C Dave Phillips of CTA asked about the likelihood of the existing infrastructure being available to the GCM data pipe. John Zietlow responded that there appears to be a good infrastructure in place for Illinois. There is however a gap from the state line of Illinois to Milwaukee. The potential to tie systems together is there, but we need to decide what systems need to be linked. Linking systems should not impact the operational abilities of individual agencies systems.
Band width appears to be available in the existing infrastructure.
C Joe Ligas of IDOT noted that the tollway fiber system is still not installed. He also indicated that the study will serve as a good base and that it appears feasible to establish a data pipe network. The group discussed where funds would come from to move forward with more details for the GCM data pipe and how to determine costs. The Joint Communication Backbone project identified in FY 98 could potentially be used if funds are available. Corridor Needs and Data Exchange Elements 2.