Roadways and railways. Bus stops and airports. Bridges and canals. Traffic signals and freight shipments. What two things do all these have in common? Well, of course, they all make up a complex, multimodal transportation system. They are also all managed with GIS.

In this special section, you will see excellent examples of transportation GIS, illustrating a diverse selection of disciplines, functions, and modes, which represent the transportation industry, and the GIS users and developers who support it. From capital planning to real-time traffic info, GIS helps present the information we need to build and maintain transportation infrastructure, or in choosing a crosstown route. Visualization, integration, and decision-support have long been the hallmarks of GIS, as many metropolitan transit authorities have discovered in service planning. Presenting map-based incident and crash information helps improve safety and mobility in our communities, for both emergency response and better engineering.

Part of being a more efficient society is allowing people the ability to make efficient choices by giving them useful information where and when they need it. The integration of GIS and the Internet has shown great promise by letting transit and railway authorities inform people of choices other than driving their own cars. Spatially-enabled telematics services give drivers intelligent alternative routes when they are already committed to their automobile. Fleet managers using GIS-enhanced logistics planning have improved customer service while at the same time reducing overall miles traveled. Collectively, these and other actions have the power to improve our quality of life and national economies. Even the cleanest vehicles will emit fewer emissions when they arrive sooner. Even the most robust economies will grow when we eliminate known wastes.