I have completed TAZ updates for all 8 Counties in the Indianapolis Metro Area using TransCAD 3.5 District Manager Phase 2 Utilities developed by the Caliper Corp. Significant time saving was achieved through tagging atomized polygons.
Attached is a copy of procedures used in Indianapolis. It has been expanded to cover joint operations of coding statewide zones in addition to MPO zones. It also touches on how to code statewide zones in non-MPO Counties.
Sweson Yang, AICP
Chief Transportation Planner
Indianapolis Metro Planning Organization
Phone: (317)327-5137
FAX: (317)327-5103
e-Mail: syang(a)IndyGov.org
We are starting a Y2K-induced retirement of our IBM mainframe. In preparation,
I have begun to offload all of our Census data from 9 track tape to CD, and would
like to include document files for all of the datasets on the CDs. The only digital
document that I have for the 1980 UTPP is the data dictionary definition file included
on the original tapes. However, I do not have the CENSPAC software required to
decode the format statements. I am hoping someone out there has the UTPP
data dictionaries in one of the following formats: ascii text, Microsoft Word, PDF
or HTML. Any help would be much appreciated.
To all --
Nanda's message correctly notes an error in the listing of our phone
number in the most recent CTPP Status Report concerning updated municipal and
town boundaries. However, instead of calling, it is still best to sent me an
e-mail noting which counties you are working on (with their state and county
codes). We will process the newer boundaries and e-mail you files and
instructions.
Thanks
Kim Brace
Election Data Services, Inc.
In a message dated 9/13/99 8:37:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
Nanda.Srinivasan(a)fhwa.dot.gov writes:
<< Subj: [CTPP] Status Report - Corrections
Date: 9/13/99 8:37:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Nanda.Srinivasan(a)fhwa.dot.gov (Srinivasan, Nanda <FHWA>)
Sender: owner-ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
The voice mail for EDS was wrongly listed as 1-800-877-6067 on page 1. The
correct number is 1-800-337-2004. The error is regretted.
We would also appreciate any information on upcoming statewide MPO meetings
or
conferences. Please e-mail such information to ctpp(a)fhwa.dot.gov.
Thank You,
Nanda Srinivasan >>
The voice mail for EDS was wrongly listed as 1-800-877-6067 on page 1. The
correct number is 1-800-337-2004. The error is regretted.
We would also appreciate any information on upcoming statewide MPO meetings or
conferences. Please e-mail such information to ctpp(a)fhwa.dot.gov.
Thank You,
Nanda Srinivasan
Date: 10 Sep 1999 10:35:27
From: Census2000 <Census2000(a)ccmc.org>
Early Fall Update: Budget Round-up; Census
Advertising Campaign; Spotlight on Counting Kids
Lawmakers returned to Washington, D.C. this week with little time left
to enact spending bills for the fiscal year that begins October 1. The
Commerce appropriations bill, which includes funding for Census 2000,
cleared both the House of Representatives and Senate before the August
recess, but the two chambers must now iron out significant differences
between their respective versions. Here's a wrap-up of key provisions
affecting Census 2000 in the Fiscal Year 2000 (FY00) Commerce, Justice,
State, and The Judiciary Appropriations bills:
House of Representatives: H.R. 2670, approved by the House on August 5,
includes about $4.5 billion for Census 2000, the amount the Census
Bureau says it needs for census operations in FY00 (which ends September
30, 2000). All of those funds are designated as "emergency spending,"
meaning the amount doesn't count toward the strict budget caps imposed
on each of the 13 annual spending bills.
The appropriations committee report (H. Rept. 106-283), which explains
or expands on the bill's provisions, directs the Census Bureau to
prepare for a count of private American citizens living overseas "at the
earliest possible time." The Bureau must also evaluate a proposal to
include census information about residents of Puerto Rico in its regular
census reports for the 50 states.
