README for “DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present” dataset. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Policy Headquarters (GLS); U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor] 2025-06-09 ---------------------------------------------------------------- LINKS TO DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1403475 B. NTAD catalog dataset link (Current Year): https://doi.org/10.21949/1522110 ---------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY OF DATASET ---------------------------------------------------------------- The DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present dataset is from the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Policy Headquarters (GLS), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’s (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The GLS Region layer containing polygon features the coastal frontage of the eight Great Lakes states along the five Great Lakes including along the St Mary’s River, the St Clair River, the Detroit River, and the St Lawrence River. This region is charged with ensuring the safe, secure, and reliable transit movement of vessel traffic daily into and out of the Seaway system as well as supporting trade development at ports and terminals throughout the system. The jurisdiction of GLS operational staff is limited to the two U.S. locks in Massena, New York as well as navigation on the St Lawrence River immediately to the East and West of those locks. The GLS Trade Development’s direct jurisdiction extends from Massena, New York in the Eastern end of the system to the Minnesota ports of Duluth, Two Harbors, and Silver Bay on Lake Superior to the West and includes all Great Lakes ports/terminals in between. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. General Information B. Sharing/Access & Policies Information C. Data and Related File Overview D. Methodological Information E. Data-Specific Information for: DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present [datasets] F. Update Log ---------------------------------------------------------------- A. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Title of Dataset: DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present [dataset] 1. Description of Dataset: The DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present dataset is from the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Policy Headquarters (GLS), and is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)/Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS's) National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD). The GLS Region layer containing polygon features the coastal frontage of the eight Great Lakes states along the five Great Lakes including along the St Mary’s River, the St Clair River, the Detroit River, and the St Lawrence River. This region is charged with ensuring the safe, secure, and reliable transit movement of vessel traffic daily into and out of the Seaway system as well as supporting trade development at ports and terminals throughout the system. The jurisdiction of GLS operational staff is limited to the two U.S. locks in Massena, New York as well as navigation on the St Lawrence River immediately to the East and West of those locks. The GLS Trade Development’s direct jurisdiction extends from Massena, New York in the Eastern end of the system to the Minnesota ports of Duluth, Two Harbors, and Silver Bay on Lake Superior to the West and includes all Great Lakes ports/terminals in between. 2. Dataset archive link: https://doi.org/10.21949/1403475 3. Authorship Information: Principal Data Creator or Data Manager Contact Information Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Policy Headquarters (GLS) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Contact: GLS@dot.gov Data Distributor Contact Information Name: National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) Institution: U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Office of Spatial Analysis and Visualization (OSAV) Address: 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington D.C. 20590 Email: ntad@dot.gov 4. Date of data collection and update interval: This dataset is updated as needed. This dataset is updated as needed. Dataset Manager is contacted to verify changes to data resulting in NTAD update. The metadata is updated in the same manner. For the most recent data, please visit the NTAD catalog at https://doi.org/10.21949/1522110 5. Geographic location of data collection: United States of America 6. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Policy Headquarters (GLS), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) ---------------------------------------------------------------- B. SHARING/ACCESS & POLICIES INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0. Recommended citation for the data: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Policy Headquarters (GLS), U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) [distributor]. DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present [datasets]. 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: These data are in the Public Domain. 2. Was data derived from another source?: No. 3. This document was created to meet the requirements enumerated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 'Plan to Increase Public Access to the Results of Federally-Funded Scientific Research' Version 1.1 << https://doi.org/10.21949/1520559 >> and guidelines suggested by the DOT Public Access website << https://doi.org/10.21949/1503647 >>, in effect and current as of December 03, 2020. ---------------------------------------------------------------- C. DATA & RELATED FILE OVERVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. File List for the DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present dataset A. Filename: bts_NTAD_GLS_Regions_DMP_20250609.pdf Short description: A PDF file containing the Data Management Plan that was created for current and future management of the data and associated files. B. Filename: bts_NTAD_GLS_Regions_README_20250609.txt Short description: The README.txt file that includes human-readable information about the data, variable definitions, contact information, and other contextual information. The file you are reading now. C. File List for the DOT_GLS_Regions_NTAD2023_Present.zip collection. Ca. File List for NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_DOT_GLS_Regions_XXXX_XX_XX.zip collection Ca 1. Filename: NTADXXXX_GDB_Final_DOT_GLS_Regions_XXXX_XX_XX.gdb.zip (Folder) Short description: Compressed file folders containing the geospatial data for DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions 2023-Present dataset. File folders are classified by NTAD publication year and data vintage year or date respectively. Geodatabase (GDB) folders contain all the necessary components to view and otherwise interact with their data. Ca 2. Filename: GLS_Offices.xml and GLS_Regions.xml Short description: Extensible Markup Language (XML) files containing key metadata and documentation information such as methodology, procedures, etc. Ca 3. Filename: GLS_Offices.xlsx and GLS_Regions.xlsx Short description: Excel spreadsheet containing the dataset's data dictionary including attribute field names and definitions for fields and applicable values. ---------------------------------------------------------------- D. METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: The USDOT region layer for the Great Lakes St Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) was created by the Bureau and Transportation Statistics (BTS), then approved by a GLS agency official. BTS had several meetings with GLS personnel to help understand where the GLS region is and which areas it should encompass. It was determined that the area within the great lakes themselves that make up the U.S. and Canadian border should be the northern border of the region, while the rest of the polygon should be drawn to encapsulate the land boundary with all the great lakes and certain great lake ports. As a result, Esri’s ArcPro 3.0.2 was utilized in creating a single polygon that covered multiple states. The U.S. Census state 2020 TIGER/Line shapefile was used for the U.S. and Canadian border, and the section from the intersection of the most northern part of Minnesota with Lake Superior to the area around just north-east of Massena, NY on the U.S. and Canadian border was parsed/selected out using Esri’s ArcPro 3.0.2. Then using ArcPro 3.0.2, along with the create features tool, the border of the region file was then digitized throughout upstate N.Y. and the mid-western states to connect the U.S and Canadian border. To populate the attributes, BTS communicated with the Congressional and Public Relations office at GLS to understand the address and contact information for the GLS office in Massena, NY. Various fields were then added to the database schema using the “add field” function and then fill out appropriately by BTS with GLS’s guidance and ultimate approval. 2. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: File geodatabase data can only be opened with Esri ArcGIS. The documentation files can be opened with any basic text editor. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. DOT Regions - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) Regions data table Due to the size of the data, it is not described in detail here. Review the data dictionary present in the data folders for information on the data table. A. Number of variables (columns): The data dictionary found in GLS_Offices.xlsx and GLS_Regions.xlsx provides definitions for the variables B. Data Dictionary/Variable List: Because of the large number of variables, please refer to the Data Dictionary found within the file GLS_Offices.xlsx or GLS_Regions.xlsx for names, definitions, and formats of variables. C. Missing data codes: None ---------------------------------------------------------------- F. UPDATE LOG ---------------------------------------------------------------- This bts_GLS_Regions_20250609_README.txt file was originally created on 2025-05-28 by Dominic Menegus, Geographer, dominic.menegus@dot.gov [Note changes or update to the readme.txt file, e.g.:] 2025-06-09: Original file created 2025-12-02: DOI added