Fire Truck Response Times for the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts

1. Select a town in Massachusetts with at least 3 fire stations (you can download these point locations from MassGIS)

2. Determine the area of the town that can be reached from the existing fire stations in 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes using the service areas tool (you may not be able to use this via the logistics services – it may have to be done via desktop and using the network in your data folder). Is there any area of town outside a 20 minute service time?

3. Imagine your town is considering closing one of the fire stations due to budget constraints. You can select which one will hypothetically be closed. Recalculate the new response times across the town from the remaining fire stations.

4. How do you interpret these response time changes? 

5. Consider the flaws and limitations of your analysis and suggest improvements.

The map on the left above shows all of the areas in Middleboro, Massachusetts that can be reached by a fire station within 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, and 15-20 minutes. The entire town can be reached within 20 minutes of time; however, only 25% of the town can be reached within 5 minutes. This is a concern because national stardard calls for fire trucks to repond within 5 minutes 90% of the time. Another major concern is that sudden cardiac arrest victims generally have only 6 minutes. With the current fire station locations, over 34% of the town would not be reached by a paramedic within 6 minutes of a cardiac arrest.

If the Town of Middleboro, Massachusets had to make budget cuts and eliminate one of the current fire stations, the North Fire Station would be the most logical one to eliminate. The South Fre Station, toward the bottom on the map, is essential to have because it provides service for all of South Middleboro. Without the South Fire Station, the Central Fire Station and the North Fire Station would be too far away to get to South Middleboro locations quickly. The Central Fire Station is essential because it is located near the center of Middleboro, and it is the main station with all of the equipment. Therefore, the North Fire Station would be the most logical one to cut, because it would have the least affect on response times.

The map on the right above shows all of the areas in Middleboro, Massachusetts that can be reached by the Central Fire Station and the South Fire Station within 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, and 15-20 minutes. The entire town can be reached within 20 minutes of time; however, only 16% of the town can be reached within 5 minutes. This is a concern because national stardard calls for fire trucks to repond within 5 minutes 90% of the time. Another major concern is that sudden cardiac arrest victims generally have only 6 minutes. With the only these two fire station locations, over 39% of the town would not be reached by a paramedic within 6 minutes of a cardiac arrest.

Limitations of both of the analysis would be the consideration of speed limits. The posted speed limits of the roads have been taken into consideration for this map; however, fire trucks typically drive faster than the posted speed limits. Therefore, the times of the fire trucks may be faster than what they are on this map.      

20 Mile Radius Around Massachusetts Community Colleges

Is there any place in Massachusetts more than 20 miles away from a community college? Visualize your answer using a map. Use the Euclidian Distance tool in the ArcGIS DesktopToolbox and the “GenerateServiceAreas” tool in the logistics services via ArcGIS desktop.

The map to the left above shows all the locations of Massachusetts Community Colleges. The green areas surrounding the colleges displays all of the locations that are within 20 miles of the college, using the "Generate Service Areas" tool. The white areas of the map are locations that are beyond 20 miles of a Massachusetts Community College. Anybody living within these white areas would have a long commute in order to attend a community college.

The map to the right above shows all the locations of Massachusetts Community Colleges. The green areas surrounding the colleges displays all of the locations that are within 20 miles of the college, using the Euclidian Distance tool. The dark gray areas of the map are locations that are beyond 20 miles of a Massachusetts Community College. Anybody living within these white areas would have a long commute in order to attend a community college.

Distances Between Massachusetts Community Colleges and MBTA Commuter Rail Stations

The map above shows all of the locations of Massachusetts Community Colleges and the distances to the closest MBTA commuter rail stations. A few of the colleges have multiple locations; therefore, there may be multiple pin points for each college. There are a total of 15 Community Colleges in Massachusetts. Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts has the shortest distance from the campus to the MBTA commuter rail station; followed by Quinsigamond Community College. Cape Cop Community College has the farthest distance from the campus to the station at 6.46 miles.      

The distances between Community College Campuses and MBTA Commuter Rail Stations are important because the majority, if not all, of the students at community colleges commute; therefore, many students may use the commuter rail, and need to be able to walk to campus from the station.   

The table above shows the data for all the Massachusetts Community Colleges. The table was then used to geocode into points and create the map above. 

The table above shows all 15 Massachusetts Community Colleges, and their minimum distances to an MBTA Commuter Rail Station. The table is categorized from least to greatest in miles, with Berkshire Community College having the least about of distance, and Cape Code Community College having the furthest distance.  

Mount Saint Mary's Turbine Visibility

The nuns at St. Mary’s Abbey in Franklin, MA want to upgrade the wind component of their solar/wind farm. They want to upgrade their small wind turbine to a larger 1800 kW turbine. The newer model generates more power, but is significantly taller than the current one. The new one would be 120 meters from ground to blade tip.

