TransCAD Demo Guide-Compactado

TransCAD
Transportation Planning Software

Demo User’s Guide
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Contents
Preface 5
About the Demo Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Installing and Running the Demo Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
To Run the Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
To Start the TransCAD Demo Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
For More Information about TransCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1 Introducing TransCAD 7
The TransCAD GIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Extended Data Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Transportation Analysis and Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Custom Application Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
TransCAD Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The TransCAD Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Maps, Dataviews, Matrices, Figures, and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Map Scale and Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Routes and Route Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2 Quick Start Tutorial 16

Project 1: The Travel Patterns in Flintbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Creating an Overview Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
To Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
To Create the Overview Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
To Label the Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
To Add a Street Layer to the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
To Change the Zone Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
To Add a Title to the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
To Move or Resize the Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
To Save Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Stage 2: Displaying Data on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
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To View the Data Stored in the Flintbury Zone Layer . . . . . . . . . . . 20
To Illustrate the Transit Mode Share Throughout Flintbury . . . . . . . . 20
To Open the Street Info File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
To Join the Street Layer to the Street Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
To Show the Traffic Flow on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
To Save Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
To Print the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
To Close the Map and Dataviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Project 2: Flintbury’s Bus System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Stage 1: Making a Map of the Bus Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
To Open a Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
To Add a Route System File to the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
To Use the Zoom Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
To Create Buffers Around the Bus Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
To Build Overlays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Stage 2: Finding Out about the Passengers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
To Open a Survey File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
To Locate by Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
To Change the Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
To Compute Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
To Hide Columns in a Dataview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
To Select Features by Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
To Compute Statistics on a Selection Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
To Produce a Tabulation of Wait Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Stage 3: Creating a Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
To Create a New Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
To Place a Map in the Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
To Move or Resize a Layout Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
To Add a Title to the Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
To Place the Statistics Dataview in the Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
To Save the Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
To print the Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Project 3: The Impact of Closing Streets for a Parade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Stage 1: Preparing Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
To Open a Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
To Remove a Size Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
To View the Data Associated with the Street Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
To Show the Street Node Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
To View the Data Included in the Node Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
To Select the Node Centroids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
To Open the Origin-Destination Flow Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
To Create a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Stage 2: Generating Shortest Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
To Calculate the Typical Travel Times Between Zones . . . . . . . . . . . 41
To Disable Links in a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
To Calculate Travel Time Between Zones During the Parade . . . . . . . 44
Stage 3: Manipulating Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
To Combine Several Matrices into One Matrix File . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
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To Change the Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
To Sort a Matrix View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
To Add a Matrix to a Matrix File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
To Calculate the Extra Travel for Each Zone Pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
To Calculate the Total Extra Person-Hours Traveled in Flintbury . . . . . 49
Where to Go From Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3 Travel Demand Modeling Tutorials 51

Generating Productions by Cross-Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Applying a Gravity Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Applying a Single-Segment Nested Logit Model on a Matrix . . . . . . . . 54
Performing a User Equilibrium Traffic Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Performing Multi-Modal Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Creating Transit Skim Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Estimating an O-D Matrix from Traffic Counts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Model Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4 Network and Route System Tutorials 63

Finding a Shortest Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Computing a Shortest Path with Tolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Traveling Salesman Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Partitioning a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Creating Travel Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Setting Route System Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Working with Strip Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5 GIS and Mapping Tutorials 68

Creating Dot-Density Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Creating Chart Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Selecting Records Based on a Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Combining Selection Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Building Buffers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Creating a Density Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Creating Desire Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Locating (Geocoding) Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6 Geographic Editing Tutorials 77

Editing Line Features, Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Editing Line Features, Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Advanced Line Editing-Dualizing Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Advanced Line Editing-Creating Interchanges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Advanced Line Editing - Conflating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
7 Routing & Logistics Tutorials 83

Solving a Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows . . . . . . . . . . 83
Solving the Arc Routing Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Solving a Bipartite Weighted Matching Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Solving a Regional Partitioning Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
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Solving a Facility Location Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Where to Go From Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
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Preface
Welcome to the TransCAD Demo Release User’s Guide.

We’ve created the TransCAD Demo Release so that you can learn more about TransCAD by
using it yourself. The TransCAD Demo Release contains software, data, and tutorials that let
you work with TransCAD and experience a selection of the capabilities and functions it provides.
About the Demo Release

The TransCAD Demo Release is a working version of the TransCAD Transportation Planning
Software, complete with dozens of sample maps and geographic files for you to work with. The
Demo Release is limited in the following ways:
• The Demo Release is designed to work only with the sample files provided in the tutorial
folder. TransCAD files you receive from other sources (including the extensive data that
are distributed with the commercial and academic versions of TransCAD) cannot be used.
• While you can create new files using the Demo Release, these files cannot be used in a
later session. For example, you can create new maps, geographic files, and data tables
using the Demo, and use those files throughout a single TransCAD session. However, once
the program ends, you can no longer use those files.
• There is a 60 minute time limit each time you use the TransCAD Demo Release. After
60 minutes, TransCAD will display a message that your time is up, and the program will
end automatically. You can run the Demo Release as many times as you want, but each
session is limited to 60 minutes. There is a short delay when you exit the program so that
the tutorial files can be restored to their original state.
• Caliper has developed numerous additional procedures that work with TransCAD and are
available to users, but are not part of this Demo Release.
• TransCAD comes with extensive documentation that is not part of the Demo Release.
• The TransCAD demo requires Windows 7, 8 or 10.
About this Book

This User’s Guide takes you on a brief tour of TransCAD.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of TransCAD, and introduces some of the terms and concepts
you need to use TransCAD effectively.
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Chapter 2, Quick Start, is a hands-on tutorial that lets you use TransCAD for three different
mapping and analysis projects. The tutorial will give you some practical experience with
TransCAD, and give you a general idea how the program works.
Chapters 3- 7 contain sample 60-Second Tutorials from the TransCAD documentation set.
These tutorials are designed to let users try out the various capabilities of the software, and
they are included here to give you broader exposure to TransCAD. The tutorials are organized
into several categories:
• Chapter 3: Travel demand modeling tutorials
• Chapter 4: Network and route systems tutorials
• Chapter 5: GIS and mapping tutorials
• Chapter 6: Geographic editing tutorials
• Chapter 7: Routing and logistics tutorials
Installing and Running the Demo Release

To use the TransCAD Demo Release you must run the setup program. The setup program
verifies that your Windows directory is up-to-date, and creates a program group and program
item for the TransCAD Demo Release.
To Run the Setup Program

Browse your computer and double-click the setup.exe file. Follow the on-screen instructions to
finish installing the TransCAD Demo Release.
The TransCAD demo and tutorial files (about 50MB) are installed to your hard drive.
To Start the TransCAD Demo Release

1. Choose Start-Programs-TransCAD-TransCAD 8.0 Demo.
For More Information about TransCAD

We hope you enjoy using this Demo Release of TransCAD transportation planning software. If
you have additional questions about TransCAD, call us or send an e-mail to info@caliper.com.
To place an order, call and ask for TransCAD Sales, or send an e-mail to sales@caliper.com.
Thank you for your interest in TransCAD.
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Chapter 1
Introducing TransCAD
Welcome to TransCAD, a revolutionary system for transportation data management and analysis.
TransCAD lets you store, retrieve, analyze, and visualize all types of transportation and related
geographic data in new and useful ways.
TransCAD combines a unique set of capabilities for digital mapping, geographic database
management, and presentation graphics with tools to apply sophisticated transportation, operations
research, and statistical models.
TransCAD is designed to aid transportation professionals in their daily work, and to provide
transportation organizations with a strategic data management tool. It has applications for
all types of transportation data and for all modes of transportation, and is ideal for building
transportation information and decision support systems.
TransCAD has five major components:
• The most powerful geographic information system (GIS) available today in the Windows
operating environment
• An extended data model that provides essential tools for transportation data display and
manipulation
• The largest collection of transportation analysis procedures ever assembled in one software
package
• Broad and comprehensive sets of transportation, geographic, and demographic data
• A powerful development language for creating macros, add-ins, server applications, and
custom front-ends
The TransCAD GIS

