Welcome to Vexcel Roadway Elements! Here you will find information to help you get started using Vexcel Elements - Roadway data with Vexcel imagery.

Elements - Roadway Overview

Vexcel Elements - Roadway is an AI-based product that provides important data for inventorying roadways for reporting, compliance, and safety analysis. This data is based on imagery captured via the Vexcel Data Program covering both urban and rural areas across the U.S.

Release V1 of Elements - Roadway identifies and maps the location of roadway features including ADA curbmats, roundabouts, and pedestrian islands; as well as crosswalk, stop line, word, symbol, and arrow pavement markings. The data is delivered as a .csv file and/or geodatabase.gdb for viewing in a variety of applications.

Open

Elements - Roadway data displayed in QGIS and stylized by pavement marking condition score.

Open

Elements - Roadway data viewed in Microsoft Excel.

Working with Elements Roadway Data

The elements.csv file contains a table of extracted roadway features with attributes about each feature such as location, name, description, area and others. There are up to two types of geometry (Point and Polygon) available for each element. Crosswalk elements contain an additional geometry attribute (LineString) for calculated crossing distances. Each of these geometry types can be displayed in GIS applications. Full descriptions of attribute fields can be found in the Data Dictionary.

Open

Crosswalk Element displaying bounding box polygon, bounding box centroid point, and crossing distance (LineString).

Imagery Metadata

In addition to information about each roadway feature, image metadata from the imagery utilized for analysis is included. This information is important for understanding the source imagery analyzed. You’ll use this information to set up and access corresponding Vexcel imagery within GIS applications using Vexcel Imagery Services.

A summary of imagery layers utilized in analysis is available in the report.txt file included with each delivery. As shown in example below, imagery used in analysis may include multiple layer, AOI and childAOI to cover a jurisdictional boundary or roads of interest.

Open

Example report.txt

Setting Up Vexcel Imagery Service in GIS

To access Vexcel’s high-resolution orthorectified image library, you’ll utilize Vexcel’s GetOrthoImageTile service. This service is intended for third party mapping applications, such as a GIS, to display continuous imagery without the need to display large discrete images. The URL parameter you’ll enter will use values from the image metadata contained in the elements.csv file.

Authentication Token Services

Each user that will access Vexcel Imagery Services will need to generate a unique authentication token. Once you have been provided Vexcel Platform credentials, you can generate a token by logging in to the Vexcel API found at https://api.vexcelgroup.com/. Refer to the Vexcel API Documentation: Authentication Token Services for more information.

Vexcel Imagery Service URL

After generating your authentication token, you can use the following base URL, entering the Elements Roadway dataset (layer, AOI and childAOI) values and your unique token value.

https://api.vexcelgroup.com/images/GetOrthoImageTile/{layer}/{z}/{x}/{y}?aoi={aoi}&childAOI={childAOI}&token={token}

URL Example:
Unique URL parameter values required for each user and Roadway Elements dataset are highlighted in blue below:
https://api.vexcelgroup.com/images/GetOrthoImageTile/bluesky-ultra/{z}/{x}/{y}?aoi=us-or-medford-2023&childAOI=us-or-medford-2023&token=[your_token_here]

Working with Elements Roadway Data in QGIS

Accessing Vexcel Imagery in QGIS

To access Vexcel Imagery:

1. Select Layer>Add Layer>Add XYZ Layer.

2. In the Data Source Manager | XYZ dialog box, enter the OrthoImageTile service URL and values specific to the elements roadway data (layer , AOI and childAOI) found in the elements.csv file and your unique token value.

3. Set the Max Zoom Level to 21 and click OK.

For more details about Vector Tile use in QGIS, refer to the QGIS Vector Tile Documentation.

Open

Displaying Elements Roadway Data in QGIS

You can display the detected roadway elements as points using the long and lat fields, as polygons using the bbox_wkt field, and lines using the crossing_wkt field (crosswalks only).

1. Load the elements.csv file. Using QGIS, select Layer>Add Layer>Add Delimited Text Layer

Open

2. Browse to the elements-roadway.csv file. Under Geometry Definition, select how you would like to display the roadway elements. There are three options:
   A: Bounding Box centroids: Point coordinates using the long and lat fields.
   B: Bounding Boxes: Well known text (WKT) using the bbox_wkt field.
   C: Crossing vectors: Well known text (WKT) using the crossing_wkt field.

