GIS-based street centerlines model real-world street features and can be used for any or all of the following: address location (geocoding), cartography, network analysis, and linear referencing of road conditions and infrastructure. Currently street centerlines in Utah's State Geographic Information Database are represented using the Utah Transoportation Data Model (UTDM). The UTDM is a field and attribute standard. There have been suggestion for augmenting this data model including additional fields & a geometric representation standard. Also, a flexible set of mechanisms for efficient data sharing are needed.

Data standards are becoming increasingly important as federated data sharing & coordination become more of a focus. Data standards include data models for attributes, representation/geometry, and the mechanisms for maintaining and distributing data.