Map intermodal rail and truck facilities in Iowa

In addition to operating rail lines, railway companies run intermodal facilities along the lines. These are facilities where cargo can be transferred between modes of transport—from a train to a truck, for example. This section explains how to find and place these facilities on the map, and filter for the types and location of interest. Locating intermodal facilities in Iowa will allow the railway company to prepare to expand its business network near these facilities.

Add and filter data

First, you will search for and apply a feature service to your map in ArcGIS Online. This feature service will add a layer to your map depicting all intermodal freight facilities in the United States.

  1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organizational account.
    Note:

    If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.

  2. On the ribbon, click Map.

    Map Viewer opens.

    Map Viewer appears

  3. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Layers. In the Layers pane, click the Add button.

    Search for layers to add to the map.

  4. At the top of the search pane, click My content and choose ArcGIS Online.
  5. In the search bar, type rail and truck freight facilities owner:Learn_ArcGIS and press Enter.
  6. Locate the Rail and Truck Freight Facilities (Learn) layer and click Add.

    Add button for the Rail and Truck Freight Facilities (Learn) layer

    Your map will automatically zooms to the Midwest region of the United States.

  7. Click the back arrow to return to the Layers pane.

    Back arrow on the Add layer pane

Next, you’ll add a filter to this feature service.

Filter data

Applying a filter allows you to prepare and perform analyses on a selected subset of the data. To view only rail and truck intermodal facilities in Iowa, you will filter the data on the map.

  1. In the Layers pane, ensure the Rail and Truck Intermodal Freight Facilities layer is selected.

    Layer selected in the Layers pane

  2. On the Settings (light) toolbar, click Filter.

    Filter on the Settings toolbar

    The Filter pane appears.

  3. In the Filter pane, click the Add new button.
  4. Build the expression State is IA.
    Note:

    IA is the abbreviation for Iowa. To see a list of values contained in the State attribute, you can click the Unique below the third field and choose from a drop-down list of options instead of typing the state abbreviation.

    Expression State is IA in the Filter window

  5. Click Save.

    Your map now shows only rail and truck intermodal facilities in Iowa.

    Layer filtered to only show rail and truck intermodal facilities in the state of Iowa

    Finally, you'll save a copy of the layer so you can use the filtered data in your ArcGIS Business Analyst project.

  6. In the Layers pane, for the Rail and Truck Freight Facilities (Learn) layer, click the Options button, and click Duplicate.

    Duplicate for the Rail and Truck Intermodal Freight Facilities layer

    A copy of the layer is added to the Layers pane.

  7. Point to the copied layer, click the Options button and choose Save as.

    The Save as window appears.

  8. In the Save as window, for Title, name the layer Intermodal rail and truck Iowa and add your initials to make the layer unique in your organization.
  9. For Tags, add Iowa and press Enter.
  10. Click Save.

You have now mapped all the rail and truck intermodal facilities in Iowa by using a feature service containing the entire nation’s facilities. Next, you will open this map in Business Analyst to perform analysis on these facilities.

Create a project in Business Analyst

Now that you have mapped the rail and truck intermodal facilities in Iowa, you are ready to open this data in Business Analyst for further analysis.

  1. In a new window or on a new tab, go to your organization’s login page.
  2. On the ribbon, click the app launcher and choose Business Analyst.

    Use the app launcher to open Business Analyst.

    Note:

    Your application menu may feature app icons in a different order.

  3. If necessary, sign in to your licensed ArcGIS organizational account.

    If you have previously used Business Analyst, the app may open in an existing project.

  4. If necessary, click the Home tab. Click Create project.

    Create project

  5. In the Create Project window, name your project Rail Industry Network Development and add your initials to make the item unique in your organization.
  6. Click Create.

    A window confirms that your project has been created.

  7. When the project is created, ensure Open new projects as soon as they are created is checked, and click OK.

    Project created

    The new project opens.

    After you finished your work in ArcGIS Online, you saved the map to your files. This means this map is accessible in all your ArcGIS apps, including Business Analyst. You will open this map in Business Analyst, which will add your map of rail and truck intermodal facilities in Iowa to your new Business Analyst project.

  8. On the ribbon, click the Add data tab and choose Web maps and layers.

    Add Data tab on the ribbon and Web maps and layers

    The Web maps and layers window appears. From this window, you can add content to your project that you've created, or from several shared locations.

  9. In the Web maps and layers window, on the My content tab, in the search bar, type rail and truck.

    Rail and truck typed into the search bar on the Web maps and layers window

  10. Locate and check the box for your Intermodal rail and truck Iowa layer. Click Add selected.

    Your layer checked and the Add Selected button

    The facilities in Iowa appear on the map.

    Iowa facilities

Suitability analysis allows you to decide which factors are most important to you and evaluate and rank sites on a map according to these criteria. You mapped the intermodal rail and truck facilities in Iowa. Next, you'll select criteria and rank the facilities to understand which facilities present the best business opportunities for the rail line.