TransCAD is a full-featured geographic information system designed specifically for planning,
managing, and analyzing the characteristics of transportation systems and facilities. TransCAD
provides all the tools you need to create and edit maps and geographic data sets, produce
thematic maps and other graphic output, and perform spatial and geographical analyses.
TransCAD incorporates numerous technical advances in geographic data management, display,
and analysis. TransCAD includes enhanced map generation tools such as MapWizard® automated
thematic maps, automatic map label placement, and fully scalable line and symbol libraries.
Advanced geoprocessing capabilities support spatial queries, polygon overlay, and multi-band
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buffering. The TransCAD GIS manages geographic data at any spatial scale, and provides tools
for geographic aggregation that make it easy to integrate data from several different scales.
TransCAD stores spatial data in an efficient topological format that reduces storage requirements
and increases data integrity. Active Topology™ map editing ensures the connectivity of transportation
networks and provides an extremely efficient method for interactive geographic editing and
network development.
TransCAD also offers a compact, read-only geographic data format that provides rapid
access to large geographic databases. This format is ideal for publication of geographic data
sets. Both formats support seamless geographic files and multi-user data access with no practical
size restrictions.
TransCAD interoperates with other GIS and database systems and can be used in conjunction
with many other popular software packages.
Extended Data Model

Vector GIS systems were originally developed to support environmental and land information
applications. As such, they focused on providing capabilities for polygon processing. Transportation
applications of GIS, however, require more complex data structures. TransCAD has an extended
data model that includes the following:
• Storage of information on the allowable direction of flow on each link, to facilitate identification
and analysis of networks containing one-way links
• Non-topological geographic data extensions, to represent features such as underpasses and

overpasses
• Storage of data on delays and restrictions for turn movements at intersections, to provide
more realistic network representations
• Route system layers that maintain routes as collections of geographic features, to facilitate
route definition and network development, enhance the quality of route displays, and
provide for storage of route-based tabular data
• Tools for maintaining, displaying, and performing spatial queries on linearly-referenced

attribute data, including comprehensive dynamic segmentation functions
• Storage and manipulation of data in matrix form, including flow matrices, travel time
matrices, and cost matrices
TransCAD lets you manipulate these data types in conjunction with the more traditional
GIS entities in a natural, convenient, and powerful manner. TransCAD also makes it easy to
use legacy and enterprise data because TransCAD directly supports a wide range of geographic
and tabular file formats. Geographic formats include ESRI Shapefile and Personal Geodatabase,
MapInfo TAB, Oracle Spatial, and any ODBCtable with a coordinate. Tabular formats include
Access, Oracle table, ODBC table, and ODBC SQL query.
Transportation Analysis and Modeling

The complete TransCAD package includes a core set of transportation network analysis, travel
demand modeling, and operations research models, a set of advanced analytical models for
specific applications, and a set of supporting tools for statistical and econometric analysis.
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These procedures can be used individually or in combination to solve problems you face in your
work. This modular approach gives you great flexibility to address specific modeling and data
issues.
To appreciate the power of TransCAD, you must understand it as an integrated GIS and
transportation analysis tool. The GIS makes it possible to display and visualize both the inputs
to a particular model and the model outputs. This lets you evaluate the quality of the data and
the quality of the analysis in different ways. In addition, the GIS can be used to assemble and
prepare data for analysis in ways not possible with traditional transportation modeling software.
Because analytic methods are rapidly evolving in transportation and logistics, TransCAD
is continually augmented with new procedures and capabilities. TransCAD users, therefore,
receive periodic updates to the TransCAD models and procedures as they become available.
TransCAD procedures are intended for use by knowledgeable analysts. Users are urged
to consult the technical literature for relevant background information on model definitions,
solution methods, and appropriate applications. Technical references in this manual can guide
you to sources for this important background information.
The procedures that are provided with TransCAD are designed to solve many common
transportation and logistics problems. However, small deviations from the standard form of
these problems may require new or different solution methods. In many cases, Caliper or third
party developers have already developed appropriate procedures or can do so on a custom basis.
Please contact Caliper Corporation if you need information of this type.
Data
TransCAD includes an extensive library of geographic, demographic, and transportation data
that help you get your projects started quickly. Data provided with TransCAD include:
• Detailed street files for the entire U.S.
• National highway, rail, and waterway networks
• Boundaries for census tracts, ZIP Codes®, states, counties, Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) areas, transportation analysis zones (TAZs), and more
• Hundreds of data items from the Census of Population and Housing, including those most
useful for transportation analysis
TransCAD provides comprehensive tools for creating, editing, importing, and exporting
geographic data. TransCAD can import virtually all U.S. Census transportation data products,
including TIGER/Line® files, Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) data files, and
Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data. TransCAD also provides access to data published
by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
TransCAD has an open systems architecture with extensive support for data exchange. This
lets you import data from and export data to most popular DBMS, CAD, and GIS software
packages. TransCAD also lets you directly use ESRI Shapefiles and Personal Geodatabases,
MapInfo TAB files, Oracle Spatial tables, and any ODBC table with a coordinate as a map
layer.
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Custom Application Development
TransCAD includes the Geographic Information System Developer’s Kit (GISDK™). GISDK
gives you the tools that you need to create a wide variety of products for delivering mapping
and geographic analysis capabilities to your customers. Almost 800 functions can be called
from Caliper Script, a complete programming language for designing menus and dialog boxes
(including toolbars and toolboxes) and for writing macros. The Caliper Script code is stored in
resource files that you can edit with your favorite text editor. With GISDK you can:
• Create add-ins or macros that extend the capabilities of TransCAD or that automate
repeated operations. Add-ins can be freely distributed to any TransCAD user without
restriction.
• Build custom applications that focus the user on the capabilities needed for a particular
purpose by extending or replacing the standard TransCAD interface. You design the
menus, toolbars, toolboxes and dialog boxes, and program the application to respond to
user actions in any way you want.
• Access TransCAD from .NET to integrate it into a .NET application or access TransCAD
as a COM Object to add maps or analysis functions to your own programs. The .NET
classes included with TransCAD allow you to access the GISDK environment from a
Windows desktop application (Windows Forms) written in any .NET language such as
C#, Python, Visual Basic, etc. GISDK also allows you to call GISDK functions and
macros from another application using COM. TransCAD can provide map, data, and
geographic analysis services when accessed as a COM Object. You write your application
in a programming language that can make COM calls, and when you need map services
you call the TransCAD object to supply those services.
For web applications, TransCAD for the Web provides an easy and cost-effective solution.
For more information, visit WWW.CALIPER.COM or contact Caliper sales at 617-527-4700.
TransCAD Basics
TransCAD combines many components into one package:
• A complete geographic information system that lets you analyze and map transportation
systems at the neighborhood, city, state, national, or worldwide scale
• A collection of capabilities for displaying, editing, and analyzing your own data
• Instruments for linking the build-in information to your own data
• An assortment of tools for analyzing, interpreting, and making effective transportation

graphics and presentations using maps
Let’s take a look at how TransCAD takes all of these components and organizes them for
you.
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The TransCAD Screen
The TransCAD screen resembles many other Windows applications. You use TransCAD by
choosing commands from the menus or by using command buttons and tools in a toolbar.
Toolbars can be either docked or floating. You can also click the right mouse button to choose
from context-sensitive menus. When you choose some commands from the menu, TransCAD
displays a dialog box to ask you for additional information about what you would like to do.
TransCAD dialog boxes work exactly like those in any other Windows application.
The analysis procedures in TransCAD are grouped into several different menus:
Networks/Paths, Planning, Route Systems, and so on. These menus are displayed only when
you need them. To turn on one of these menus, choose the class of procedures you are interested
in from the Procedure menu. For example, choose Procedures>Statistics to activate the
Statistics menu, which contains TransCAD procedures for statistical analysis and modeling.
Depending on the resolution of your screen, some of the tools in the toolbars may not be
visible. If this occurs, you can either use the corresponding menu commands, or change your
Windows setup to increase your screen resolution.
Maps, Dataviews, Matrices, Figures, and Layouts

