Article about Missouri Official State Map using GIS

[andy3175]

http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-missouri-highways-mapping-technology.html

Even as smartphone mapping apps have become ubiquitous, many Americans still rely on paper maps issued by state transportation departments. After all, paper maps don't disappear when you lose wireless signal.

Putting together a state highway map is no easy task. It involves plotting and updating thousands of miles of roads as well as the names and locations of landmarks like cities, parks, colleges and hospitals.

But one state has figured out a way to automate much of that task, which means maps are more accurate and more up-to-date. Missouri is believed to be the first state to draw its highway maps using GIS technology -- a standard for displaying geographic information that can be shared easily -- rather than commonly used CAD ("computer aided design") files, which are more proprietary. Other states are following suit.

[roadfro]

How is this just now becoming a thing?

GIS has been around for a while. And I think most DOTs maintain some kind of GIS database for their road inventories, or at least there is some other resource available (such as TIGER data). GIS is meant to represent data spatially. Creating a map from GIS data really seems like a no-brainier...

[froggie]

Given the level of GIS usage I've seen in other DOT's, I doubt that claim that Missouri is the first to use it fully for their state map.

[vdeane]

And I think most DOTs maintain some kind of GIS database for their road inventories

Actually, that's now a FHWA mandate.

[froggie]

MAP-21 made it a requirement.  I sat in a session about it at the 2014 GIS-T conference.  But some states were already working in that direction even before the mandate.