Centro is responsible for promoting and developing public transport across the West Midlands Metropolitan area, with the aim of transforming the existing system to provide the region with a world class public transport system provided by a best in class organisation. To this end, Centro works in partnership with operators, local authorities and other organisations to raise the quality of bus, rail and tram services within the county.
As with all organisations, Centro’s data comes from a number of sources and systems. During 2007/08, the organisation identified a requirement for a more strategic and integrated approach to utilising data ensuring greater efficiency and less duplication.
A system was needed that would enable all staff to access, visualise and analyse this data on a map. As a result Centro decided to adopt a corporate GIS and after going out to tender, selected Cadcorp Spatial Information System and Cadcorp GeognoSIS software. This is a web-based system that enables information from existing, disparate systems to be shared throughout the organisation.
Centro’s GIS development team use Cadcorp SIS desktop software to develop a range of end-user applications. GeognoSIS is being used to develop and power a web-based corporate GIS that provides GIS functionality to all Centro staff, enabling them to interact and visualise the data they are interested in via the corporate intranet.
GIS functionality is now available to all staff allowing them to select, query, buffer and visualise public transport routes, services and infrastructure. Users can search on a number of features, both spatial and textual including postcode, road, town, points of interest and service. For example, by searching on a service number the user can quickly identify which districts, wards, and roads the route runs through.
In the first screenshot below bus service number 37 Birmingham to Solihull has been selected. Users have the option to then zoom in for more detailed analysis including locations of bus stops or details of departures at each stop.
Users can also select a road and then identify all the services that operate along that road. As the screenshot below illustrates, having selected Summer Lane, the services that operate along that road are 424 and 7.
The system is being continually developed to increase user functionality. Currently, CENTRO are working with each department to provide customised screens, enabling each department to visualise their own boundaries and data.