TransCAD displays information on your computer screen in five types of windows: maps,
dataviews, matrix views, figures, and layouts. Each one is displayed in a separate window
on your screen, and each one can be saved for future use in files stored on your computer’s hard
disk. You can create any number of maps, dataviews, matrix views, figures, and layouts.
Maps show geographic features and their characteristics in an electronic version of a paper
map. Choose the features you want to see and how you would like to see them, and TransCAD
creates a map from its vast collection of geographic data or from your own data. When a map
is the active window it is the current map.
Dataviews display information from geographic files, databases, or spreadsheets in tabular
format. In a dataview you can display and edit data, create and print reports, and customize the
way the data are displayed. You can also use dataviews to link your own personal or corporate
data to features on a map.
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Matrix views are used to display transportation data, multiple shortest paths, spatial adjacency,
cross-tabulation results, and other data that are stored in matrices. You can create, edit,
manipulate, and combine matrices to support analytical applications.
Figures show tabular data in forms such as prism and 3D maps and as charts, including pie
charts, bar charts, area charts, line charts, and scatter plots. You create figures from maps,
dataviews, and matrix views and then customize them to show the data the way you want.
Layouts bring together any number of maps, dataviews, matrix views, and figures in a single
presentation and allow you to add freehand text, drawings, your company logo, and more. You
can use layouts to make wall-sized maps or to produce maps in a standard format for reports.
Workspaces
Often you will have several windows of different types open on your screen. You can save all
your open winders in a single step using a workspace. When you save a workspace, TransCAD
puts information about all of your maps, dataviews, matrix views, figures, and layouts into a
single file. When you open this file later on, TransCAD restores all of the windows.
12
Layers
Maps are composed of many different layers of

information. For example, this sample road
map of Perth, Australia contains water areas,
reserves, settlements, postal areas, streets, and
railroads.
TransCAD organizes all of the features in a map
into layers. When you create or work with a
map, you choose the layers you want to see and
decide how each layer should look.
Labels
TransCAD lets you label each feature on a map

with its name or any other attribute.
TransCAD lets you choose label position, size,
color, style, and priority. In addition, you can
move individual labels to suit your needs, use
callouts, and rotate labels.
Map Scale and Location

While a paper map shows a fixed geographic region, TransCAD lets you move around the map
from place to place, zooming in as you like, to see more and more geographic detail. You can
use autoscaling so that layers appear automatically as you zoom in.
If you often want to look at particular map locations, you can save those locations by creating
a bookmark. You can quickly zoom to the location of a bookmark from any map, or create a
map based on a bookmark by using the Map Librarian. You can also use a Map Locator to
show the location of a map and move the map to a new location.
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Themes
A theme is a way to illustrate the data that go with a map layer. TransCAD lets you create
many types of themes that use color, patterns, charts, and symbols to make informative maps.
When you create a theme, you choose the data you want to use and the type of theme you want.
You let MapWizard®automatic mapping do the rest, or customize the theme settings to make
your map look exactly the way you want.
Networks
Networks are used by TransCAD to find

routes, calculate distances and travel times,
and support many other analysis and modeling
applications. You can create networks from
road, rail, waterway, or other line layers.
Routes and Route Systems
Routes are a special type of geographic feature

that represent the paths followed by vehicles,
goods, or individuals. There is an extensive
set of tools for editing, displaying, querying,
and performing geographic analysis on route
systems. Routes and route systems are
also often automatically produced by various
analytical functions in TransCAD.
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Matrices
TransCAD uses matrices to store data on
transportation flows, travel times, distances,
and crosstabulation results. TransCAD
matrices are an extremely efficient way of
storing transportation data that do not fit
well into databases or spreadsheets. You can
create, edit, manipulate, and combine matrices
in many different ways to support analytical
applications. Matrices are displayed in matrix
views.
Procedures
TransCAD includes a broad and diverse set of transportation network models and other analytic
tools for transportation planning, vehicle routing, site location, and distribution logistics. These
tools are known as procedures. Procedures are grouped into several different menus, which
can be displayed or hidden by choosing commands on the Procedure menu. For example, choose
Procedures > Statistics to activate the Statistics menu, which contains TransCAD procedures
for statistical analysis and modeling. The Logging tab of the Edit > Preferences command
controls the types of reports and messages that are produced by the procedures.
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Chapter 2
Quick Start Tutorial
Now that you have learned some of the basics, let’s work through a few sample projects that will
give you some hands-on experience in creating maps and doing analysis in TransCAD. In this
chapter you will complete three projects that are based on a hypothetical city called Flintbury,
USA. In the process of stepping through these projects, you’ll get a chance to practice using
some of the most important features of TransCAD.
Project 1: The Travel Patterns in Flintbury

As the first project, we’re going to use TransCAD to make, save, and print a map of Flintbury
that displays mode share and traffic volumes. We’ll do this project in two stages. First, we’ll
create an overview map of the city. Then we’ll add the mode share and traffic volume data.
Creating an Overview Map

To Start
1. If you haven’t already done so, start TransCAD by clicking the Start button and choosing
TransCAD from the Program menu.
To Create the Overview Map
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar.
2. Choose Geographic File from the Files of Type drop-down list.
3. Choose the Tutorial folder from the Look In drop-down list.
4. Choose the file FL ZONE.CDF.
5. Click Open.
TransCAD creates a new map showing the zones of Flintbury. As you just saw, you create
a new map simply by opening a geographic file.
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To Label the Zones
1. Click on the Standard toolbar.

2. Choose the field ZONE from the first drop-down list.
3. Choose 16 as the size of the labels.
4. Choose a dark red color.
5. Click OK.
TransCAD draws the map again, this time displaying the identification number of each zone.
To Add a Street Layer to the Map
1. Choose Map > Layers or click on the Standard toolbar.

