Main Window - Tabs Panel
Simulation Tab
This tab allows you to define simulations, select one to be active, and to run the currently active simulation. There must always be at least one simulation, and typically there will be several, for example one for the morning peak period and one for the evening peak period. Each simulation is made up of several component pages, including parameters, control, demand and trips.
The Simulation Tab contains:
- the simulation toolbar
- the simulation table
- the status toolbar
- the component toolbar
- the component tree
The simulation toolbar contains buttons to add, activate, rename and delete simulations, and also contains run, pause, and rewind buttons. The button with the clock icon raises the Simulation Timing Window. The simulation table allows you to select the active component of each type for each simulation. The currently active simulation is shown highlighted and in bold type.
The status toolbar show the current simulation time, and the number of vehicles and people in the simulation as it runs. There is also a button to raise the status log window, which shows diagnostic log messages.
The component toolbar allows you to add (duplicate) a new component page or rename or delete an existing page. The add function copies the currently active page. The delete function is possible only if a page is not currently active. For the Trips component, the Add/Duplicate function raises the Trip Generation window. The component tree shows all component pages, and indicates which page is active either by using bold face on an expanded branch or showing the name of the active page in square brackets if the branch is collapsed. There is a right-mouse menu available on each of the component pages, which allows you to duplicate, rename or edit that page.
Simulation Timing Window
Timing Mode [ Continuous / Single Step / Timing]: Switch between continuous and single step simulation, or raise Simulation Timing window.
Simulation Play Interval: an interval of any length for the simulation. If the interval entered is 1 minute, the simulation will run for 1 minute of simulation time, and then stop. Single step mode is the same as setting the play interval to the simulation time step.
[N ] x Real Time: constrain the simulation to run no faster than N times faster than real time. If the model is very large, or the computer is not powerful enough, or the graphics are in Detailed mode, the simulation may not be able to keep up with the specification.
Simulation Time Step: the interval used to advance the simulation time, variable from 0.01 to 0.5 sec in increments of 0.
Changing this parameter will change the results
Simulation Date: a date for the simulation. This may be used, for example, when applying economic assessment data, or for applying traffic control that varies by day or season.
Trip Generation Window
You can create multiple trip pages in any network, each containing a unique set of trips. One reason for creating several trip pages is to test your model for stability. If all other parameters are the same, then for each page to be unique, you must specify a different “seed” value before trip generation begins. The seed value is a way of “jumbling up” the random numbers used to set variable fields in each trip – for example, departure time, vehicle type etc.
Another reason for creating multiple trip pages is when you have multiple demand pages, and you want to create one or more trip pages for each demand page.
The active demand page is used as the source of information for generating trips. You may only have a single demand page, in which case you do not need to worry about this. However, it is more often the case that you will have multiple demand pages: for example, one demand page for an AM peak model, and another demand page for a PM peak model. You may also have base and predicted future demands. So, before generating trips, ensure that the demand page you want to use as the source is set as the active one in the active simulation in the simulation table.
Pre-generation parameters
Before trips are generated, you must specify a number of parameters.
Page Name: use a name that is meaningful to you. By default the name of active demand page is used as a prefix, so, for example, if your demands are called BaseAM, the default names will be BaseAM-T1, BaseAM-T2 etc., but you can change the suggested name as required.
Seed: The random seed is a number used to initialize the pseudo-random number generator in Traffic Analyst. This is used to “randomize” many of the parameters within a trip, including the type and behavior of the agent, and for directed trips, the destination. The seed can be any positive integer value.
Demand weight: A percentage of the total demand to be generated. The default is 100% meaning that all trips will be generated. You may want to use this to quickly increase or decrease the total demand, for example, if the future test option has 5% extra trips then using a Demand Weight of 105% will increase the demand for all sources. For finer control, there is also a demand weight for each source in the Trip Sources window (see below).
Destinations / Departure Times
stochastic_stochastic: each trip from an origin A, has a departure time chosen at random and has a destination chosen probabilistically, based on the share of trips from A to each destination. If you have specified 600 trips departing zone A in one hour, then exactly 600 trips will be generated from A but the exact number of trips to each destination may vary from the specification. That is, the row total for each row in the matrix will be an exact match, but the individual cell counts in the matrix may not match. For departure times, all times are equally likely between the start and the end of the simulation Term. Each trip's departure time is independent of all other trips. Departure times of trips will be irregular. For the example above, the average time between departures will be 6 seconds, but the randomness introduced will ensure they depart in “clumps”.
exact_stochastic: each trip has a departure time chosen at random as above. The difference here is that each A-B cell count of trips will match the demand specification. If you have specified 600 trips departing zone A and arriving at zone B in one hour, then exactly 600 trips will be generated between A & B, but, as above, their departure times will be irregular. The type of each trip will be selected individually at random, according to the % split specified in the division.
exact_stochastic_exact_types: as for exact_stochastic above, but the exact proportion of each type specified in the division will be generated. For example, if you have specified 600 trips departing zone A and 25% of the division is type T, then exactly 150 of type T will depart from A.
exact_regular: the trips will be evenly spaced in the simulation Term. So, as above, if you specify 600 trips leaving a zone in one hour, then exactly 600 trips will depart from that zone and these will be exactly 6 seconds apart.
Trip Sources
This button open a window which allows you to select any combination of the matrices, volumes and services defined within the current demand page.