Senate: The Senate approved its version of the Commerce spending bill on
July 22. S. 1217 allocates $2.8 billion for Census 2000, the amount the
Clinton Administration requested before a Supreme Court decision last
January forced it to revise the census plan to include a direct count of
the population without sampling methods, for the purpose of apportioning
seats in Congress among the states. The Administration subsequently
asked for an additional $1.7 billion to pay for the new plan. The
appropriations panel held a hearing on July 29 to consider the
supplemental funding request but took no further action. The committee,
in its report (S. Rept. 106-76), also instructed the Census Bureau to
include private American citizens living overseas in the 2000 census.
Reconciling the two bills: A conference committee must agree on a
funding level for Census 2000 activities and reconcile policy
differences in the committee reports. The House and Senate have yet to
appoint conferees but traditionally, members of the two Commerce
appropriations subcommittees, as well as senior members of the full
spending panel, serve on the conference committee. Once conferees agree
on a final package, the House and Senate must approve the "conference
bill" before sending it on to the President for his signature or veto.
Focus on counting children in the census: The Census 2000 Initiative
hosted a press briefing on August 26 to focus attention on the
undercount of children in the census and the consequences for
communities and the educational system. Dr. William P. O'Hare,
Coordinator of The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count project,
summarized his new report, "The Overlooked Undercount: Children Missed
in the Decennial Census." Dr. O'Hare examined the correlation between
socio-economic characteristics of the child population, such as poverty
and living arrangements, and the undercount of children in the 1990
census.
Ms. Jacqueline Byers, Director of Research at the National Association
of Counties (NACo), and Dr. Ron Henderson, Director of Research at the
National Education Association, discussed the importance of accurate
data on the child population for sound educational planning and resource
allocation at the state and local levels. Ms. Byers, who represents
NACo on the Commerce Department's 2000 Census Advisory Committee,
emphasized how local governments and businesses rely on census data to
plan public transit systems, day care, and school construction, as well
as where to locate services and retail centers. Dr. Henderson, a former
public school teacher, warned that failure to count children in the
census leads to unreliable estimates of the school age population,
resulting in overcrowded classrooms. He said teachers, administrators,
and parents must make a special effort to ensure that children are
counted accurately.
Dr. O'Hare's report is available electronically on The Annie E. Casey
Foundation's web site. Go to http://www.kidscount.org; click on "KIDS
COUNT" near the top of the home page; on the KIDS COUNT home page, click
on "New Publications;" then scroll down to the report on the undercount
of children in the census. The briefing, held at the National Press Club
in Washington, D.C., attracted nearly three dozen journalists and was
carried live on C-SPAN.
House panel reviews census advertising plans: The House Subcommittee on
the Census held a hearing on July 27 to review the advertising campaign
for Census 2000. Next year's census will include a first-ever paid
advertising program. The firm of Young & Rubicam (Y & R) was selected
(through a competitive process) to develop the campaign; Y & R has
subcontracted with several smaller firms that specialize in outreach to
minority communities.
Subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller (R-FL), describing himself as a "strong
proponent" of the advertising and outreach efforts, said a successful
campaign must be "localized." He expressed concern about a "loss of
civic responsibility" that has contributed to the need for promotional
activities to encourage census participation. Rep. Carolyn Maloney
(D-NY), the subcommittee's senior Democrat, agreed with Rep. Miller that
Congress should oversee expenditures for advertising and other census
operations. She encouraged the chairman to schedule hearings on last
year's census dress rehearsal and the status of final preparations for
the count. Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) emphasized the importance of
involving local firms in the advertising campaign that have experience
marketing to hard-to-count communities.
Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt said advertising would begin in
November, requiring Y & R to buy slots starting October 1. If Congress
fails to enact a FY00 funding bill on time, Y & R might not be able to
purchase prime advertising slots, leading to "a 1990-type problem" of
ads running when few people are watching or listening, the director
warned. The Census Bureau relied on public service announcements
developed by the Advertising Council of America to promote the census
from 1950 - 1990.
The Census Bureau will spend $166.6 million on the Census 2000 paid
advertising campaign, most of which ($111 million) is needed in the
upcoming fiscal year. Dr. Prewitt said 64 percent ($106 million) of the
total advertising budget is earmarked for buying television, radio, and
print ads.