Perform a suitability analysis

In ArcGIS Business Analyst, suitability analysis allows you to decide which factors are most important to you, then evaluate and rank sites on a map according to these criteria. You have mapped the intermodal rail and truck facilities in Iowa. Now you will select criteria and rank the facilities to understand which facilities present the best business opportunities for the rail line.

Define sites for analysis

To start your suitability analysis of intermodal facilities in Iowa, you first need to identify these facilities as sites for analysis. Sites are areas of interest that you can use to gather representative demographics and other data. In this tutorial, you'll create sites using a 30-minute drive time. Defining the sites as 30-minute drive times around each intermodal facility will allow you to find what other businesses are close enough to these existing sites to become clients.

  1. On the ribbon, click Run analysis and choose Suitability analysis.

    Run a suitability analysis.

    The Suitability analysis welcome pane may appear, outlining the three steps in the suitability analysis workflow.

  2. If necessary, in the Suitability analysis pane, click Get started.
    Note:

    To opt out of seeing the welcome panel in the future, you can check the Skip this step in the future box.

  3. For Select location type, click Features on the map.

    Start with Features on Map option

  4. Click Next.

    The pane lists all 73 intermodal facilities in Iowa.

    73 sites selected

  5. At the bottom of the pane, for Create buffers around selected points, click Drive time.

    Choose Drive time buffers.

    By default, there are three fields for calculating drive time. The three fields indicate the number of buffers around each site that will be created. The default values for these buffers are 5, 10, and 15 minutes. You just want to know about the region surrounding each site within a 30-minute drive.

  6. In the first box, delete the value 5 and type 30. Delete the other two values and leave them blank.

    Drive time buffers with a 30-minute drive time selected.

  7. Click Create sites.

    The 30-minute drive features appear on the map for each site. These shapes overlap where sites occur close to each other.

    Drive times around each of the intermodal facilities

  8. In the Suitability analysis pane, click Next.

    You have now set up the regions around intermodal facilities as sites for a suitability analysis.

    In the next section, you will continue the suitability analysis workflow, selecting and weighting your analysis criteria.

Select criteria

Suitability analysis determines the best sites for something, based on criteria that you select. In this case, you want to know which intermodal facilities present the best business opportunities for the railway, based on the businesses nearby that are likely to use intermodal facilities for freight shipping, as well as the demographic information of the surrounding area. You will select your criteria accordingly.

  1. In the Suitability analysis pane, click Select Criteria and choose Add variables from data browser.

    Add variables from data browser.

    The Data browser window appears. You will now select criteria that reflect the businesses, population, and spending behaviors near each intermodal facility.

  2. In the Data browser window, browse the categories and click Business.

    Select the Business category.

    The Business category opens. Several popular variables are displayed, as well as options to find more data. You'll find potential client businesses by searching for NAICS codes.

  3. At the top of the window, click Industry by NAICS Code to filter the variables.

    Search for industry by NAICS code.

    NAICS, or North American Industry Classification System, codes are numerical identifiers that classify types of businesses. You'll be using NAICS codes to find types of businesses that may be interested in using the railway’s intermodal facilities.

    Tip:

    You will notice that the Data Browser shows a browsing trail at the top of the window. This list shows the path you took to get to the current page. You can select any part of the trail to return to it. This is the best way to navigate the Data Browser.

  4. In the variables list, scroll a little more than halfway down and select each of the following variables:

    • 2024 Agric/Forestry/Fish/Hunting (NAICS11) Sales
    • 2024 Mining (NAICS21) Sales
    • 2024 Wholesale Trade (NAICS42) Sales
    • 2024 Transportation/Warehouse (NAICS48-49) Sales

    2024 variables

    Note:

    Data is periodically updated. Use the latest data available.

    As you select each variable, they are added to the Selected variables list.

  5. At the top of the window, click Selected variables.

    Data browser with four variables selected

    The four variables you selected are listed.

  6. Click Explore to return to the Standard variables list.

    Explore option

    The four variables you selected remain in Selected variables list. Next, you will add more criteria for your analysis. This time, you will add information about the number of people who live near Iowa’s intermodal facilities.

  7. Under Categories, click Population. Under Popular variables, select 2024 Total Population (Esri).

    2024 Total Population (Esri) variable

    You now have five variables in your Selected variables list.

  8. Click Explore to return to the main search page.

    You will now add information about the likely spending behaviors of the population near the intermodal facilities.

    The economic benefits of rail freight compared to transportation by road are significant. For freight companies, there is a large demand to ship cars over the rail. It is more cost-effective and fuel-efficient to ship large quantities of newly manufactured cars on a freight train than on interstate highways using trucks.

    To model this demand, you'll select variables that show areas that might be receiving large shipments of new vehicles because of regionally high demand from auto dealers.

  9. Under Categories, click Behaviors.
  10. For Filter by, click the drop-down arrow for Keyword and type leased.

    Leased keyword search.

    The variable list updates based on the keyword search results.

  11. Check the following variables:
    • 2024 HH Bought/Leased Most Recent Vehicle 1-2 Yrs Ago
    • 2024 HH Bought/Leased Most Recent Vehicle 3-4 Yrs Ago

    Automobile related variables selected

    You now have seven variables in your Selected variables list.