2. Click the Add Layer button.
3. Choose the geographic file FL ST.CDF from the Tutorial folder and click Open. TransCAD
adds Flintbury Nodes and Flintbury Streets to the list of layers.
4. Click the Close button.
TransCAD adds the Flintbury streets to the map. The Flintbury Node layer is hidden.
A map can contain any number of layers. You use the Layers dialog box to add layers to or
remove layers from the map, control the order in which they draw, and change the way they are
displayed.
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At the moment, the zone boundaries are not very visible. You can fix that by changing the
style of the zone layer. Style refers to the colors, patterns, and sizes that are used to display
features in a layer on the map.
To Change the Zone Style

1. Choose Flintbury Zones from the drop-down list of layers on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose a dashed line from the Border Style drop-down list.
4. Choose 1.5 from the Border Width drop-down list.
5. Choose the black color at the very top of the Border Color drop-down list.
6. Click OK.
TransCAD draws the map again. This time, the zones stand out more clearly. Let’s now
add a title to the map.
To Add a Title to the Map
1. Click on the Drawing toolbar to activate the Freehand Text tool.
2. Drag a short, wide rectangle across the top of the page.
3. Type the title ”Flintbury” and press the Enter key.
The other drawing tools on the Drawing toolbar let you add circles , rectangles , rounded
rectangles , lines , curves , shapes , bitmaps , and symbols to your maps. Once
the title is entered, you may want to make it bigger or smaller, or move it. Here’s how:
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To Move or Resize the Title
1. Click on the Drawing toolbar to activate the Pointer tool.
2. Click on the title. TransCAD draws handles at the corners.
3. To change the size of the title, drag one of the handles.
4. To move the title, press and hold the mouse button in the center of the title, and drag the
title to a new location.
5. To remove the handles, click somewhere else on the map. As with most computer programs,
it is wise to save your work as you go along.
To Save Your Work
1. Choose File > Save or click on the Standard toolbar.
2. Choose the Tutorial folder.
3. Type Flintbury as the map file name.
4. Click Save.
TransCAD saves the map to a file on disk. Your map should look something like this:
We’ve finished the overview map of Flintbury. Let’s move on to Stage 2.

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Stage 2: Displaying Data on the Map
Now let’s look at data on commuter travel in Flintbury, and see how you can use it to make the
map a little more interesting. The Flintbury Zone layer contains data on each of the zones in
Flintbury.
To View the Data Stored in the Flintbury Zone Layer

1. Verify that Flintbury Zones is displayed in the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
TransCAD displays the data stored in the Flintbury Zone layer in a dataview. Each row in
the dataview contains data on one of the Flintbury zones. Take a moment to browse through
the zone data using the scroll bars and the arrow keys on your keyboard. Make sure you note
the column TRANSIT SHARE. You will use this field in a moment.
Now let’s use these data to color code the map.
To Illustrate the Transit Mode Share Throughout Flintbury

1. Choose File > Close to close the Flintbury Zones dataview.
2. Verify that Flintbury Zones is displayed in the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Map > Thematic Mapping > Color or click on the Standard toolbar.
4. Choose TRANSIT SHARE from the Field drop-down list. TransCAD fills in all other
settings automatically.
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5. Click OK.
TransCAD looks over the transit share information, and draws a map that uses a color
theme to illustrate different values of transit share. TransCAD also displays a legend showing
the transit shares that are indicated by different colors.
When you create a color theme, you can choose the colors to use, the number of categories
you want, and many other settings.
You also want to display information about the level of traffic on each street in Flintbury.
To do this, you will use data that is stored in a fixed-format binary file called FL STDAT.BIN.
To Open the Street Info File

2. Choose Fixed-format Binary from the Files of Type drop-down list.
3. Choose the file FL STDAT.BIN from the Tutorial folder.
4. Click Open.
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TransCAD displays the file in a dataview. Each row in the dataview corresponds to a segment
of a street in Flintbury, and each column contains a different piece of information about the
segment.
As you just saw, you can create a new dataview by opening a table. The table can be stored
in Access, dBASE, Excel, any ODBC compliant data source such as Oracle or SQL Server, and
many other formats.
To enhance the map with the data contained in FL STDAT.BIN, you need to match the
streets on the map with their respective rows in the dataview. You will join the street layer to
the street data file by matching the street IDs, which appear in both places. Here’s how you do
it.
To Join the Street Layer to the Street Data File

1. Choose Window > Map1-Flintbury to make the Flintbury map the active window.
2. Choose Flintbury Streets from the drop-down list of layers on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Dataview > Table > Join or click on the Standard toolbar to display the
Join dialog box.
4. Choose Flintbury Streets from the first Table drop-down list.
5. Verify that FL STDAT is displayed in the second Table drop-down list.
6. Verify that [STREET ID] is displayed in the second Field drop-down list.
7. Click OK.
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TransCAD creates a new dataview called Flintbury Streets+FL STDAT. This dataview has
one record for each street segment, and shows the data associated with each street.
Now let’s use the information contained in the [EST VOLUME] field to show the estimated
volume on Flintbury streets.
To Show the Traffic Flow on the Map

1. Choose Window > Flintbury.map to make the map of Flintbury the active window.
2. Verify that Flintbury Streets is displayed in the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Map > Thematic Mapping > Size or click on the Standard toolbar.
4. Choose [EST VOLUME] from the Field drop-down list.
5. Click OK.
TransCAD draws a map in which the width of each street is proportional to its flow.
TransCAD also adds this information to the legend. You can adjust how wide the
scaled-symbol theme is to make the map a little more legible at this scale.
7. Change the high value size to 10 and click OK.
Your map should look something like this:
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Let’s save the map. You will save this map under a different name, so that you don’t
overwrite Flintbury.map, which you saved earlier.
To Save Your Work

1. Choose File > Save As.
2. Choose the Tutorial folder on your hard disk.
3. Type Flintbury Traffic for the map file name.
4. Click Save.
TransCAD saves the map to a file on disk.

There’s only one more thing to do to complete the project.
To Print the Map
1. Choose File > Print or click on the Standard toolbar.

2. If you have a color printer, choose it from the Printer Name drop-down list, otherwise,
select any convenient printer.
3. Check the Use Actual Point Sizes box.
4. Click OK.
TransCAD prints the map, and we’re done with the first project. Let’s close the map and
dataviews before beginning the second project.
To Close the Map and Dataviews

1. Choose File > Close All .
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Project 2: Flintbury’s Bus System
In the second project, we’re going to do some analysis of Flintbury’s bus service. In particular,
you are going to investigate the accessibility of the bus system and the characteristics of the
people who ride the buses.
We’ll do this project in three stages:
• Create a map showing Flintbury’s bus routes with bands of various distances around the
routes
• Use a bus survey to obtain information on the riders
• Create and print a layout summarizing your results
Stage 1: Making a Map of the Bus Routes

For the first project, you created an overview map of Flintbury showing zones and streets. You
are going to use this map as a starting point for the bus route map.
To Open a Map
2. Choose the file Flintbury.map in the Tutorial folder.
3. Click Open.
TransCAD opens the map and displays it in a new window.