On: Select this to include a source in the trip generation %: Set this value to factor the number of trips from this source. The value can be larger than 100%. For example, it may be set to 105 if demand is expected to increase by 5%. Invert: Use this button to invert the current selection. This is useful if you have two sets of sources, for example, one for AM and one for PM, and you want to switch between them.
Analysis Tab
The Analysis Tab shows aggregated information for all vehicle-trips, and origin-destination tables of counts of successful departures, unsuccessful (unreleased) departures and arrivals.
Summary Tab
The vehicle trip summary reports time, distance and other measures for all private vehicles in the model:
- Completed Trip Drive Distance: the sum of all incremental movements of distance by all vehicles. This may not be exactly the same as the length of all lanes and streams traveled, as a vehicle may not always follow the center line of a lane or stream.
- Completed Trip Drive Time: the sum of all time increments from the time at which the vehicle was created in the model to the time of arrival. The time of creation may be after the trip start time, due to congestion at the origin. The additional time will be recorded in the unreleased time.
- Unreleased Time: the sum of all time increments for vehicles which could not be released at the trip start time because of congestion at origin.
- Extra Distance/Time: if extra people have been defined for a vehicle type, this is the sum of the distance and time for those extra people. This can be used to get a value for PHT and PKT for the driving part of a trip without defining person-trips.
- Incomplete Drive Distance/Time: reported for all trips that have not yet arrived at the destination
Display
If you tick any of the boxes in the Display column, this measure will be displayed on the main graphics window. You can vary the Text Size using the control at the bottom of the window, and also choose between the Total value and the Mean value.
Filters
By default, the window shows information for all trips, but you can set filters to display only a subset of all trips. The filters must be set before simulation commences.
You can filter by origin or destination, but you must first define a Sector (a set of Areas or Zones). If you wanted to look only at trips going to a single Zone, create a Sector containing that Zone only, and then select that sector on the destination selector in the filter bar.
You can also filter by Mob, allowing you to display trips for a group of behaviors only.
Save
By default, the information will be saved at the end of the simulation, or at any other time specified in the Display / Reporting window. Pressing the Save button causes the information to be saved in its current state.
Actions Tab
An Action is something you do to edit the currently active model. Most actions are reversible, using the Undo command.
Example actions are:
- Area/New Area at Cursor
- Walkway/New Crossing on Lane
- Lane/New Loop
- Road/New Intersection
- Adjust
Actions Tab & Right Mouse Menu: Actions can be accessed either from the Actions Tab or via a menu raised on the graphics window if you press and release the right mouse button. In either case, the effect of the action is the same. The only difference is the presentation of the actions: the right mouse menu shows only the currently available actions; the Actions Tab shows all actions.
An Object is something in your model to which an action is applied. A Lane is an object, as is a Loop or an Intersection.
Actions, Objects & Adjust: Most actions apply to one type of object only. For example, Lane/New Stand creates a Stand object (for public transport) at a position as near as possible to the current cursor position on the currently selected Lane. It is not possible to add a Stand to any other type of object. The Adjust action is special in that it can be applied to many different type of objects.
Actions & Selections: Most actions apply to selections and are not available if no object of the correct type is selected. For example, Lane/New Stand is available as an action only if a Lane is selected. However, a few actions are available all the time, even if no object is selected. Examples of always-available actions are:
- Area/New Area at Cursor
- Road/New Road at Cursor
- Walkway/New Walkway at Cursor
Always-available actions are the starting point to building a network – add Walkways to create a pedestrian network, add Roads to create a vehicle network, add Areas and Zones to define the origin and destination locations.
Action Groups: All Actions apart from Adjust are in a group. The first group is Edit, whose actions apply to any selected objects. The Edit group contains generic actions such as Delete, Copy, Paste, Rename. Other groups are named for object types, and contain actions relevant to those objects. A group is always enabled, but its icon will be grayed out if none of the actions in the group is currently available.
Expanding/ Collapsing Groups: Each action group can be expanded by clicking on the icon next to the group name. The group can be expanded even when it appears disabled, which is useful when looking for a particular action, as it does not require the selection of an object of the appropriate type to enable the action group.
Parameter Actions: These actions can be recognized by their icon, “(x)”. A parameter action raises a window that allow you to modify the parameters used when adding new objects, but does not add any objects itself, nor does it make any change to the model that is saved. These actions modify only the parameters in memory relating to the next object to be added. For example, Road/New Road Parameters changes the parameters used when adding a new road. If you are adding several new roads of the same type (for example 2 lanes, 60 km/h speed limit) it is useful to be able to set those parameters in advance, then add all the new roads in quick succession, without having to OK the road parameters window for each road. The road parameters window contains a check box entitled “Display this window before adding a new road”. If this box is cleared, then roads of the same type can be added in quick succession.
Action Toolbar
- +/-: Expand/Collapse all action groups (in Tree Mode)
- Single-Click/Double-Click: the number of clicks required to execute an action. Single-click gives a faster, more responsive interface.
- View as Table/View as Tree: view actions in different ways
- Simple/Standard/Advanced: The advanced view shows all possible actions. The other settings simplify the view by reducing the number of visible actions.
Action – Adjust
The Adjust action can be applied to many types of objects. First, select the objects you want to adjust, then press the button to implement this action, which will raise the Adjust Parameters window. You can select as many objects as you want at the same time.
Triple-Click = Adjust. While double-clicking on an object will select it, a quick way to raise the Adjust Parameters window is to triple-click on an object.
