Glossary
- Gateway
Refering to a transportation or shipping corridor of national or international importance.
- Gentrification
The term used to describe the process when residential and nonresidential land uses that cater to affluent households displace existing residential and nonresidential uses that address the needs of less affluent households.
- Geographic Information SystemsGIS
A software system which assists in the development, storage, analysis, and display of locational or spatial information.
- Geographic Information Systems for TransportationGIS-T
Refers to the principles and applications of applying geographic information technologies to transportation problems (Miller and Shaw, 2001).
- Geotextiles
Synthetic polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, or polyamide manufactured into fabrics in a woven or non-woven pattern to form a blanket-like product, which is used to stabilize soft sections on a gravel road.
- Girder
A main horizontal support beam for a bridge structure that usually handles loads from smaller floor beams and stringers.
- Global Climate ChangeGCC
Global Climate Change
- Global Positioning SystemGPS
A navigation system utilising satellites to provide a GPS-receiver on Earth with accurate coordinates.
- Grade
The elevation of the ground or paving (often specified either before or after excavation). It also may mean the degree of slope of terrain.
- Grade Crossing
Where a roadway intersects a rail line.
- Grade Separation
The raising or lowering of a roadway to bridge over another roadway, thereby eliminating traffic conflict.
- Granny Flat
An Accessory Dwelling Unit occupied by a family member of the principal dwelling.
- Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (Bonds)GARVEE
GARVEE Bonds are funding mechanisms that enable governmental entities to finance infrastructure or transit projects based on anticipated future revenues, which are then used to repay outstanding debt. A state may use future federal-aid funding obligations to reimburse the retirement of principal loans, interest charges, issuance, insurance, and other associated costs related to the sale of eligible debt-financing instruments.
- Gravity Model
An underlying premise of Travel Demand Forecasting/Modelling, based on Sir Issac Netwon’s “Law of Universal Gravitation”. Newton’s gravity model was converted into a geographical context by W.J. Reilly in 1933. This theory is still known today as “Reilly’s Law”. This law has two concepts: 1. That a city attracts most of its commuters from the closest towns. 2. That a larger city attracts larger numbers of commuters than a smaller city. “A city will attract retail trade from a town in its surrounding territory, in direct proportion to the population size of the city and inverse proportion to the square of the distance from the city.” (Reilly, 1929).
- Greater Burlington Industrial CorporationGBIC
The non-profit Regional Development Corporation that has the mission of attracting, retaining, and expanding environmentally sensitive, high-paying jobs in the Champlain Valley and initiating and supporting advocacy, education, and collaborative programs in promoting its vision.
- Green Book
Published by AASHTO, the “Green Book” is formally known as “A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets”. It covers the latest geometric design practices in standard use for highways, intersections, and interchanges.
- Greenhouse GasesGHG
Identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), anthropogenic greenhouse gases are recognized by the international scientific community as having the potential to bring about climate change. Such gases include; Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (NOX), Carbon Tetrafluoride, Hexafluoromethanem, Sulfur Hexafluoride, and others.
- Greenway
A designated area planned to perform one or more Open Space Functions.
- Gross Domestic ProductGDP
GDP is a statistic estimating total market value of goods and services produced by labor and property in a given geographical area, within a given year. GDP replaces the Gross National Product (GNP) indicator as the primary measure of U.S. production in 1991.
- Gross Floor Area (Floor Area)
The total area of all of a building’s floors, as measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls (or from the centerline of party walls separating buildings or dwelling units), but may exclude cellars, crawl spaces, garages, carports, attics without floors, open porches, and balconies.
- Gross Vehicle WeightGVW
Gross Vehicle Weight
- Groundwater
Water that flows or collects below the land surface, sometimes seasonally and sometimes permanently.
- Group Home
A dwelling inhabited by up to a specified number of persons who are not a family, but typically who have a special characteristic that makes them eligible for living in the group home.
- Growth Center
Land Use term defined by Vermont staute as an area of land that incorporates a mix of uses that typically or potentially include uses such as; retail, office, commercial, civic, recreational, industrial, and residential within a densely developed, compact area that promotes social interaction. Growth centers are located in or adjacent to a designated downtowns, village centers, or new town centers with clearly defined boundaries that have been approved by one or more municipalities in their municipal plans to accommodate a majority of growth anticipated over a 20-year period.
- Growth Management
Practices used to control the amount, type, intensity, location, and timing of development (including conventional land use controls such as Zoning and Subdivision Regulations). The term also is used to refer specifically to more innovative types of regulations (such as a ceiling on the number of building permits issued annually) and practices (such as staging the extension of Infrastructure). The term also is used to describe a community’s use of these practices to forestall, lessen, or prevent predicted growth (rather than accommodating or providing for it).