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1.0 Introduction
Traffic and transportation problems in medium sized cities of many developing countries have become grave matters of concern to the governments. Along with the growing population concentration, the rapid increase in the heterogeneous motor traffic and provision of limited transport infrastructure facilities have become the prime reasons for these problems. While the problems of larger metropolitan cities are at least taken note of, those of medium sized are not even recorded. A strategic planning of transport systems will alleviate these problems to a greater extent. Transportation planning process consists of analysis of interaction between supply in the form of existing facilities and the demand in the form of traffic load. It also involves forecasting for the future and evaluation of the alternatives arrived at the planning stage.

Information about land use, demographic and economic characteristics, existing travel facilities and travel characteristics is required at various stage of transportation planning process. Transportation planning deals with large amounts of data, which are inherently spatial in nature. The process is data intensive and causes overwhelming resource strain of map and data manipulation. Also the informations will be collected and maintained by a variety of public and private agencies and hence, it is very difficult to get the necessary data in time. Tools that facilitate easy storage, maintenance and retrieval of large volumes of graphic/non-graphic data and that permit simultaneous sharing of data by many users will be highly useful for transportation planning.

The major concern of the authorities is efficient operation and management of road network. This requires frequent decision making to tackle various types of problems, which are not always structured. The information on variables such as traffic flow and accident particulars on individual links, total travel, zonal details such as population, employment, etc. are required in decision making process. The data retrieval will be quicker and easier if they are maintained in digital form rather than as records, graphs and pictures on papers.

GIS is one of the fastest growing technologies of present time. It has emerged as powerful and sophisticated means to manage vast amounts of geographic data. It provides a mechanism by which information on location, spatial interaction and geographic relationship of various facilities can be assessed and viewed in moments. It provides an opportunity to effectively view and access geographic data and thus to improve decision making process.

This paper summarises the attempt to develop a computerized spatial data base system for Calicut city and to use that for identification of missing links in the road network based on travel demand. The various stages of the work are development of spatial information system of traffic zones and road network, estimation of minimum travel paths, estimation of travel demand though indirect approaches, estimation of link volumes, preparation of desire line diagrams, identification missing links, formulation of alternative road network improvement strategies, evaluation of alternative networks.

2.0 Calicut City - An overview
Calicut city is situated on the West-Coast of India, at a latitude of 11° 15" N and longitude of 75° 47" E. It is considered as the commercial capital of Malabar Region. The city has a history of long years and the growth of city has not taken place in a planned manner. While Calicut is connected to many of the important cities of India by rail, within its own hinterland, the connection is restricted mainly to road network.

The city is constrained between the Arabian Sea in the west and the hills in the east and thus takes a linear form. Three National Highways NH 17, NH212 and NH213 pass through the heart of city, which cater to the main activity system of the city. NH17 runs longitudinally through the city acting as spine. The broad gauge railway line Mangalore to Shoranur runs parallel to the NH 17 and forms a barrier between the east and west parts of the city.

The area in the city can be categorized as residential, commercial and industrial based on the activities. Most of the area in Calicut can be classified as residential except for the commercial agglomeration in the Big Bazaar, SM Street, Palayam, Kallai & Puthiyara. Industries are mainly concentrated in Feroke, Cheruvannur, West Hill and on the banks of Kallai river.