The Adjust Parameters window contains multiple tabs, one tab for each type of object. A tab will be visible only if one or more objects of that type are currently selected. In each tab, there will be one row in the table for each object of that type that is currently selected. If you select multiple objects, open this window, then select the “Apply to All” option, then any new value you type for any object will be copied to all other objects.
Any new values you type will not be applied to the objects until you press Apply or OK. The Apply button is equivalent to OK, except that Apply does not close the window. Apply validates your input, so you can use this button to check that the values you have typed are valid and will be accepted before closing the window. Neither the Apply button nor the OK button causes the network to be saved. To save the network, you need to press the Save button on the toolbar or on the File menu.
Adjust – Lanes
| Parameter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | The name is determined by the link to which this lane belongs |
| Index | An external index value, normally 1 signifies the curb lane, increasing towards the median. This value is used for lane choice matching rules. The external index value does not need to be unique on a link: if a lane is bisected, both new lanes will have the same external index value. The external index value is not the same as the internal index value, which is unique for all lanes on a link. The internal index value is also used in the name of the lane. |
| Speed | The maximum speed for the lane, in the preferred units (km/h or mph). Normally, you should set this to be equal to the posted speed limit. There are several display formats: 50 The speed is the same as the route class speed for the link. Like this, if you change the route class then the lane speed will change automatically. 45 The speed is different from the route class. Changing the route class will not affect the maximum speed on the lane. 45(38) The maximum speed has been reduced because of the curvature of the link. This reduction is for all vehicle types, using a standard tire friction co-efficient, unlike the turning speed on streams which is calculated per-type. |
| Width | The width of the lane along its entire length. If you move the width indicator at either end, so that a lane has a different width at one end to the other, this value is not used. However, setting this value (then press OK) resets the width indicators at both ends so that the lane has a uniform width along its entire length. |
| Restriction | A restriction for the lane, or blank, if there is no restriction. Restrictions are based on mobs (groups of behaviors) so you may first need to create a mob containing behaviors you want to allow, or bar. Selecting '*' from the drop down menu allows you to set multiple time-based restrictions. There can only be a single restriction at any one time on a lane, but there may be different restrictions at different times of day. For example, a lane may be used for a bus lane in peak hours, and for parking at other times. |
| Speed Control | A speed control definition applied to the lane. These are defined in the second tab of the Restrictions window. These can be applied to all vehicles, or by selecting a Mob, only to a subset. For example, a speed control on heavy vehicles. Speed controls can also be defined to apply at certain times of day only. Like restrictions, there may be multiple speed controls on a lane, but they should not overlap in time. |
| Closed | The ultimate restriction: closed to all traffic. |
| Hold | A distance from the end of the lane at which no more lane changing will take place. That is, if the value is 10m, and the front of a vehicle is less than 10m from the stop line, then that vehicle will not attempt to change lane. By default, the lane hold distance is 10% of the length of a link but not more than 20m. |
| Box Speed | If this is non-zero, a vehicle approaching an intersection will not enter the intersection if the vehicle ahead of it is traveling at the box speed or less. This attribute takes its name from the term “box junction” which is used in some places to describe an intersection where approaching traffic must not enter the intersection until it is clear there is room for them to exit the intersection without stopping. |
| Avoidance | If this is on, then all vehicles on this lane will scan the area ahead for other vehicles or pedestrians. While this leads to more detailed avoidance behavior, it requires more computing power, so you should balance the use of this parameter with your requirement for speed of simulation. The global parameter “Avoidance” in the Parameters/ Calibration window can also be used to set the default state for all links. |
| Zip | Allow zip-style merging on this lane. This is where each vehicle increases its normal following gap to allow one other vehicle to merge into its lane. |
| Discrete | (Visualization only, no effect on model results) Set for lanes which are not connected to an intersection, and should not be included when drawing the intersection outline. This might be used, for example, for an offset cycle lane. |
| Margin | An invisible margin to each side of the lane used to control lane changing. Lane changing is possible if the Lane Change Barred action is not used, and the distance between the lanes is less than this margin. If lane changing is possible, the edge of the lane will be drawn as a broken line. |
| Headway Factor | A multiplicative factor applied to the headway time used for car-following and lane changing on this lane. The default value is 1.0. Example uses are a value of 0.8 to apply a shorter headway near a merge, where vehicles tend to have a higher density, or a value of 1.2 in a tunnel to apply a larger headway and reduce the maximum density. |
| Reaction Factor | A multiplicative factor applied to the reaction time used for car-following & lane changing. This has different effects for each car following model. A value of less than 1 will generally lead to higher saturation flows at signalized intersections. |
| Lane Friction | A value between 0.0 and 1.0 used to lower the effective speed limit in the presence of slow-moving traffic in an adjacent lane. For example, if the speed limit on this lane is 70, the average speed on the adjacent lane is 30, and the lane friction value is 0.75, then the applied speed limit on this lane will be 70 – 0.75 x (70 – 30) = 40 |
| Following | Select a car-following algorithm to be used on this lane. For example, one algorithm might be applied to highways, and another to urban streets |
| Texture | (Visualization only, no effect on model results) Select a Texture Map image for the lane. |
Adjust – Loops