Open

A: Settings to display Bounding Box centroids.

Open

B: Settings to display Bounding Boxes.

Open

C: Settings to display crosswalk crossing vectors.

Open

Vexcel Elements Roadway data displayed in QGIS.

Working with Elements Roadway Data in ESRI Software

Accessing Vexcel Imagery in ArcGIS Pro [Vexcel Image Services for ArcGIS]

To access Vexcel Imagery:

1. Using Catalog, navigate to your Portal and search for Vexcel Imagery. Select the image layer needed, right click and select Add to Current Map.

Open

2. Filter the image layer added to the map to the specific AOI found in the elements-roadway.csv file, by right clicking on the image layer and select Properties.

Open

3. Create a New definition query specifying the AOI listed in the Road Elements.csv or report.txt file. Repeat as needed.

Open

Accessing Vexcel Imagery in ArcGIS Pro [Data From Path]

To access Vexcel Imagery:

1. Select the Map tab at the top. In the Layer section, click on the Add Data dropdown and select Add Data > Data From Path.

   Open

   

2. In the Add Data From Path dialog box, enter the OrthoImageTile service URL and values specific to the elements roadway data (layer, AOI and childAOI) found in the elements-roadway.csv file and your unique token value.

3. Set service type to Automatic and click Add.

Open

Open

Displaying Elements Roadway Data in ArcGIS Pro

You can display the detected roadway features as points using the long and lat fields, as polygons using the bbox_wkt field, and lines using the crossing_wkt field (crosswalks only).

Display as Points

The centroids of the AI Bounding Boxes can be used to display the detected roadway features as points.

1. Select the Map tab at the top. In the Layer section, click on the Add Data dropdown and select Add Data.

2. Browse to the folder location of the elemenst-roadway.csv file and click OK.
   
   

   Open

   

3. In the Contents panel, select the elements-roadway.csv file, right-click and select Create Points From Table > XY Table To Point. Set the X field to long and the Y Field to lat. Click OK.

Open

Settings to display detected features as points.

Open

Open

Elements Roadway data displayed as points in ArcGIS Pro

Exploring Elements Roadway Data in GIS

Elements Roadway data can be used for a variety of use-cases including those detailed in the following sections.

Pavement Marking Condition Assessment

Pavement marking roadway features have a quality_score value that scores the marking visibility using subjective criteria. Markings are scored from 1 to 4 based on visibility of defects.

Score	Example	Description

Score	Example	Description
Good: 4	Open	Good. No visible signs of defects.
Acceptable: 3	Open	Acceptable. Minimal signs of defects.
Fair: 2	Open	Fair. Pronounced signs of defects that affect the function of the marking.
Poor: 1	Open	Poor. Pronounced signs of defects that significantly affect the function of the marking.

Using this data, pavement markings can be quickly filtered by category and quality_score to identify markings for further review.

Open

Crosswalk pavement markings with quality_score 1 or 2.

Roadway Inventories for Bike and Pedestrian Facilities

• Crosswalks - locations, condition, and crossing distances of standard and high-visibility crossing at intersections and midblock.

• Bicycle lanes - locations of bicycle related symbols, words and green colored pavement to update maps.

• Infrastructure - locations of ADA detectable curb mats (truncated dome) and pedestrian refuge islands.

Roadway Inventories for FWHA Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE) Reporting

AI detected roadway features and pavement markings can be used in geospatial queries and processing routines to populate intersection, approach, and road segment GIS features with a number of attributes useful for Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE) inventories and reporting. The table below lists MIRE data elements that can be populated using Elements Roadways data.

ADA Compliance Assessment

• Locations of required detectable warnings (truncated domes) on curb ramps per U.S. Department of Justice 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

• Locations of accessibility parking spaces using Accessibility Symbol detections.

Confirm and Document Installation of Countermeasures

• Creation of as-builts for FWHA proven Pedestrian/Bicyclist countermeasures (e.g., high-visibility crosswalks, advance stop and yield lines, and pedestrian refuge islands).