Dr. Prewitt also announced that the Bureau would launch a civic campaign
aimed at increasing mail response rates. The Bureau estimates that 61
percent of American households will mail back their census forms, a
number the director said could rise to 70 percent if the mail-back rate
for every local jurisdiction exceeded the 1990 rate by five percent.
The director noted, however, that Y & R designed its advertising
campaign to convey the benefits of census participation, rather than a
civic engagement message. Advertising can help encourage people to mail
back their census forms, Dr. Prewitt said, but "we can't advertise our
way out of the differential undercount."
The subcommittee also heard testimony from Terry Dukes, Y & R's manager
of the census campaign, and Samuel Chisolm, chairman of The
Chisolm-Mingo Group, an African American-owned firm that is developing
ads tailored to Black communities. Ms. Dukes described how Y & R
developed target audiences for the ad campaign, dividing the public into
those "most likely to participate," "undecided or passive respondents,"
and "least likely to respond." She said advertising is most effective
in convincing the middle group to send in their census forms; a media
campaign alone won't convince the least likely respondents to
participate but can help pave the way for partnership and outreach
efforts at the local level. Y & R's research showed that perceived
"irrelevance" is the primary reason for non-participation in the
census. The tagline for the Census 2000 ad campaign is, "This is your
future. Don't leave it blank."
Mr. Chisolm discussed the challenge of convincing African Americans to
answer the census, since CMG's research revealed that 46 percent of
African Americans fall into the "least likely to respond" category. CMG
modified the central tagline to read, "This is our future. Don't leave
it blank," to convey a sense of "responsibility to community, family and
self" in reaching out to African Americans. Mr. Chisolm said his firm
also has developed messages aimed at "Black emerging markets," such as
Sub Saharan African and Caribbean communities.
The final witness at the hearing was Mr. Curtis Zunigha, a leader of the
Delaware Tribe of Indians and a member of the Census Bureau's Advisory
Committee on the American Indian and Alaska Native Populations. Mr.
Zunigha said that advertising was not likely to prompt significant
response among Indians living on reservations, making partnerships and
educational materials key components of a successful outreach campaign.
The American Indian advisory panel, he said, was initially
"underwhelmed" by the media campaign developed by G & G, the
subcontractor specializing in promotion to Indians and Alaska Natives.
In response to recommendations from his committee, Mr. Zunigha said, G &
G's advertising effort now "reflect[s] the diversity of native cultures
and geography," but he stressed the need for more resources to help
Tribal governments establish useful partnerships with the Census Bureau.
Questions about the information contained in this News Alert may be
directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at 202/484-2270 or, by e-mail at
terriann2k(a)aol.com. For copies of previous News Alerts and other
information, use our web site www.census2000.org
<http://www.census2000.org>. Please direct all requests to receive News
Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to the Census 2000
Initiative at Census2000(a)ccmc.org or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to
circulate this information to colleagues and other interested
individuals.
On page 9 of the census 2000 TAZ program instructions, there is a detailed
description of how to send the files to the census.
V, B states:
B. Directory to Receive File Box
Enter "/geo/TAZef" after "/pub/incoming," so that it will read
"/pub/incoming/geo/TAZef."
There should be no period in the entry. It should read
"/pub/incoming/geo/TAZef"
Thanks
Nandu
the latest issue of the CTPP 2000 Status Report (newsletter) is now
online. The direct link for it is
http://www.mcs.com/~berwyned/census/newsltr/sr0999.html
Starting with this issue we are posting the newsletter in both in html
and pdf formats. The pdf format can be reached through our web page at
http://www.mcs.com/~berwyned/census
ed christopher
chair, subcommittee on census data for transportation planning
202-366-0412
The file layout requirements for submitting TAZ equivalencies to the Census
Bureau are in the Reference Section (page 7) of the TAZ-UP User Manual. For
those who said they were not using TAZ-UP, we included a paper copy of the
directions with the mailout of the TIGER Line/98 CD.
