Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
residential locations
- represented through GIS polygon parcel data
obtained from the Blair County Assessment Office. Structured query
statements were used to select residential land use types to serve as
household collection points.
solid waste collection companies
- the IRC provided an address list of
the 20 companies and their locations were geocoded in ArcMap.
transfer stations
- The City of Altoona utilizes two transfer stations
that are within 0.5 mile of each other. Addresses of each were
obtained and geocoded using ArcMap. Their geographic center was
calculated to serve as the city's lone transfer station for this research.
The transfer station illustrated in Figure 2 is the geographic center of
the two primary transfer stations.
streets
- in order to model the street network as close to reality,
StreetMap Premium for ArcGIS was obtained. It is an enhanced street
dataset based on commercial street data from NAVTEQ and TomTom
that works with ESRI's ArcGIS software to provide geocoding,
routing, and high-quality display. The data allows one to generate the
shortest or fastest distance, point-to-point, or multistop routes with
driving directions. One-way and turn restriction information is taken
into consideration to ensure the most accurate routes and directions.
The data also includes historical traffic data that summarizes the
average roadway travel speed for more accurate arrival time
projections and avoidance of congestion based on day and time.
amount of solid waste
- the IRC provided the 2011 solid waste
collection totals for each of the 20 companies operating within the city
(Table 1). Based on these totals, the average amount of solid waste
generated per household each week in the City of Altoona is 50.2 lbs.
This number was rounded to 50.0 lbs per household.
collection time
- this research accounted for total collection time
between 5AM-3PM. Variables include street travel time, time
collecting and loading each household's solid waste, and time at
transfer station. Collection time begins at 5AM when the collection
truck leaves company headquarters, not when it arrives at the first
household. This is an unfortunate input in the VRP model that cannot
be altered. Collection time ends at 3PM with the transfer station the
last stop for each company regardless if the collection truck is full or
not. This ensures the truck does not sit overnight with solid waste
onboard. The Gannett Fleming, Inc. Technical Assistance Study
(2006) found the average household stop within the city is 30 seconds.
