in hand to protect land, people, and wildlife. Huge kudos to everyone involved @VinayAchrekar1