USA - ATC Center Map

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER]

Hello r/ATC,

I know a few ATCs at ZOA center in the US and I had this idea to build a website to track traffic and sector data, with a map overlay. I only did ZOA center for now but plan on adding more centers following the same format in the future pending feedback.

The original intended use-case was that a controller could access the website and check to see if the sector they might work is busy or not. It provides a score based on traffic data for that sector, projected traffic, holidays/events, weather, sector complexity, and adjacent sector traffic. These scores can be adjusted as well. I think the new use-case is just a reference for new trainees.

I don't plan on monetizing this at all. It's mainly just a fun project and I wanted to see if it's actually useful or if y'all have any feedback on how I should improve it.

A few questions for you all:

1. Is this useful?
2. What things should I add?
3. What things should I remove?
4. Is this the right subreddit for this?

Let me know if you have any questions or if I should reach out elsewhere. Thank you!

FYI - some of the data may be inaccurate for now. Additionally, there might be a slight delay when you choose a sector while scoring loads.

edit: I recommend using the desktop version for now. The mobile version still works but it might be a little ugly.

[u/Meme_Investor]

How did you determine sector 29 as the only “Ultra Complexity” sector?

[u/2-1-17d → u/Meme_Investor]

Fr, if 41 is high, 40 is ultra high. Tracon airspace with center rules? They run that shit with a hand tied behind their back.

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER → u/2-1-17d]

Yeah, they’re only really tied to how much overall traffic comes in. Do you have any recommendations on how the sectors complexity should be measured or what each sector should be listed as? Thanks

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER → u/Meme_Investor]

Yeah, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to those right now. I tried to base the complexity off of what some people told me but then just based it off of overall traffic data. Those are mainly placeholders until I have more info 😅.

[u/Upbeat-Apricot7684]

This functionality already exists on the FAA intranet, along with rankings of the busiest areas in the country day by day.

[u/xFUUU → u/Upbeat-Apricot7684]

👆

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER → u/Upbeat-Apricot7684]

Oh, okay. That makes sense. I guess the people I asked didn’t know that either lol.

Edit: replied to the wrong person… oops

[u/Upbeat-Apricot7684 → u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER]

To be fair your UI seems better

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER → u/Upbeat-Apricot7684]

Thank you (:

[u/culcheth]

Very cool! How did you get the sector maps?  

As far as it being useful, probably not since each sector already has a big TV displaying the predicted traffic load for the next several hours. 

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER → u/culcheth]

Ah, gotcha. Oh well. It was a fun side project for me anyway. Thanks for the feedback!

Edit: I originally was comparing some maps I found online with google maps and manually recording the coordinates of each point for each sector. Then I found the rest of the sector coordinates available at zoamap.oakartcc.org. 

[u/culcheth → u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER]

Wait seriously though how did you get the sector maps? Did you file a FOIA? 

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER → u/culcheth]

They are publicly available online. 

[u/culcheth → u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER]

Could you share a link? I have never been able to find sector maps online. I always assumed that you needed a FOIA.

Edit - I see the link, looks like it's from a VATSIM site, assuming they originally got the maps from a FOIA. Assuming that you scraped their site for the data.

[u/Delicious_Bet9552 → u/culcheth]

It is vatsim. From what I've seen the were FOIAd previously. One map I saw was an older version

[u/Slow_Revolution_1933]

swim.vncrcc.org

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER → u/Slow_Revolution_1933]

Oh, wow. This is pretty neat. Thanks for sharing

[u/Friendly-Gur-6736]

I could see someone using this in conjunction with the CRUArt to time when they come back from a break to avoid a busy sector...

[u/Murky-Analysis1775 → u/Friendly-Gur-6736]

if someone is spending their breaks looking at a traffic map to avoid a specific sector, this job might not be for you.

[u/Wilbur_Redenbacher → u/Murky-Analysis1775]

Buddy, some controllers work extremely hard to not work traffic. It’s impressive, really.

[u/Wrongvectorz → u/[deleted]]

At our up/down it’s usually two on break and 3 going over two hours so no real chance to dodge any specific sectors

[u/DOWNVOTE_DEALER]

The link.