Status: The contractor's report is available here.

Objective

The objective of this research was to update the AASHTO Visualization in Transportation: A Guide for Transportation Agencies, Revised 2003 and include relevant technological advancements, processes, techniques and applicable case studies.

Background

The AASHTO Technical Committee on Environmental Design (TCED) developed the AASHTO Guide for Visualization in Transportation in 2001 and updated it in 2003. The guide has provided valuable assistance to State Departments of Transportation across the country that are seeking sound information, guidance and technical assistance on visualization.

Visualization has become widespread and an important technology in all aspects of transportation. Visualization technology is accelerating at a rapid pace and is constantly evolving. In addition, visualization has become a core tool throughout transportation project development and delivery and has become a key technology for communicating alternatives as a project advances.

Further, visualization has also become an important tool in understanding and conveying a project area’s existing context that forms the basis for all transportation solutions. Better communication and understanding of existing conditions in context with proposed solutions aids project planners, designers, constructors, administrators and the general public to more effectively collaborate towards mutually acceptable results faster while achieving better project outcomes.

The widely utilized AASHTO Visualization in Transportation guide has become a standard reference document within the transportation community for developing visualization work deliverables. The Guide is used as a standard reference document within the transportation community for developing visualization work deliverables. The Guide’s content and information value is vitally important for a transportation agency’s ability to better plan, estimate, develop and deliver important infrastructure projects. The Guide may also be used to improve communication and collaboration among project developers, transportation officials and the general public necessary for advancing a project. However, the Guide has become out of date as a result of incremental but rapidly accelerating technological, imaging and other information technology advancements that have taken place over the past few years.

There is need for a current, nationwide publication that provides comprehensive technical and practical guidance for visualization in transportation. Because of these important factors, the TCED has recommended an update to AASHTO’s Visualization in Transportation: A Guide for Transportation Agencies, Revised July 2003 (prepared by the AASHTO Task Force on Environmental Design).

Research is needed to update the current Guide including new technological advancements, processes, techniques and applicable case studies.