You happen to have a file containing a route system layer for the Flintbury Bus System,
which will be helpful in the analysis.
To Add a Route System File to the Map
2. Click the Add Layer button.
3. Choose Route System from the Files of Type drop-down list.
4. Choose the file FL BUS.RTS from the Tutorial folder and click Open. TransCAD adds
FRTC Bus Routes to the list of layers.
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5. Click the Close button in the Layers dialog box.
TransCAD adds the Flintbury bus layer to the map. Routes are very much like other layers.
You can control the colors, line styles, and line widths with which they are displayed, and you
can use labeling and themes to illustrate the characteristics of routes.
Let’s zoom in to the area around the bus routes.
To Use the Zoom Tool
1. Click on the Tools toolbar to activate the Zoom In tool.
2. Drag a rectangle around the bus routes.
TransCAD expands the contents of the rectangle so that it fills the map window. If you are
not satisfied with the area that is now shown in the map, Choose Map-Previous Scale and try
again.
Now that you can clearly see the routes, let’s create buffers of different sizes around the
routes to show the accessibility of the bus system.
To Create Buffers Around the Bus Routes

1. Choose FRTC Bus Routes from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
2. Choose Tools > Analysis > Buffers or click on the Standard toolbar to display the
Buffers dialog box.
3. Type “Service Areas” in the Create Layer text box.
4. Click on the Fixed Sizes radio button and type 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 in the Sizes text box.
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5. Click OK. TransCAD displays the Save As dialog box.
7. Type “MY BUFFERS” as the file name and click Save.
TransCAD creates a new layer named Service Areas and adds it to the map, showing the
gaps in the bus system service areas.
Something we’re interested in knowing is the population within each of the buffers. You can
quickly calculate this information by using the Overlay feature.
To Build Overlays
1. Choose Service Areas from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
2. Choose Tools > Analysis > Overlay to display the Overlay dialog box.
3. Choose Flintbury Zones from the Layer drop-down list and remove the check from the
Count the Number of Features and Create a Report boxes.
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6. Type “MY ACCESS” as the file name and click Save.
TransCAD computes the attributes of the buffers based on the amount of overlay that exists
between the buffers and the zones, then displays the results in a dataview. Scroll to the right
to view the POPULATION field, which contains the population that lives within each of the
buffers.
Stage 2: Finding Out about the Passengers

You now have a great map and some statistics on accessibility, but you still don’t know much
about the riders. You will use the results of a major survey of Flintbury bus riders to find out
more about the passengers. The survey results are in a dBASE file called FL BSURV.DBF.
To Open a Survey File
1. Choose File-Open or click on the Standard toolbar.
2. Choose dBASE file from the Files of Type drop-down list.
3. Select the file FL BSURV.DBF from the Tutorial folder.
4. Click Open.
TransCAD displays the file in a dataview. Each row in the dataview corresponds to a survey
response form filled out by a rider.
The survey file contains information on the home addresses of each of the respondents, so
let’s put these addresses on the map.
To Locate by Address
1. Choose Tools > Locate > Locate by Address to display the Locate by Address dialog
box.
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If you have not configured a region file, configure the Choose Street Layer or Location Index
dialog box by clicking on the button next to the Streets/Index drop down list. Choose
the FL ST.CDF layer from the Streets/Index drop-down list, USA Addresses from the
Address Format drop-down list, and USA, Canada, and Mexico from the City Format
drop-down list. Click OK to return to the Locate by Address dialog box.
2. Type “Survey Respondents” in the Name text box and verify that TransCAD has found
the ADDRESS and ZIP data fields it needs to locate the features.
4. Choose the Tutorial folder on your hard disk, type “MY RIDERS” as the name for the
new geographic file, and click Save.
TransCAD creates a new point layer containing one point for each survey respondent,
and adds that layer to the map. TransCAD also creates a dataview that contains the
longitude and latitude of each rider’s home and the survey information on the rider. All
of the information in this dataview is stored in the new geographic file MY RIDERS that
you just created. It also displays a brief report showing how many riders were located
successfully.
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5. Click OK to close the report.
The new map shows that most of the bus riders live within the 0.75 mile band of the bus
routes. Now let’s change the style of the layer.
To Change the Style

1. Verify that Survey Respondents is displayed in the drop-down list on the toolbar.
3. Change the size to 8.
4. Change the color to purple.
5. If you want, choose a different symbol from the icons scroll list on the left of the dialog
box.
6. Click OK
TransCAD draws the map again with the new style.

Tools > Locate > Locate by Address is one of several commands you can use to locate
your data. The Streets file that comes with TransCAD includes streets for the entire US, so
you can locate addresses across the nation in a single step. TransCAD can also locate your data
based on ZIP Code, or by almost any other field in your database.
Let’s now perform some statistics on the Survey respondents to get more information about
the riders.
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To Compute Statistics
1. Choose Window > Dataview > Survey Respondents to view the dataview associated
with the Survey Respondents map layer.
2. Choose All Records from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar to see the data for
all of the respondents.
3. Choose Dataview > Summary Statistics or click on the Standard toolbar.
TransCAD computes summary statistics for each of the survey fields, including sum, maximum,
minimum, and mean, and displays the results in a dataview.
The COUNT and SUM fields are not particularly interesting, so let’s hide them in the
dataview.
To Hide Columns in a Dataview

1. Click on any row in the column named COUNT, and drag over to the column named SUM
so that at least one cell in each column is highlighted.
2. Click the hide button on the Standard toolbar.
TransCAD hides the two columns.
Among all of the respondents, the mean number of vehicles is 1.77 and the mean travel time is
34 minutes.
Now we’re going to generate statistics for a particular set of respondents. We’ll first ask
TransCAD to find the riders who live within a quarter mile of the bus system. We’ll do this by
creating a selection set, which is simply a list of records in a single map layer or dataview.
To Select Features by Location

1. Click on the Survey Respondents dataview or choose Window > Dataview > Survey
Respondents to make the survey dataview the current view.
2. Choose Selection > Select by Location to display the Select by Location dialog box.
3. Choose FRTC Bus Routes from the first drop-down list.
4. Choose within as the selection option and type 0.25 as the distance.
5. Type “Within 0.25” in the Selection Set editable drop-down list.
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6. Click OK.
TransCAD creates a selection set called Within 0.25 that contains the features in the Survey
Respondents layer that are within 0.25 miles of the bus system.
Now let’s generate statistics on this selection set.
To Compute Statistics on a Selection Set

1. Choose Within 0.25 from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar to show only those
records included in the Within 0.25 selection set.
2. Choose Dataview > Statistics or click on the Standard toolbar.

This time TransCAD computes the statistics using only those records contained in your
selection set. Note that the transit riders that live within 0.25 miles of the bus system
have a lower average car-ownership rate and have a lower average travel time.
3. Choose File > Close to close the dataview.
One interesting piece of survey data is the time that customers spend waiting for buses. Let’s
do a tabulation to show the number of respondents within certain ranges of wait time. You will
use the entire survey this time, since you don’t expect wait time to vary based on accessibility
to the buses.
To Produce a Tabulation of Wait Time

1. Click on the Survey Respondents dataview or choose Window > Dataview > Survey
Respondents to make the survey respondents dataview the active view.
2. If the Statistics menu is not showing, choose Procedures > Statistics to display the
Statistics menu.
3. Choose Statistics > Tabulations to display the Tabulations dialog box.
4. Choose WAIT TIME from the Field 1 drop-down list.

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5. Choose Equal Size Intervals as the method.
6. Click OK.
7. Choose the Tutorial folder on your hard disk, type “MY WAIT” as the name of the output
file, and click Save.
TransCAD creates a tabulation matrix that contains one row for each of ten ranges of wait
time and four columns (count, percent, cumulative count and cumulative percent), and
displays the matrix in a matrix view. Note that 66.84% of riders wait 11 minutes or less.
Dataview > Summary Statistics and Statistics > Tabulations are just two of the
numerous summary and analytical statistical tools that TransCAD provides.
Stage 3: Creating a Layout

You are going to arrange your map and dataview on one page, called a layout. A layout lets you
arrange any number of maps, dataviews, and matrices on a printed page, along with freehand
text and other items.
33
To Create a New Layout
1. Choose File > New or click on the Standard toolbar to display the New File dialog
box.
2. Choose Layout from the list of file types and click OK. TransCAD displays a new layout.
3. Choose File > Properties or click on the Standard toolbar to display the Layout
Properties dialog box. If you have a color printer, choose it from the Printer drop-down
list, otherwise, choose any convenient printer.
4. Choose Portrait from the orientation radio list.
5. Click OK.
TransCAD displays a blank layout page. Let’s drop in the map, dataview, and chart using
the Place tool.
To Place a Map in the Layout
1. Click on the Drawing toolbar or click to activate the Place tool.
2. Drag a rectangle across the top half of the page. TransCAD displays the Add to Layout
dialog box.
3. Click on the FLINTBURY map in the grid view.
4. Click OK.
TransCAD adds the map and the legend to the layout. Once the map is placed, you may
want to make it bigger or smaller, or change its location. You do this the same way that you
moved and resized the title on your first map.
To Move or Resize a Layout Item
1. Click on the Standard toolbar to activate the Pointer tool.
2. Click on the map. TransCAD draws handles at the corners.
3. To change the size of the map, drag one of the handles.
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4. To move the entire map, press and hold the mouse button near the center of the map, and
drag the map to a new location.
Use this method to place the legend over the lower-right corner of the map. Let’s add a title
to the layout.
To Add a Title to the Layout
1. Click on the Drawing toolbar to activate the Freehand Text tool.