| Parameter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | A unique name for the Loop. By convention, Loops used for traffic control at an Intersection use a name of the format 1234_5, where 1234 is the Intersection ID and 5 is the Loop ID. |
| Controller | The Intersection controller to which this Loop is attached. The controller has the same name as the Intersection. |
| Fleet | If this field is blank, then the Loop will count all vehicles. If a fleet is defined (use Parameters > Vehicles > Fleets), then the Loop will count only vehicles that are in that fleet. Distance The distance of the start of the Loop from the start of the Lane. |
| Size | The length of the Loop. |
| Width | The width of the Loop. |
| Offset | The sideways offset of the Loop, with a negative value meaning to the left of the centerline, looking in the direction of travel. Reset A reset interval for the Loop, in format HH:MM:SS. This resets all counts, average flows etc., to zero. Measure Select this option to add this Loop to the Traffic Reports window. Log Select this option to save data for this Loop in the results file for the Traffic Reports. |
Adjust – Nodes
| Parameter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | A unique name for a node. Can be modified by the user, but it might be more useful to rename an intersection rather than the nodes it contains. |
| Form | Priority a junction where each movement is controlled by a fixed sign, for example Give Way or Stop. Signalized: a junction controlled by traffic signals. Roundabout: a special type of priority junction node, where variation to the vehicle behavior apply. If the intersection is selected, a roundabout node will be outlined with a circle, nodes of other Form values will be highlighted with a square. Ramp: a node where traffic merges onto a free-way midway along the main line link. This type of ramp can be created only by importing a model from Paramics. Merge: this form triggers a change to the keep-side behavior for approaching vehicles, to improve the merging behavior • Mini-Roundabout: a node in a single-node intersection where there may be only one vehicle on the intersection at any time, and priority is given to the approach to the opposite of the driving side. All-Equal: A special type of priority junction in which all approaches have the same priority. Only one vehicle will be allowed on the intersection at a time. There should be only one node in the intersection. Limited: Only one vehicle from a fleet can use the node at any one time. This can be used where there is a width restriction, for example, only one truck at a time. |
| Fleet | A fleet of vehicles for use with Form = Limited |
Adjust – Roads
This section describes parameters that apply to the routing Link for selected Roads. Both Roads and Railways have routing Links, referred to as RoadLinks and Rail-Links. The Layer named "Links" displays the routing Links for both Roads and Railways.
| Parameter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | A unique name for the Road-Link. This will be changed if the Description is changed. |
| Description | A description for the Road-Link that does not need to be unique. A new description will also change the Name to match. For example, to rename all the Roads making up Smith St, select them all, Adjust, select Apply To All, type Smith St into the description field, then Apply. Roads will be renamed as “Smith St_1”, “Smith St_2”, etc. |
| Route Class | A Route Class is used to assign cost parameters to a group of similar Road-Links. For example, you might define route classes as “Highway”, “Major Road”, “Minor Road”, “Local”. |
| Route Length | The Length of a Road-Link for routing purposes. If the value in this field is enclosed in square brackets, then it is the default value, calculated from the length of the Lanes. The default will change if you move the end points of the Lanes. The Route Length is not calculated from the Node positions. If you set this value to be different from the default it will be shown without brackets, and will not change if the Lane geometry is changed. You might change this value from the default if you want to bias the route away or towards this Road-Link. To reset the value to the default, simply blank the field and press Apply. |
| Route Speed | The expected or perceived “free flow” speed of a RoadLink for routing purposes. If this Road is using the default value taken from the Route Class, then the value will be enclosed in square brackets like this: [50]. If the value has been changed from the Route Class value, then there will be no square brackets. Whether or not it uses the Route Class default, the Route Speed may be lower or higher than the Lane Speed. The Lane Speed is the physical speed limit on the Road, the Route Speed is the expected, or perceived speed. |
| Route Price | A monetary cost, commonly a toll, that applies to this Road-Link. This will be used in the generalized cost equation. If the value is displayed enclosed by square brackets, then it is the default value, derived from: (Route Price per Unit Distance) x (Route Length The Route Price per Unit Distance is defined in the Route Class. If you define a different value for Route Price and apply it, then the value shown will not be enclosed in square brackets. |
| Cost Factor | A multiplication factor used to increase or decrease the cost for this Road-Link as calculated using the generalized cost equation. |
| Lane Choice | Two distances, measured from the start of the Road, in the format Start;End, specifying where decisions about Lane choice should be taken. For example, if the value is 200;400 then a Lane choice decision will first be made at a point between 200 and 400 (meters or feet) from the start of the Road-Link. The distance for an individual vehicle will be defined by its DNA, using a flat distribution between the Start and End values. |
| Look Distance | A distance, specified in short distance units (meters or feet) beyond the end of this Road-Link over which a driver will look to decide which exit is required at the next intersection. |
| Look Links | The maximum number of Road-Links ahead that will be used to determine which range of Lanes are suitable. |
| U-Turn Select this option if it possible for a vehicle to make a UTurn at the end of this Road-Link, or on this Road-Link, if it is used for Parking. | |
| Release Rate | This field is editable only for Road-Links that are inside zones. If it is not set (blank), then trips will be released within a zone using the Road-Link that has the lowest cost to destination. If this field is set to a non-zero value, then it controls the proportion of traffic generated on this RoadLink. |
| Measure | Select this option to mark this Road for measurement in the Traffic Reports window. |