To install the new turbine makes total sense - there is a lot of energy to be harnessed– but property owners in Franklin and Wrentham say it will ruin our beautiful views and destroy property values! In other words, “I'm all for clean energy, but not in my backyard!” The citizens of Franklin and Wrentham have started a committee called Citizens Opposed To (Wind) Turbines On (Mount) St. Mary (But) Otherwise Green or COTTOSOG and they have hired you to proof that this these turbines will indeed have a significant impact on their bucolic views. 

Question: From where in Franklin and Wrentham would you see the new larger wind turbine for Mount St. Mary’s?

The map to the left above shows the potential degree of visibility of a 120 foot turbine, located on Mount Saint Mary's, in the towns of Franklin and Wrentham, Massachusetts, The DEM of this map is based upon bare earth, without taking into consideration any of the trees or other features that may block the visibility of the turbine. The areas in red represent the locations that can view the entire turbine. The areas in yellow represent the locations that can view 30 meters-up of the turbine. The areas in green represent the locations that can only see the platoons of the turbine. The areas in blue represent the locations that can barely see the turbine, but can still see parts of the top of it. Finally, the areas in white represent the locations that can not see any of the turbine.


The flaws of this map is that the land is not actually 'bare earth'. There are buildings, and trees that can cause a screening affect and block the view of the turbine. A more accurate map would take into consideration the findings of this bare earth model, as well as the findings of a forest screening model. The Pythagorean theorem could be used to confirm the findings of this analysis.

The table above shows the total amount of areas that can view the turbine at 30 meters, 60 meters, 90 meters, and 120 meters. Although the table breaks the values down to different height levels, it is not as accurate because the total includes any area that can view the turbine without taking into account the degree of which it is actually visible. Based on the heights, 26% of the towns can view the turbine at 30 meters; 35% of the town can view the turbine at 60 meters; 42% can view the turbine at 90 meters; and 48% can view the turbine at 120 meters. 

The pie-chart above gives a more descriptive analysis of the areas that can view the turbine, based on the degree of visibility. More than half of the two towns (52%) can not see any of the 120 foot turbine. The second largest category is the areas that can see the entire turbine, with 26% of the two towns able to view the full turbine. 9% of the areas can view 30 meters-up of the turbine, 7% of the areas can only view the platoons of the turbine, and 6% of the areas can barely see the turbine at all.    

The map to the right above shows the potential degree of visibility of a 120 foot turbine, located on Mount Saint Mary's, in the towns of Franklin and Wrentham, Massachusetts, The DEM of this map takes into account the heights of forest trees, which can act as a screen, blocking the view of the turbine. The areas in red represent the locations that can view the entire turbine. The areas in yellow represent the locations that can view 30 meters-up of the turbine. The areas in green represent the locations that can only see the platoons of the turbine. The areas in blue represent the locations that can barely see the turbine, but can still see parts of the top of it. Finally, the areas in white represent the locations that can not see any of the turbine. The forest landuse areas are represented with a light green color, and the forested wetland landuse areas are represented with a light purple color.

The flaws of this map is that the landuse data is represented as a solid block, rather than the actual form of a tree. Another flaw is that the heights of the trees were categorized as one average height (forested wetland-15 meters, and forest-25 meters) instead of actual different heights. A more accurate map would take into consideration the findings of this forest screening model, as well as the findings of a bare earth model. It would also account for the different heights of trees in the forest that may or may not actually block the view of the turbine. The Pythagorean theorem could be used to confirm the findings of this analysis.

The table above shows the total amount of areas that can view the turbine at 30 meters, 60 meters, 90 meters, and 120 meters, while taking into consideration the screening of forest trees. Although the table breaks the values down to different height levels, it is not as accurate because the total includes any area that can view the turbine without taking into account the degree of which it is actually visible. Based on the heights, 8% of the towns can view the turbine at 30 meters; 16% of the town can view the turbine at 60 meters; 21% can view the turbine at 90 meters; and 25% can view the turbine at 120 meters. 

The pie-chart above gives a more descriptive analysis of the areas that can view the turbine, based on the degree of visibility, taking into account the screening of forest trees. Almost all of the areas in the two towns (94%) can not see any of the 120 foot turbine. Only 2% of the two towns are able to view the full turbine; 1% of the areas can view 30 meters-up of the turbine; 1% of the areas can only view the platoons of the turbine; and 2% of the areas can barely see the turbine at all.

The bar graph above shows the degree of visibility of the 120 foot turbine, across bare earth compared to through a forest screening.   

The flowchart above shows the step by step process of how to produce the map above on ArcMap 10.1.