NJDOT Transportation Data User Survey


Download Final Report

CAIT project no.: 235-RU0964

Fiscal Year: 2008/2009

Status: Final

Rutgers-CAIT Author(s): Patrick Szary, Ph.D.

External Author(s): Anthony Varone, NJDOT

Sponsor(s): NJDOT

Summary:

The New Jersey Straight Line Diagrams (SLD) is the main reference for the State’s centerline roadway inventory. SLD was initially designed as a planning tool, but it has become a standard information platform for many other purposes within and outside NJDOT, including engineering and maintenance. The extensive and versatile use of SLD both within and outside NJDOT requires a thoughtful approach in developing future SLD enhancements. The objective of this study, initiated by NJDOT’s Bureau of Transportation Data Development (BTDD), is to ascertain the SLD user needs and provide inputs for an educated decision about future improvements of SLD. The main part of the project was to survey SLD users throughout New Jersey about their use of SLD, satisfaction with the SLD data products and tools, and ideas about system enhancements. The survey questionnaire was designed using the input from interviews with major users of SLD. The survey was conducted online using an interactive internet survey questionnaire and was available for 3 months, August to October 2009. About 240 responses were received from engineers, planners, private consultants, and freight operators. The responses were overwhelmingly positive regarding the usefulness of SLD and the quality of its data. Responses were used to formulate recommendations for future improvements. The most desirable improvements can be classified into four areas: boost the search engine, use a collaborative approach to collect and update data, introduce GIS capability, and expand the scope of data. The correlation between users’ affiliation and their responses is also investigated on two main groups: NJDOT users and users outside of NJDOT.