Adjust – Streams
| Parameter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | A name for a Stream derived from the entry and exit Lanes, which cannot be edited. |
| Turn Speed | The maximum speed for this Stream, as determined by its curvature. It can be further reduced by the user, but it cannot be increased, other than by “straightening out” the Stream path. |
| Advance | A (positive) distance used to control where filtering traffic waits. This controls the throughput of a filtered turn under congested conditions. Setting this to a non-zero value will show a wide bar on the display across the direction of travel. This distance controls the number of vehicles that will make it through a filter turn in a congested Intersection. The number of vehicles per green that will get through will be directly proportional to this distance divided by the average vehicle length. |
| Clearance | A (positive) distance used to control where a vehicle is judged to have cleared the Intersection and no longer conflicts with turning traffic. Setting this value will show a triangle on the display to indicate the clearance point for this Stream. A higher clearance value will, in general, increase the throughput on Streams that conflict with this Stream. |
| Merge | A time, in seconds, used by the gap acceptance algorithm when a vehicle is merging with another Stream. The value is zero by default and can be negative or positive. |
| Cross | Similar to the Merge time value, but used where a vehicle is crossing a conflicting Stream, rather than merging. As with the merge time value, a positive value will reduce throughput under congested conditions, and a negative value will increase throughput. Typically, values will be in the range -4 to +4. |
| Keep | Use this to control the lateral position of vehicles – that is, which side of a Stream a vehicle uses. Vehicles will use the corresponding side of the Lane leading into and out of the Stream. • (None) - No preference for lateral position • Left - Stay to left side of Lane • Center - Keep to center of Lane • Right - Keep to right side of Lane |
| Texture | (Visualization only, no effect on model results) Select a Texture Map Image for the Stream. This will be used in Detailed display mode only. |
Adjust – Turns
while it is possible to edit parameters for Turn in this window, it is easier to use Intersection Editor to edit these parameters. Tip: To select a Turn, you should first switch to the Layer tab and display the Signalized Turns or Priority Turns Layers . Then select a Turn by clicking on one of the bold colored arrows. Selection is easier if the Lane Streams Layer is not displayed.
| Parameter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | A name for the Turn, constructed by concatenating the names of the entry and exit links for this Turn. This name will be unique, but visual inspection will be required to distinguish between Turns to opposite directions of the same street. For example, at the Intersection of George St and Park St, each George St approach will have two Turns with names that contain George and Park. Often these will have the form George1>Park1, George1>Park2, etc. |
| Fixed Signal | If the Turn is not signalized, this field can be set to indicate the fixed signal that applies, for example, free flow, stop, yield, etc. The direct and filter group fields must be blank for this field to be used. |
| Direct Group | At a signalized Intersection, this is the signal group that controls this Turn directly (this is sometimes also called the “primary group”). The drop down selector in this field contains all the vehicle groups defined for an Intersection. If there are no groups to choose, you should first define the signal groups in the groups panel of the Intersection Editor (select Intersection, then Adjust). |
| Filter Signal | If this Turn has a filter group, then this is normally set to “green yield”, but it is also possible to set it to another signal state in special circumstances. For example, if traffic on a Turn can proceed without conflict in either of two groups, then the filter signal would be “green”. If this is a Turn to the curb side (LTOR or RTOR) then “green stop” might be more appropriate. |
| Restriction | A mob-based restriction applied to the Turn (for example: Buses can Turn left). The restriction does not need to apply to either the entry or exit lane. |
| Preference | (Inside Off-Street Parking Zone Only). Set this field to 1 to indicate the preferred Turn for a vehicle that is looking for a parking bay. To display the preferred path around a parking zone, switch on the Priority Turns Feature in the Layers tab, and select the Route option in the Reporting/ Parking window. Note on “Turn” vs. “Movement”: In almost all cases, a Turn is the same as a movement, the exception being when the Intersection is signalized and you define an extra Turn for a bus phase or similar, so that there are two Turns for a single movement. Some might say that Turn is not a good term, particularly for the straight-ahead movement, as the vehicles do not “Turn”; another view is that straight-ahead is a valid Turn, just as zero is a valid number. |
Adjust – Zones
There is a Zone at each end of a private vehicle trip.
| Parameter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | A unique name for the Zone, assigned by the system. This is not editable. Description A descriptive name for the Zone, which does not need to be unique. |
| Base | The height of the base of the Zone box above the nominal “sea level”. A Zone is a vertical extrusion of a polygon, with a finite height. This means that one Zone can be directly above another, which is useful for example, for defining one Zone for each level of a multi-story parking area. Height The height of the “roof” of the Zone above its base, default = 10m. |
| Volume | The hourly volume of traffic produced by this Zone in the absence of any demands. This is used as a fall-back in simple models, to generate some traffic on the network. It is recommended that you define either directed (OD matrix) or undirected demands for each Zone, rather than relying on this value to generate trips. |
| Cordon | True if this is a cordon Zone, on the edge of the network, not representing a geographic Zone area. This is used in some reporting mechanisms, to report external-internal trips, etc. |
| Choice | Set if this Zone can be used for parking choice. |
Actions - Edit
Some of the Edit actions (Copy, Cut, Paste) use a temporary storage place known as the application clipboard. This is for holding one set of objects for later pasting in the model. This is not the same as the system clipboard, so objects will not be available for pasting in other applications, or other instances of Traffic Analyst.
