Conclusion

This project used the network analyst to create three different driving zones of 100, 150 and 200 kilometres from downtown Vancouver. In addition, the main analysis of this project was to create a Least Cost Path, by using a cost surface, which calculated the shortest path going through attraction points from Downtown Vancouver to the respective points of Cultus Lake, Deep Cove, Harrison Hot Springs, and Whistler.

The costs of the four trips were estimated at $90 for Cultus Lake and Deep Cove, and at $108 for Whistler and Harrison Hot Springs. Nine maps were created, each with a different message, to either represent an overview of highways around Vancouver, the 100 km, 150 km, 200 km driving zones, the location of destinations within these zones, the road network surrounding them, or the different Least Cost Paths that were calculated. Finally, a list of attractions within 500 metres along each road trip was constructed from intersecting the layers in ArcMap 10.5.1, in order to create a road trip guide for EVO users wishing to go to each respective destination.

The least cost path was useful in calculating the shortest, cheapest roads to the destination. Nevertheless, some limitations were observed on the cost surface. Indeed, the lack of connection between the roads and the attraction buffer resulted in the least cost path not been forced enough to go through the attraction points since they were surrounded by high friction points. In order, to calculate a more precise cost path that is more strongly inclined to go through attraction points, connections between the attractions points and the roads need to be generated. Additionally, another solution would be to use the network analyst route solve and to pre select a set of stops (attractions) to go through for the 4 different road trips.

Finally, this project is a good example showing how GIS can be used to help individuals make every-day decisions. By generating cost surfaces and cost paths, it was possible to find the cheapest routes for users to use; one of the main uses of creating Least Cost Paths. In order to take this analysis further, it would be interesting to take into consideration the different speed limits used by the calculated path, as well as traffic zones in order to calculate an estimated time that each trip would take.