Group seeks ways to improve transit infrastructure through data, mapping

A March meeting of transportation officials and transportation-industry members in Crystal City, Va., began to lay the groundwork for a new movement in digital asset data collection. This effort is designed at systematizing the process of network asset data collection and 3-D virtual design while possibly laying the foundation for a highway base map to assist in ushering in the first generation of autonomous vehicle technologies.  Imagine a 360º “cloud” traveling at highway speeds, digitally capturing and recording everything in its path—including road geometry, pavement cracking, signage, levels of retroreflectivity, location of guardrails, roadway markings, rumble strips and virtually any other safety device that is present on the roadway.