2. Drag a short, wide rectangle at the top of the page.
3. Type the title “Flintbury Transit” and press the Enter key.
If the title is the wrong size or in the wrong place, select it with the Pointer tool and
resize it or move it. Let’s also add the summary statistics to the layout.
To Place the Statistics Dataview in the Layout
1. Click on the Tools toolbar to activate the Place tool.

2. Drag a rectangle below the map. TransCAD displays the Add to Layout dialog box.
3. Click on the Survey Respondents Statistics dataview in the scroll list.
4. Click OK
TransCAD draws the dataview in the layout. As with the map, you may move or resize the
dataview. When you have an arrangement that you like, it’s time to save the layout.
To Save the Layout
1. Choose File > Save or click on the Standard toolbar.

2. Choose a directory on your hard disk.
3. Type the name “MY BUS” for the layout file.
4. Click Save.
You can use layouts to create printed output of any size, containing any combination of
maps, dataviews, matrices, figures, and freehand items.
Finally, let’s print the layout.
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To print the Layout
1. Choose File > Print or click on the Standard toolbar.
2. Choose the number of copies you want to print.
3. Click OK.
The second project is now complete. Before moving on to the third project, close all of the
open files by choosing File > Close All. Click No to All when TransCAD asks if you want
to save your changes.
Project 3: The Impact of Closing Streets for a Parade

In this final project, we’re going to do a quick analysis of the impact of closing down some
streets in downtown Flintbury for a parade. We’ll use the network, shortest path, and matrix
capabilities of TransCAD to compare the person-hours spent driving in Flintbury under normal
conditions with the person-hours spent driving with the parade route closed.
Stage 1: Preparing Inputs

Once again, you will start your analysis from a map you made earlier.
To Open a Map
2. Select the file Flintbury Traffic.map previously saved
3. Click OK.
TransCAD opens the Flintbury Traffic.map file and displays it in a new window. This map
is a little cluttered, so let’s clear the theme that is on the street layer before you proceed to the
analysis.
To Remove a Size Theme

1. Choose Flintbury Streets from the drop-down list of layers on the Standard toolbar.
3. Click Remove.
TransCAD redraws the map so that all of the streets are the same width. Now let’s take a
moment to look at the data associated with the Flintbury Street Layer.
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To View the Data Associated with the Street Layer
1. Choose File > New or click on the Standard toolbar to display the New File dialog
box.
2. Choose Dataview from the list of file types and click OK to display the New Dataview
dialog box.
3. Choose Flintbury Streets + FL STDAT from the scroll list.
4. Click OK.
In particular, note the [TRAV TIME] field, which contains the time it takes for an
automobile to travel each section of street (in minutes), and the PARADE RTE field, which
contains a value of 1 if the section of the street will be closed during the parade, or is otherwise
empty. You will be using these fields later in your analysis.
Your Flintbury map has a hidden layer in it called Flintbury Nodes, which is a point layer
of intersections in the Flintbury Street layer. Let’s show this layer in the map.
To Show the Street Node Layer

1. Click on the map window or choose Window > Flintbury Traffic.map-FLINTBURY
to make the map the current window.
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3. Click on Flintbury Nodes in the scroll list.
4. Click the Show Layer button.
5. Click Close.
TransCAD redraws the map, and the nodes are displayed. Let’s look at the data contained
in the Flintbury Nodes layer.
To View the Data Included in the Node Layer

1. Verify that Flintbury Nodes is displayed in the drop-down on the toolbar.
Note the field called Centroid. We’ll assume that all traffic flow into or out of any zone
begins or ends at a single point within the zone. These special points are called zone centroids.
The entry in the Centroid field designates whether or not each point is a zone centroid: all
zone centroid points contain an integer value in the Centroid field. Since there are only 12 zone
centroids and 1740 nodes, most of the Centroid column is empty.
Let’s create a selection set of the zone centroids to use later in the analysis. You will use
a different method than you used to create a selection set of bus riders earlier, but the type of
output — a list of elements in a single map layer or dataview — is the same.
To Select the Node Centroids
1. Choose Selection > Select by Condition or click on the Selection toolbar.
2. Type the condition ”Centroid<>null” in the Enter a Condition text box.

You can enter the formula by typing it directly into the text box, or by using the Condition
Builder drop-down lists.
3. Type “Centroids” in the Set Name editable drop-down list.
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4. Click OK.
TransCAD creates a selection set of zone centroids, and displays the selection set in the
dataview. TransCAD also highlights them in a different color on the map. You can create
selection sets in TransCAD many different ways.
You have a matrix file that contains the number of people traveling between any pair of zone
centroids, which represents travel in Flintbury on a typical day. Let’s open it.
To Open the Origin-Destination Flow Matrix
1. Choose File-Open or click on the Standard toolbar.
2. Choose Matrix from the Files of Type drop-down list.
3. Select the matrix file FL OD.MTX from the Tutorial folder.
4. Click Open.
TransCAD opens the matrix file and displays it in a matrix view. Take a moment to browse
through the matrix using the scroll bars and the arrow keys on your keyboard.
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In this project, we’ll use several matrix tools. TransCAD contains a full line of powerful
tools to store, display, edit, and manipulate data in matrix form.
The final input necessary for your analysis is a network of the streets in Flintbury. A network
is a special TransCAD data structure that stores important characteristics of transportation
systems and facilities. TransCAD uses networks to solve transportation problems.
To Create a Network
1. Click on the Flintbury map window or choose Window > Flintbury Traffic.map-FLINTBURY
to make the map the active window.
2. Choose Flintbury Streets from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. If the Networks/Paths menu is not displayed, choose Procedures > Networks/Paths.
4. Choose Networks/Paths > Create to display the Create Network dialog box.
5. Click Choose Link Fields to display the Choose Link Fields dialog box.
6. Ctrl-click on [TRAV TIME] and PARADE RTE at the bottom of the Available Fields
scroll list, so that both [TRAV TIME] and PARADE RTE are highlighted.
7. Click Add>> to move the [TRAV TIME] and PARADE RTE fields to the Selected
Fields scroll list.
8. Click OK to return to the Create Network dialog box.
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9. Click OK. TransCAD displays the Save Network As dialog box.
10. Choose the Tutorial folder on your hard disk, type “MY NETWORK” as the file name,
and click Save.
TransCAD creates the network file, and makes it the currently active network. The name of
the active network is shown in the status bar. You included the [TRAV TIME] and PARADE RTE
fields in the network, because you will be using the data in these fields in the following transportation
analysis.
Stage 2: Generating Shortest Path

You are going to use the TransCAD shortest path tools to calculate the travel time along the
shortest path between each pair of zones. You will calculate two sets of travel times: one set for
typical conditions, and one set with the parade route closed.
Let’s first calculate the minimum travel time for the typical situation, when the parade route
isn’t blocked off.
To Calculate the Typical Travel Times Between Zones

1. Choose Networks/Paths > Multiple Paths to display the Multiple Path dialog box.
2. Choose to minimize [TRAV TIME].
3. Choose Centroids from the From and To drop-down lists.

