Every Department of Transportation (DOT) at state level is charged with the tasks of continuously gauging current transportation demand, assessing existing operational deficiencies, forecasting future needs, and making long-term infrastructural investment decisions as well as short-term operational improvements to serve the public. A crucial basis for all the analyses and decisions is reliable and comprehensive traffic data that accurately reflect the traffic demand on different classes of roadways throughout the state.  To this end, Dr. Han developed the Advanced Data Analysis and Management (ADAM) system for Tennessee DOT (TDOT) to acquire, analyze, and archive traffic data including continuous counts, coverage counts, classification counts, heavy vehicle weights, and special counts.  ADAM is equipped with GIS capability and statistical functions.  It is used by TDOT staff on daily basis to generate variation factors, traffic growth trends, as well as standard reports required by US DOT.

Data from ADAM are used for a wide range of purposes by many agencies.  One application is to access current and future deficiencies or needs across the state.  Again, Dr. Han developed the EValuation of roadway Efficiency (EVE) system for TDOT, which automatically identify problem locations and projected timeframe such locations may become serious.  In addition, EVE also possesses functionalities such as “drivable” photologs of all state highways so the the user can visually inspect and verify problematic locations with ease, if necessary.  For deficient locations, improvement options are identified, assessed, and costed automatically to aid the decision process.  The highway deficiency analysis process used to take months to perform every five years.  Now this can be done within seconds with standard or alternative threshold values whenever such is desired.  Many “what if” scenarios can be carried out for the entire state, a region, counties, entire stretch of highways, or small segment of roadways.  EVE is used and supported by TDOT for several years now.

The poster of ADAM and EVE above was presented at TRB Annual Conference in 2006.  The actual poster is on permanent display at the Planning Division of TDOT’s Headquarters in downtown Nashville.