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Copy | 1+ objects | Copy selected objects to the application clipboard, for pasting in another location. The position of the selected objects relative to the cursor is stored, and used when pasting. |
| Cut | 1+ objects | Cut selected objects from the model, and place on the application clipboard. This can be used to move objects a long distance, rather than dragging them. |
| Delete | 1+ objects | Delete selected objects from the model. Objects will not be placed on the clipboard. |
| Deselect | 1+ objects | Clear all selections, so that nothing is selected. The escape key 'Esc' can also be used to deselect. |
| Paste | (none) | Paste all objects previously copied or cut to the application clipboard into the model. The position of the pasted objects is relative to the current cursor position; if an object was directly underneath the cursor when copied to the clipboard, then it will be pasted at the cursor. |
| Rename | 1+ objects | Rename the selected objects. If you want to rename several objects, it may be easier to use the Adjust action, which shows a single window for all objects. |
| Undo | None required | Undo the last action. An ordered list of all actions is visible in the Undo tab on the left pane of the main window. |
Actions - Agent
An Agent is either a person or a vehicle in the model. These actions apply to both types of Agent, unless specified otherwise. An Agent can be selected and moved by dragging, just like any other object.
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Halt | 1 Agent | Halt an agent, freezing it on the spot. |
| Resume | 1 Halted Agent | Resume an agent after a halt. |
| Tracking On | 1 Agent | Follow an agent through the model, by moving the view automatically as the agent moves. |
| Tracking Off | 1 Tracked Agent | Turn off tracking. |
Actions - Display
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| New Hyperlink at Cursor | 1 Target object | Create a hyperlink to a target network object. The target object can be a Controller, Intersection, Loop, Sign, Node or Stand. To use this action, first select the object you want to be the target destination of the hyper link. Move the cursor to the position at which you want to place a clickable label, that when clicked, will move the cursor to the target object. |
| New Image at Cursor | (None) | Add a new Image centered at the cursor, choosing from Images included in the Image library for this network. To add to the Image library select Images/3D from the Display menu. |
| New Image on Sign | 1 Sign | Add a new Image from the Image library to the selected Sign. |
| New Label at Cursor | (None) | Add a new Label at the current cursor position. A Label can be just annotation, or it can be a hyperlink to an external file or a web address. |
| New Structure at Cursor | (None) | Add a new Structure centered at the cursor, choosing from Structures included in the Structure library for this network. To add to the Structure library select Images/3D from the Display menu. |
| New Symbol at Cursor | (None) | Add a new Symbol at the cursor position. A Symbol is a shape, similar to a Zone or an Area, used for annotation only. It can be a flat polygon or extended vertically to form a prism. |
| New Symbol Boundary Point | 1 Symbol Boundary Point | Add a new point on the boundary midway between the selected boundary point and the next point, traveling clockwise around the boundary. |
| Remove Boundary Point | 1 Symbol Boundary Point | Remove the selected point from the boundary of the Symbol. |
| Toggle Blending Mode | (None) | The blending mode affects how detailed 3D shapes are drawn. The effect of changing this mode depends on your graphics card hardware. |
| Toggle Brightness | (None) | Toggle between normal mode and bright mode, where lines are drawn thicker, for presentations. |
| Toggle Dashboard | (None) | Switch the “Head-Up Display” on or off. |
| Toggle Orthographic / Perspective | (None) | The projection method changes your view of the model as it is tilted. Toggle between Orthographic and Perspective projection. |
| Simulation Continuous | (None) | This action is available on the toolbar, and enables the normal continuous mode of simulation. |
| Simulation Single Step | (None) | This action is available on the toolbar, and enables the single-step mode of simulation. Once in single step mode, press the Play button or the space bar to move to the next time step. |
Actions – Geometry
Geometry actions are used to change the height or curvature of roads or walkways. Two classifications of network elements for this purpose are:
- Way: Lane or Walkway
- Bezier: Lane, Walkway, Stream or Connection
Each Bezier element has 4 control points that control the curvature. The curve is known as a Cubic Bezier curve, also sometimes referred to as a spline. Each Bezier element may have one of three “sticky” attributes: straight, arced or smoothed.
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Change Height | 1+ Way | Change the height of all 4 points by the same amount. |
| Curve Best Fit | 1+ Bezier | The control points are moved to be 1/3 of the distance along the curve, while retaining the tangents and gradients at each end of the curve. This operation is not “sticky” - it does not apply any attributes. |
| Curve Free | 1+ Bezier | Remove the “smoothed” attribute from this curve, allowing any of its control points to be moved independently of each other and adjacent elements. |
| Curve Smooth | 1+ Bezier | Set the “smoothed” attribute on this curve, such that when the Bezier element is connected to another, the points on this Curve are moved so that the end of the curve is tangential to the adjacent element. This is a “sticky” operation - control points will subsequently be adjusted if the adjacent curve is moved. |
| Make Curvable | 1+ Bezier | Remove “straight” or “arced” attributes, allowing all 4 control points to be moved independently. |
| Make Straight | 1+ Bezier | Add “straight” attribute, making the 2 intermediate control points invisible. |
Actions – Intersection
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Adjust | 1+ Intersections | Raises the Intersection Editor even if other objects are selected. The main Adjust action raises the Intersection Editor only if there are no other selections. Binding a key to this action makes it easy to raise the Intersection Editor. |
| Combine | 2+ Intersections | Combine all the selected Intersections to form a single Intersection. All Nodes, Streams and Turns in all the selected Intersections will become part of a single Intersection. Groups and phases will be retained from the lead Intersection only, so it is best to combine Intersections before signalization. |
| Exclude Node | 1+ Nodes | Exclude the selected Node(s) from the Intersection to which it is currently attached. All Streams and Turns over this node will no longer be part of the Intersection. A new Intersection will be created for every Node excluded. |