  12. At the bottom of the Data browser window, click Apply.

    Suitability analysis results

    A suitability analysis is calculated, coloring the sites matching the most criteria in shades of red. Each of the variables is equally weighted, so each of the variables you added counts equally in determining suitability.

    Note:

    By default, the results appear as points, but later you will display the suitability results as areas.

    In the next section, you will adjust the weights of the variables to reflect what is most important to you for ranking sites in the analysis.

Weight criteria

By default, the suitability analysis workflow assigns equal weight to all your criteria, with all criteria adding up to 100. The weights of the various criteria indicate how strongly each variable affects each site’s final score in the analysis. By increasing the weight of certain variables, you specify which factors are most important to you in ranking sites.

  1. In the Suitability analysis pane, scroll to the Weighting section and click Adjust weights.

    Adjust weights button

  2. In the Adjust weights window, for 2024 Agric/Forestry/Fish/Hunt Sales (NAICS), change the variable’s weight to 25 and press Enter.

    Change the weight of the Agric/Forestry/Fish/Hunt Bus variable to 25 percent.

    he other variables’ weights have been automatically adjusted, evenly distributing the remainder of the pie (each will now read 12.5 percent). The site rankings on the map adjust to match.

  3. For 2024 Agric/Forestry/Fish/Hunt Sales (NAICS), click the lock button.

    Lock button

    Locking the percentage prevents changes to this variable’s weight, either accidentally, or by changing the weights for other variables.

  4. Adjust the following variables' weights, locking each after changing it:

    • 2024 Mining Sales (NAICS): 20
    • 2024 Wholesale Trade Sales (NAICS): 15
    • 2024 Transportation/Warehouse Sales (NAICS): 20

    Weights

    You'll leave the last three variables as the weights have automatically adjusted (each is now weighted 6.67%).

  5. Click Done.
  6. In the Suitability analysis pane, for Style options, click Areas.

    The map updates based on the adjusted weights.

    Final weighting of sites

    You've now weighted the variables so that your suitability analysis reflects the criteria that are most important to you. In this case, you are most interested in intermodal facilities with agricultural businesses nearby. The proximity of mining, transportation and warehouse, and wholesale trade businesses are also important to you to varying, lesser degrees. Of least importance among your criteria are the population and car ownership among people in the vicinity.

    The United States (particularly Midwestern states such as Iowa) is a major producer of grain. Trains are very efficient for moving large quantities of agricultural products such as grain across long distances. Similarly, industries that ship in massive bulk quantities make heavy use of railways because, in addition to efficiency, railway freight transport ensures safety when dealing with potentially hazardous materials such as fertilizer.

View ranked sites and export results

You have conducted your suitability analysis, using criteria relevant to the railway in its goal of expanding its business network near intermodal facilities. Now you can use Business Analyst to refine your results and delve deeper into the analysis.

  1. In the Results pane, click the Table button.

    Table button

  2. If necessary, resize the table vertically so you can see more records, while keeping the areas in Iowa visible.

    Note:

    Suitability scores are calculated on a scale of 0 to 1. This means that a suitability score of 0.31 reflects a 31 percent suitability rating.

    To make the map easier to see, you'll change the symbols from the drive time polygons.

  3. In the table, point to the first record.

    Attribute table

    Notice that when you point to a record in the table, the corresponding site will be highlighted on the map. You can also point to a site on the map to show a pop-up with name, suitability score, and rank among the sites.

  4. On the map, point to the same site.

    Site pop-up

    A pop-up appears containing information about the site.

  5. In the Style section, for Map symbol, click Points.

    Points option

    The polygons on the map will change back to simple circular markers for each site, displaying the site’s rank in the analysis. You can also filter the results to only show the most suitable.

  6. In the Legend section, click Filter results.

    Filter results button

    The Filter results pane appears. You can filter by rank, selecting a desired number of top or bottom results. In this case, you'll filter by score.

  7. If necessary, click Filter by score and set the lower value to 0.5 and press Enter.

    Filter by score option

    The map now shows only the sites that scored 50 percent or higher in the suitability analysis.

    Sites that scored 50 percent or higher in the suitability analysis

    Your map and attribute table show 18 sites with suitability scores of 50 percent or higher. To share this information with interested stakeholders at the railway, you can export the attribute table.

  8. In the Results pane, click Export to Excel.

    Export to Excel option

  9. In the Export to Excel window, click Export.

    Your browser downloads a Microsoft Excel file named Suitability analysis. When you open the file, you will see your filtered suitability analysis results as a table. You can also export the suitability analysis as a new layer in your project, using the Export dialog box. This is helpful if you want to return to this analysis later.

In this tutorial, you learned how to find and add a feature service to a map in ArcGIS Online, filter the feature service, and perform a suitability analysis in Business Analyst. Using the results of the suitability analysis, the railway can decide which intermodal facilities present the best opportunities to expand its business network. By identifying sites located near a large number of businesses that might use intermodal facilities, the railway is now prepared to reach out to businesses in these areas.

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.