Utilization of GIS for Road Management 
Hidemi Kashima 
Koichi Hirata 
PASCO corporation 
Higashiyama 2-13-5,Meguro-ku 
Tokyo,JAPAN 
1. Common possession of survey measurement results 
At present, about 90 percent of road management by local municipalities or the central government is 
managed by road registers, the Road Management Act. Therefore, only very few roads are managed by 
plane rectangular coordinate systems covering the area from city control points to road boundary points. 
However, due to a recent rise in the cost of land near roads and the increase of buildings (which will lead 
to clarification of land ownership and more applications for construction permits), the demand for proper 
site adjustment is rising sharply. As the total station systems are becoming more popular, the acquisition 
of digital coordinate data is being widely adopted. Therefore, efficient data management by using data 
bases is rapidly becoming an important aspect. 
(1) Plane rectangular coordinate systems 
(2) Annual survey measurement, boundaries confirmed — not confirmed 
(3) Reasons for transfer, previous owners, area sizes, registration dates 
(4) Cadastral maps 
For proper road management, survey measurement results must possess data accuracy which will aid 
future road improvement work and installation/management of water supply/sewage systems. If 
accidentally lost, the data must be restored immediately. Also, data base control must be effected by the 
measurement results, such data and functions must be able to respond to inquiries from road-side 
residents. 
2. Management of the latest information 
As mentioned above, we can state that the adjustment of road registers according to the Road Management 
Act has nearly been completed. However, a saying as it is usually said by the people who are engaged in 
road management ‚"roads are alive", road conditions vary from year to year (shapes, roadside facilities, 
pavement conditions, road occupying structures, accessory buildings, etc.), and as a result accurate 
information management is rather difficult. The methods generally adopted to manage information are the 
control of shapes and locations by means of maps attached to the road registers, as well as the recording 
of extension status, area sizes, and site numbers through the use of road ledgers (or one's own control- 
use ledgers). For the sake of ensuring the accuracy of any information, obtained, the work of obtaining 
data on road extensions or area size changes is subcontracted to professional surveyors. Nevertheless, 
various complicated minor matters still exist. For instance, data related to replacement dates or types of 
lights resulting from installation changes in roadside illumination systems must be updated or the 
necessity to extend the renewal limit dates of road occupying structures must be confirmed. All such 
factors have lead intensified the demand for data bases, which will permit prompt and easy data updating. 
(1) Updating of figures/diagrams (permits for new road construction, width expansion, territory 
determination, territory changes, bridges, tunnels, railroad crossing, pedestrian walks, roadside ditches, 
protective fences, illuminating lamps, traffic signs, road information display boards, pavement renewal, 
road occupying structures, etc.) 
(2) Updating of attributes (road permit records, Road Management Act records, Construction Ministry 
report ledgers, Home Affairs Ministry report ledgers, government statistical report, etc.) 
Management should be exercised by using the data bases on which attributes and figures/diagrams are 
integrated, and functions should be provided to permit retrieval and the output of applicable 
figures/diagrams or attributes whenever such output is required. Furthermore, a function to management 
history of the adjustment and renewal of road lines is also required. 
3. Filing of various documents 
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