| Include Node | 1 Node and 1 Intersection | Include the selected Node in the selected Intersection. The Streams and Turns associated with this Node will then be part of the Intersection, and can be edited in the Intersection Editor. |
| Rebuild | 1+ Intersections | Rebuild the curves that outline the Intersection. This is a drawing operation only, the Intersection out line does not affect the simulation behavior. |
| Turn Lanes | 1 Intersection | Raise the Turn Lane Editor window, allowing you to create and remove Streams quickly by selecting from a range of pre-set Turning lane options. |
| Turn Lanes (Auto) | 1 Intersection | Automatically “repair” Turn Lanes at an Intersection, by creating and deleting Streams so that no Stream from any approach conflicts with any other Stream from the same approach. |
Actions – Lane
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Lane Changing Allowed | 2 Lanes (adjacent) | Enable Lane changing on a pair of Lanes. Lane Changing Allowed is the default state– new roads created will have Lanes in this state. Lanes in this state are drawn separated by a dashed line. |
| Lane Changing Barred | 2 Lanes (adjacent) | Disable Lane changing on a pair of Lanes. Lanes in this state are drawn separated by a solid line. |
| New Loop | 1+ Lanes | Add a Loop on each selected Lane where the downstream edge of the new Loop is at the nearest point on the Lane to the cursor. |
| New Stream | 2 Lanes | Create a Stream between two Lanes, where one is the entry Lane to an Intersection, and the other is an exit Lane. |
| New Zone | 1 Lane | Create a new Zone covering the selected Lane. Only one Zone will be created at a time, covering the first selected Lane. This can be used to create a Zone that will be used for parking on a single Lane. |
| Single Stream | 1+ Lanes | This action allows you to reduce the number of Streams on an entry by limiting each entry Lane to have a single Stream. This is useful only if there are at least as many Lanes as exits, otherwise at least one exit will have no Stream. You can also use the Intersection > Turn Lanes action to adjust. |
Actions – Road
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| New Zone | 1+ Roads | Create a new Zone that encloses the ends of the selected Road. This will enclose the Road only if it is straight. This action is intended for zone connector link Roads. The Road must have an intersection at one end only. |
| Route Split | 1 Road | Set the route split values for the selected Road. For undirected routing, route splits are used to control how many vehicles take each exit. A Split can be defined for a mob, or for all types (if no mob is selected). You can specify % values, which must sum to 100, or absolute values, which will be converted to % values on Apply. If you set the override flag for a route split, it acts like a simple route choice rule for Directed Routing, overriding the routes selected by the Cost-to-destination algorithm. |
| Rules for Gateway Choice | 1 Lane / 1 Road | Raises a window that allows you to create or edit gateway choice rules for the selected Road. A gateway choice rule creates an intermediate destination for a vehicle, without changing its final destination. |
| Rules For Lane Choice | 1 Lane / 1 Road | Raises a window that allows you to create or edit lane choice rules for the selected Road. Lane choice rules allow you to control the target lane range for any group of vehicles, selected by mob, origin, destination, intersection exit, etc. |
| Rules for Parking Choice | 1 Lane / 1 Road | Similar to the Lane Choice Rules function, this allows you to specify rules that control the choice of destination zone for vehicles. The selection criteria for these rules include the number of remaining spaces in the current destination parking zone. That is, when a parking zone nears capacity, you can define rules that redirect traffic to alternative parking. |
| Rules For Route Choice | 1 Lane / 1 Road (2+ exits) | Similar to the Lane Choice Rules function, this allows you to specify rules that control the choice of exit from the selected Road. These rules override the standard routing logic. |
| Rules for Stream Choice | 1 Lane | Similar to the Lane Choice Rules function, this allows you to specify rules that control the choice of stream from a lane to the chosen exit. These rules do not affect the choice of exit road, so for a stream choice to be valid there must be two or more streams from the chosen lane to the chosen exit road. It will not be valid if there are multiple streams form the lane but each goes to a different exit road. |
Actions – Stream
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Delete | 2 Lanes | Delete any Stream that connects the two selected Lanes. This can be used instead of the more general Edit > Delete action on a selected Stream. On a complex Intersection where there are a large number of Streams, it can be difficult to click on the required Stream to select it, and it may be easier to select the corresponding pair of Lanes. |
| New Turn | 1 Stream | Normally, there is only a single Turn for each entry-exit pair of Links. In some cases, it may be necessary to create a second Turn for an entry-exit pair, in order to provide Vehicle-specific or Lane-specific signaling for that turn. An example of this on a signalized intersection is a bus-priority signal group that shows a green signal to buses for a movement while other traffic is shown a red signal. This action creates a second turn for the entry-exit pair defined by the selected Stream. This duplicate Turn will then appear in the Intersection editor and can be assigned to Groups and Phases as required. |
| Switch Turn | 1 Stream (2+ Turns available) | Where more than one Turn is available for a Stream, as described for New Turn, this action allows you to switch a Stream from one Turn to another. For the bus priority example, the Stream leaving from the bus Lane should be associated with the Turn that is controlled by the bus group. |
Actions – Zone
A Zone is a bounded space used as an origin and/or destination for vehicle trips.
| Action | Selection | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Combine | 2+ Zones | Combine 2 or more Zones into a single Zone, modifying all demand matrices and volumes accordingly. See also Divide. |
| Divide | 1 Area | Divide this Zone into 2 or more Zones, modifying all demand matrices and volumes accordingly. See also Combine. |
| Label AutoCenter | 1+ Zone | Center the label for the selected Zones. |
| New Zone at Cursor | (None) | If Tilt is zero add a new square Zone at the cursor. If the view is tilted, the Zone will be rectangular, along the line of the cursor. Two small check marks on the cursor indicate the size of the new Zone. |
| New Boundary Point | 1 Zone Boundary Point | Add a new point on the boundary midway between the selected boundary point and the next point, traveling clockwise around the boundary. |
| Remove Boundary Point | 1 Zone Boundary Point | Remove the selected point from the boundary. |
Layers Tab
This tab shows a table, with one Layer on each row and one Aspect in each column.