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4. Choose the Matrix File radio button.
5. Click OK to display the Output File Settings dialog box.

6. Type “MY TYPICAL TIME” in the Short File Name cell.
7. Double-click on Output Matrix in the Output cell to display the Output Matrix Settings
dialog box.
8. Type “Typical TT” in the Matrix text box.
9. Click OK to return to the Output File Settings dialog box.

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10. Click OK.
TransCAD solves the shortest path problem, and stores and displays the results. This matrix
looks a lot like the FL OD matrix that you opened earlier. The only difference is that this
matrix stores travel times, and the FL OD matrix stores traffic flows. TransCAD also displays
the Results Summary dialog box.
Click Close to close the Results Summary dialog box.
Next you must exclude the roads that will be closed from the network.
To Disable Links in a Network

1. Click on the Flintbury map window or choose Window >Flintbury Traffic.map-Flintbury
to make the map the active window.
2. Choose Networks/Paths > Settings to display the Network Settings dialog box.
3. Click Update to display the Update Network dialog box.
4. Choose Disable Links from the Action drop-down list.
5. Choose By Expression from the Using drop-down list to display the Expression dialog
box.
6. Type “PARADE RTE=1” as the expression.
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7. Click OK three times to navigate through three successive dialog boxes.
TransCAD disables the parade route in the network. All subsequent analysis that you do
will use the updated network. Now you can calculate the travel times during the parade.
To Calculate Travel Time Between Zones During the Parade

1. Choose Networks/Paths > Multiple Paths to display the Multiple Path dialog box.
2. Choose to minimize [TRAV TIME].
3. Choose Centroids from the From and To drop-down lists.
4. Choose the Matrix File radio button.
6. Type “MY PARADE TIME” in the Short File Name cell.
7. Double-click on Output Matrix in the Output cell to display the Output Matrix Settings
dialog box.
8. Type “Parade TT” in the Matrix text box.
9. Click OK to return to the Output File Settings dialog box.
10. Click OK.
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TransCAD finds the shortest paths, taking into account the closed streets, and stores and
displays the results. This matrix looks just like the previous two matrices, but it stores the
parade travel times.
Stage 3: Manipulating Matrices

All you need to do now is to manipulate the data in the matrices to obtain the change in
person-hours spent traveling as a result of the parade. You will do this in four quick steps.
TransCAD can put any number of matrices together within one matrix file. Let’s combine
the relevant matrices into one matrix file to make the data manipulation a little easier.
To Combine Several Matrices into One Matrix File
1. Choose Matrix-Combine or click on the Standard toolbar to display the Combine

Matrix File dialog box.
2. Click Select All to highlight the two travel time matrices and the OD flow matrix.

4. Type “MY PARADE” in the Short File Name cell and click OK.
TransCAD creates a new matrix file that contains all three matrices. You can select the
matrix that is visible by choosing a matrix from the drop-down list on the toolbar.
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Before you continue with the analysis, let’s make a couple of cosmetic changes to the matrix.
First the labels. All of your matrices thus far have been labeled with ID values from the
Flintbury Nodes layer. You can easily label your matrices with other integer values or descriptive
strings. Let’s label this matrix with the ID of the zones.
To Change the Labels

1. Choose Matrix > Labels to display the Matrix Labels dialog box.
2. Choose Flintbury Nodes from the drop-down list in the Dataview row.
3. Choose ID from the drop-down list in the ID row.
4. Choose Centroid from the drop-down list in the Label With row.
5. Click OK.
TransCAD displays the matrix, labeling the rows and columns with the values found in the
Centroid field, which are, in this case, the zone IDs.
Now let’s sort the matrix rows and columns so that the zones are shown in order.
To Sort a Matrix View

1. Choose Matrix > Sort to display the Sort Matrix View dialog box.
2. Choose Labels from the Sort By radio list.
3. Choose Ascending from the Sort Order radio list.
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4. Click OK.
TransCAD sorts the matrix view, displaying the rows and columns in order by zone ID.
Now, back to the analysis. Let’s add an empty matrix to the new matrix file. You will use
this matrix to store the results of your data manipulation.
To Add a Matrix to a Matrix File
1. Choose Matrix > Contents or click on the Standard toolbar to display the Matrix
Contents dialog box.
2. Click Add Matrix. TransCAD adds the matrix, called Matrix 4, to the Matrix Name list.
3. Click on Matrix 4.
4. Click Rename to display the Rename Matrix dialog box.
5. Type ”Results” as the New Name and click OK.
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6. Click Close.
TransCAD adds another matrix called Results to the matrix file. Now let’s fill in the results.
To Calculate the Extra Travel for Each Zone Pair

1. Choose Results from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar to make the Results
matrix the visible matrix in the matrix view.
2. Choose Matrix > Fill or click on the toolbar to display the Fill Matrix dialog box.
3. Click the Formula tab.
4. Use the formula builder to create the following formula:
• Choose [FLOW] from the Matrix List drop-down list

• Choose * from the Operator drop-down list
• Type ( in the formula text box
• Choose [PARADE TT - [TRAV TIME]] from the Matrix List drop-down list
• Choose − from the Operator drop-down list
• Choose [TYPICAL TT - [TRAV TIME]] from the Matrix List drop-down list
• Type ) in the formula text box
• Choose / from the Operator drop-down list
• Type 60 in the formula text box
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You can enter the formula by typing it directly into the Formula text box, or by using the
Formula Builder drop-down lists.
5. Click OK.
TransCAD computes the formula for each cell and writes the results in the Results matrix.
You have just filled in the extra person-hours of travel due to the parade for each pair of
zones. What you are really interested in is the total extra travel for the city of Flintbury, that
is, the sum of all the cells in the parade analysis Results matrix.
To Calculate the Total Extra Person-Hours Traveled in Flintbury

1. Choose Sum from the Marginals drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
TransCAD computes the sum of each row and column and displays them in the matrix
view. The total difference in person-hours traveled caused by the parade is shown in the
bottom right shaded cell in the matrix.
Congratulations! You’ve completed all three projects and have practiced the basics of
mapping, databases, layouts, charts, route systems, statistical analysis, networks, routing,
and matrices in TransCAD.
2. Choose File > Close All and click No to All at the prompt to close the windows without
saving changes.
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Where to Go From Here
This Quick Start Tutorial has given you quite a bit of hands-on experience with TransCAD.
Where you go from here is up to you. Here are a few of your choices:
• Read the manual, one section at a time, learning all about TransCAD and its capabilities.
As you read a section, use the Tutorials for practice.
• Use the Table of Contents or the Index to find the parts of the book that tell you what
you want to learn.
• If your principal application is travel demand modeling, begin reading the Travel Demand
Modeling with TransCAD User’s Guide and trying the tutorials contained in it. If your
principal application is routing or logistics, begin reading the Routing and Logistics with
TransCAD User’s Guide and trying the tutorials contained in it.
• Forget about the rest of the book for now, and dive in and play with the software. If you
get stuck and need help, press F1 to use the TransCAD Help, or refer to the manual for
more information.
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Chapter 3
Travel Demand Modeling Tutorials
The tutorials in this chapter will give you a chance to try out and learn some of the travel
demand modeling features of TransCAD. These “60-Second Tutorials” come from the TransCAD
documentation set and cover trip production, trip distribution, mode split, traffic assignment,
transit skims, and OD matrix estimation.
The tutorials in this chapter require you to use commands in the Planning and Transit
menus. If they do not appear on the menu bar, choose Procedures > Planning and Procedures
> Transit to display the respective menus.
Generating Productions by Cross-Classifications

