Expand a business network with demographics

A railway company operates both rail lines and intermodal facilities—locations where cargo is switched from one mode of transport to another—in Iowa. The railway's GIS manager wants to find businesses throughout the state that are likely to need and use intermodal facilities for freight shipping. Understanding businesses proximate to intermodal facilities will help the railway expand its network of customers.

The GIS manager will map intermodal facilities in Iowa, add parameters to determine each nearby business's suitability, then interpret and share the results of the suitability analysis.

This tutorial was last tested on November 29, 2023.

Requirements

• ArcGIS organizational account with a Publisher or Administrator role
• ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App Advanced
• 20-30 credits

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.

   

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

   

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.

   

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

7. Click the back arrow to return to the Layers 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 Intermodal Freight Facilities layer is selected.

   

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

   

   The Filter pane appears.

3. In the Filter pane, click the Add expression 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.

   

5. Click Save.

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

   

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

7. Point to the copied layer, click 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.

   

   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 New 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.

   

   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 choose 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.

   

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

    

    You will see the intermodal facilities in Iowa on your map in Business Analyst, with a corresponding layer listed under Web maps and layers in the project contents pane.

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.

   

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

2. 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. When prompted, under the Select items for the analysis option, click Start with features on map.

   

   The pane lists all 73 intermodal facilities in Iowa.

4. In the Use field as item name menu, keep the default of Feature title.
5. At the bottom of the pane, for Create buffers around selected points, click Drive time.

   

   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 fields and leave them blank.

   

7. Click Create sites.

   Each of your intermodal facilities is now marked by a site symbol. Each of these sites is surrounded by an area indicating a 30-minute drive or less to the site location—this area is marked by slash lines and bounded by red borders. These shapes overlap where sites occur close to each other.

   

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 Add Criteria and choose 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.

   

   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. Under Keep browsing, select 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 under 2023 Business Summary by NAICS, select:

   • 2023 Agric/Forestry/Fish/Hunting (NAICS11) Businesses
   • 2023 Mining (NAICS21) Businesses
   • 2023 Wholesale Trade (NAICS42) Businesses
   • 2023 Transportation/Warehouse (NAICS48-49) Businesses

   Note:

   Data is periodically updated. Use the latest data available.

   As you select each business category, you will see the item added to your Selected variables list. Your list will contain four items after this step.

   

5. Click Categories to return to the Browse by category pane.

   Your four variables stay in your Selected variables list, and you can now add more criteria for your analysis. This time, you will add information about the number of people who live near Iowa’s intermodal facilities.

6. Under Browse by category, click Population. Under Popular variables, select 2023 Total Population (Esri).

   You now have five variables in your Selected variables list.

7. Click Categories to return to the Browse by category pane.

   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.

8. Under Browse by category, select Behaviors. In the search bar, type leased vehicle and press Enter.

   

9. Check the following variables:
   • 2023 HH Bought/Leased Most Recent Vehicle 1-2 Yrs Ago
   • 2023 HH Bought/Leased Most Recent Vehicle 3-4 Yrs Ago

   

   You now have seven variables in your Selected variables list.

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

    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.

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. For 2023 Agric/Forestry/Fish/Hunt Bus, change the variable’s weight to 25% and press Enter.

   

   The pie chart reflecting this variable now shows 25 percent of the pie. The other variables’ weights have been automatically adjusted, evenly distributing the remainder of the pie (each will now read 13 percent). The site rankings on the map adjust to match.

2. For 2023 Agric/Forestry/Fish/Hunt Bus, click Lock.

   

   Locking the percentage prevents changes to this variable’s weight, which would otherwise be changed.

3. Adjust the following variables, locking each after changing it:

   • 2023 Mining Businesses: 20%
   • 2023 Wholesale Trade Businesses: 15%
   • 2023 Transportation/Warehouse Bus: 20%

4. Leave the last three variables as the automatically adjusted weights (each is now weighted 7%).

   The map updates based on the adjusted weights.

   

   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. Point to the Suitability analysis results table and resize the pane it to about half the screen to better view its contents.

   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.

   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.

2. In the Suitability analysis pane, under Refine results, click Show locations only.

   

   The polygons on the map will change 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.

3. Click Filter.

   The Select analysis criteria and refine 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.

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

   

   The map now shows only the 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.

5. In the Suitability analysis pane, click Export.
6. In the Export window, choose Export to Excel and click OK.

   

   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.

Acknowledgements

• Rail and Truck Intermodal Freight Facilities (Learn): Federal User Community, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), US Department of Transportation.
• Variables from Data Browser: Esri Demographics
• Topographic map sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, Intermap, METI, OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community