A Layer is a set of objects of the same type in the context of making those objects visible in the main graphics view. For example, the Areas layer, when enabled, causes all Areas to be visible in the graphics window, as long as the viewpoint is in a suitable position.
An Aspect is a collection of Layers, defining the on-off state for each Layer, and if it is on, a color for each Layer. So for example, Aspect 0 might show Areas in blue and Walkway surfaces in yellow, while Aspect 1 shows Walkway surfaces in orange and Intersections in green. It is possible to define up to 10 Aspects, each showing a unique combination of Layers and colors.
Different Color for Each Aspect: Each Layer can have a different color for each Aspect.
Selection Layers Always Visible: Some Layers, for example those relating to selections, are always on. This means that any currently selected object is always visible, even if the Layer for that object is off.
Left-Click Toggles Layer On-Off: Clicking with the left mouse button toggles a Layer on and off in any particular Aspect.
Right-Click Color Editor: The color for a Layer can be changed by pressing the right mouse button over the relevant colored square.
Drag & Drop Colors: The color for a Layer can be brushed sideways to other Aspects or to other Layers by pressing and dragging with the left mouse button. The “off” state can also be dragged in this way.
Currently Selected Aspect: The currently selected Aspect is shown by two vertical orange lines, and the number of the Aspect is highlighted in the header row of the table.
Layer Set Selector: The Layer set selection drop-down menu allows you to filter the set of Layers shown in the Layers Tab according to a number of pre-set criteria: All, Standard, Surfaces, Network, etc.
Reset: The Reset button allows you to restore the Aspect definitions to the “factory defaults”.
Import/Export: The Import and Export buttons allow you to load the Aspect definitions from a file, or to save the current definitions to a file, respectively. This allows you to define a “standard” set of Aspect definitions for your organization, or even for your own preferences.
View Tab
A View is a predefined viewpoint position and view direction. It is analogous to defining a fixed camera position at a given Northing, Easting and Elevation, with the camera aligned to a given bearing angle and attitude angle. You can create a view for each position of interest in your network. For example, you might want to create a view for each intersection, or each crossing, or each Stand on a Transport service.
At the top of the View Tab is the Views Toolbar, containing:
- Add View: The Add View button defines a new view at the current viewpoint position.
- Up/Down: Use these buttons to change the position of a View in the list for example to set the Initial view.
- Grid: on-off toggle and a spinner control to change the grid size. The view must be directly from above to show the grid. The View List is below the Views Toolbar. All defined views are shown in a vertical list below the buttons on the View Tab. Clicking on the name of any View in the list moves the viewpoint to that view. The first view in the list is the Initial View which is used to initialize the viewpoint when a model is first loaded. Each view has a name which can be edited. If the Time (HH:MM) is set for a view, the viewpoint will move to the view automatically when the simulation clock reaches that time.
Flights
This button opens the Flights or “Fly-Through” window.
A Flight is a sequence of Flight Views.
A Flight View is a a named View, with a transition time and a hold time, which are real-time values, not simulation time. Once started, using the Play button, the Flight will progress through the Flight views, pausing for the Hold time. The FPS value controls how many intermediate points there are on the straight line path between one flight view location and the next.
Below the View list is the Drawing Toolbar:
- Editing [Lock/View/Edit]: Edit is the normal setting, allowing you to edit all objects. Setting this to View prevents unintentional edits, such as dragging objects from their intended position. If you want to share the model, and want to prevent unwanted editing you can set it to Lock and set a password. The password must then be entered to switch it back to Edit mode.
- Drawing [Flat/Outline/Solid/Detailed]: The detail used to render 3-D shapes, with associated increase in memory and processing requirements. Depending on your hardware, higher detail may result in a noticeable decrease in simulation speed.
- Flat: Draw 3-D shapes as flat 2-D shadows (where possible)
- Outline: Draw line edges of 3-D shapes only
- Solid: Draw solid 3-D shapes, using uniform colors
- Detailed: Draw solid 3-D shapes, applying images to surfaces. This is also known as texture-mapping.
- This setting does not affect the results of the simulation.
Speed [ Standard/Fast/Faster/Fastest]: A “master” control that applies a pre-set value to each of the Drawing, Refresh and Scope controls. Use this to quickly speed up or slow down the simulation. Changing this control will have no effect on the results produced by the simulation.
[+]/[-] Expands/collapses some “Advanced Controls”.
Refresh [Default 0]: Changes the interval at which the display is refreshed. For example, if this is set to 15, the display will be refreshed after every 15 seconds. This parameter does not affect the results of the simulation, but may speed up the simulation process, as the computer spends more time calculating, and less time drawing.
Scope [Default 10]: This control has a range of 0 to 10. Increasing this value draws objects at further distance from the cursor, using a logarithmic scale. A value of 0 means only draw objects which are very close to the cursor. A value of 10 means draw everything. This parameter does not affect the results of the simulation, but may speed up the simulation process, as the computer spends more time calculating, and less time drawing.