Mapping Atlanta’s train traffic

Partial view of Atlanta train traffic map – Source: railfanguides.us

Got to admit that I had never seen this kind of map before stumbling across it recently. While common for streets and highways, I cannot recall an average daily train traffic map. It is a very useful and interesting  map of Atlanta, Georgia which is available for uploading from the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (GDOT) website. There is a companion map which is based on freight tonnage versus the number of trains. Georgia also produces a statewide train tonnage map for smaller jurisdictions.

Since discovering this map, I have searched the internet for similar maps from other states, provinces, and cities and thus far have not found any. From a professional planner’s perspective, railroads can be one of the largest bureaucracies to crack open and find useful data, so a regularly produced map such as this would be very helpful for communities bisected by freight and/or passenger rail lines.  Kudos to GDOT – hopefully their train traffic and tonnage maps will be the impetus for similar maps being produced in other transportation agencies.

If anyone knows of similar train traffic maps for other jurisdictions, I would be most interested to know about them. Thanks!