The TAZ-UP software automatically creates this file. However, this
documentation is included specifically for those who are not using TAZ-UP.
>>> berwyned(a)mcs.com 08/21/99 11:58pm >>>
i received this and was wondering if any others could help with some
advice or insight. has anyone developed amls or other software to
support their TAZ efforts out side of TAZ-UP?
-----------
From: Kirk Eby <keby(a)tompkins-co.org>
Tompkins County (FIPS 36109) currently has its TAZs in Arc/Info format.
Except
for 2 zones and one minor civil division change, all of the TAZs are
based
entirely on census blocks and MCDs. We have determined that for all but
6
census blocks, the TAZ number can easily be placed in a "table of
equivalency"
for the Tiger/Line 98 files. (If you are curious, all I did was take
the
centroids from the 98 Tiger files and use ArcView to spatially join them
with
the TAZ polygons from Arc/Info, thus allowing the TAZ number to be
easily
populated in the Tiger 98 table.)
Rather than having to spend the time and resources to do the update in
TazUp,
and having to repeat in Arc/Info any changes that may be made in the
"non-equivalent" zones, the County would prefer to change only the
Arc/Info
file, then create the required "table of equivalency." None of the
information
we have seen describes the format of this "table of equivalency" in any
detail.
Is there technical documentation of the format (required fields, file
types,
etc.) of the required "table?" Also, has anyone already developed an
AML,
Avenue, or other application to automatically generate the required
"table?" Or
is there at least a "sample" of the "table" somewhere?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Kirk Eby Tompkins County
GIS Project Leader Information Technology Services
i received this and was wondering if any others could help with some
advice or insight. has anyone developed amls or other software to
support their TAZ efforts out side of TAZ-UP?
-----------
From: Kirk Eby <keby(a)tompkins-co.org>
Tompkins County (FIPS 36109) currently has its TAZs in Arc/Info format.
Except
for 2 zones and one minor civil division change, all of the TAZs are
based
entirely on census blocks and MCDs. We have determined that for all but
6
census blocks, the TAZ number can easily be placed in a "table of
equivalency"
for the Tiger/Line 98 files. (If you are curious, all I did was take
the
centroids from the 98 Tiger files and use ArcView to spatially join them
with
the TAZ polygons from Arc/Info, thus allowing the TAZ number to be
easily
populated in the Tiger 98 table.)
Rather than having to spend the time and resources to do the update in
TazUp,
and having to repeat in Arc/Info any changes that may be made in the
"non-equivalent" zones, the County would prefer to change only the
Arc/Info
file, then create the required "table of equivalency." None of the
information
we have seen describes the format of this "table of equivalency" in any
detail.
Is there technical documentation of the format (required fields, file
types,
etc.) of the required "table?" Also, has anyone already developed an
AML,
Avenue, or other application to automatically generate the required
"table?" Or
is there at least a "sample" of the "table" somewhere?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Kirk Eby Tompkins County
GIS Project Leader Information Technology Services
To all MPO and State DOT contacts:
For those of you who have responded to my query about which counties you are
planing to create TAZs for, I appreciate your swift response. For the rest of
you, I still need the information. If you need the email again, let me know.
Otherwise just send me the counties you are planning to include in your TAZ
plan, indicating whether you are intending to do the full or partial county. I
would appreciate responses by Thursday, August 12. Keep in mind the entire
county does need to be covered, be that by you, another MPO, or by the state
DOT. I would also like to know if some agency other than you is submitting
your TAZ plan.
There are a few things to think about when working on you TAZ plans. It is due
October 1, 1999. The Place/Municipal boundaries in TAZ-UP are from 1990 but
they are not all still valid boundaries. If they are on a road or rail line
then they are fine to use, but if they are a non-visible feature then you may
not use them for your 2000 TAZs. If you have any questions about this, call the
CTPP hotline at 202 366 5000.
I can be reached via phone at 301 457 2454, also by fax at 301 457 2481 through
email at clara.a.reschovsky(a)ccmail.census.gov
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Clara Reschovsky