1. Choose File > Open Workspace and open the workspace CROSS CLASSIFICATION.WRK
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of Vermont MCD zones and a cross-classification
table.
2. Choose Planning > Trip Productions > Cross-Classification to display the Cross-Classification
dialog box.
3. Choose MCD from the Input Data drop-down list.
4. Choose Vmt crcl from the Rates Table drop-down list.
5. Choose all three trip purposes that are shown in the Rate Fields scroll list.
6. Click Choose Segments to display the Choose Zone/Subzone dialog box.
7. Click Households in the Available Fields scroll list and click Add>>.
8. Click OK to return to the Cross-Classification dialog box.
9. Choose [AUTO/HH] from the drop-down list in the [Avg Car/HH] column and [INC/HH]
from the drop-down list in the [Avg Inc/HH] column.
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11. Type “MYPROD1” as the Output Table file name in the Short File Name column and
click OK. TransCAD computes the productions for all zones and all purposes, and displays
a dataview of the cross-classification results in a joined view. The Results Summary dialog
box appears indicating the number of lines of text written to the master log and report
files. You will notice that there are six warnings. These warnings refer to the fact that
the external zones you see on the map are missing demographic data.
12. Click Close to close the dialog box, and scroll to the far right of the dataview to see the
trip productions.
13. Choose File > Close All to close the map and dataviews.
Applying a Gravity Model

1. Choose File > Open Workspace and open the workspace DISTRIBUTION APPLY
GRAVITY.WRK from the TransCAD tutorial folder. A map and a friction factor matrix
are displayed.
2. Choose Planning > Trip Distribution > Gravity Application to display the Gravity
Application dialog box.
3. Choose TAZ from the Table drop-down list, FRICTION FACTORS from the FF Table
dropdown list, TIME from the FF Time drop-down list, Doubly from the Constraint
drop-down list, Shortest Path from the Impedance Matrix drop-down list, and None
from the FF Matrix and K Matrix drop-down lists.
4. Change the name of the Purpose 1 purpose, home-based work trips, by typing “HBW”
in the cell in the Purpose row and press the Enter key. HBW P is automatically chosen
in the Production row and HBW A is automatically chosen in the Attraction row.
5. Make the following changes to the HBW purpose: - Click on the cell in the Method row
and choose Gamma from the drop-down list. - Type ”20” in the Iteration row. This
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limits the procedure to a maximum of 20 iterations for this trip purpose. - Type 28507
for the value of a, 0.02 for the value of b, and 0.123 for the value of c. - Verify that
Shortest Path - FF Time is the chosen field in the Impedance Core row.
6. Click to add a second purpose.
7. Change the name of the new purpose, home-based non-work trips to “HBNW” and press
Enter. HBNW P is automatically chosen in the Production row and HBNW A is
automatically chosen in the Attraction row.
8. Make the following changes to the HBNW purpose: - Click on the cell in the Method row
and choose Inverse from the drop-down list. - Type 1.4 for the value of b. - Verify that
Shortest Path [FF Time] is the chosen field in the Imp Core row.
9. Click to add a third purpose.
10. Change the name of the new purpose to “NHB” and press the Enter key. NHB P is
automatically chosen in the Production row and NHB A is automatically chosen in the
Attraction row.
11. Make the following changes to the NHB purpose: - Click on the cell in the Method row and
choose Table from the drop-down list. - Click on the cell in the F Factor row and choose
NHB FF from the drop-down list. - Verify that Shortest Path [FF TimeTime] is the
chosen field in the Imp Core row.
13. Type ”my graveval” as the Output file name in the Short File Name cell and click OK.
TransCAD evaluates the three models, displays a Results dialog box with the model
convergence results.
14. Click Close. TransCAD displays the Results Summary dialog box.
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15. Click Close. TransCAD displays a matrix view containing the results.
16. Choose File > Close All to close all of the windows.
Applying a Single-Segment Nested Logit Model on a Matrix

1. Choose File > Open Workspace and open the workspace MODE CHOICE AGGREGATE
APPLICATION.WRK.
2. Choose Planning > Mode Split > Logit Model Application to open the Logit Model
Application dialog box.
3. Click the Load button, choose the model file Nested Logit Aggregate Model.mdl, and click
Open.
4. Click the Apply tab and select additional outputs by checking the “Output Logsum Values”
and “Output Utility Values” boxes.
5. Check the “Open Outputs” box to ensure that the output files are opened after the model
has been applied.
6. Choose either trip purpose in the Segments frame or click Select All to choose both
purposes.
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7. Click Run. Click Yes in the Confirmation dialog box to save the changes, type “My NLM”
as the file name, and click Save. The Mode Choice Model Application Outputs dialog box
is displayed with file names for each of the desired outputs.
8. Check the “Overwrite all files” box and click OK. TransCAD applies the Nested Logit
model, reports the results in a report form, and displays the Results Summary dialog box.
9. Click Close. TransCAD opens the Utility, Logsum, Probability and Applied Totals matrices.
10. Choose File > Close All to close all of the windows.
Performing a User Equilibrium Traffic Assignment

1. Choose File > Open Workspace, then open the workspace TRAFFIC ASSIGN.WRK
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a street map and a flow matrix. You want to
assign flow to the links using the User Equilibrium model.
2. Choose Planning > Static Traffic Assignment > Traffic Assignment to display
the Traffic Assignment dialog box.
3. Choose N-Conjugate UE from the Method drop-down list, AM Peak Period Trips
from the Matrix File drop-down list, Total (7-9) from the Matrix drop-down list, and
type “100” in the Iterations edit box.
4. In the Field column of the grid view, verify that [Freeflow Time] is chosen for Time
and [AB AMCapacity/BA AMCapacity] is chosen for Capacity drop-down list. The
other settings are correct.
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5. Click Options to display the Options dialog box.
6. Check the Create Themes box, type “3” in the Max V/C edit box, and click OK.
8. Type “My Assign” as the Flow Table file name in the Short File Name cell and click OK.
TransCAD assigns the flow to the links in the network, and displays the Results Summary
dialog box.
9. Click Close. TransCAD displays the results in a joined view, and displays a color theme
of the volume-to-capacity ratio and a scaled-symbol theme of flow on the map.
10. Choose Planning > Assignment Utilities > Convergence Chart to open the Convergence
Chart dialog box.
11. Click OK to show the Traffic Assignment Convergence Chart
12. Choose File > Close All and click No to close the map, dataview, and matrix without
saving changes.
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Performing Multi-Modal Assignment
1. Choose File > Open Workspace, then open the workspace Traffic Assign Multi Modal
SE MA.wrk in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of highways in Massachusetts,
along with a flow matrix for cars, light trucks and heavy trucks, and a toll matrix describing
tolls between entry and exit nodes on the Massachusetts Turnpike. A network is also
loaded. You want to assign the multiple-mode flow matrix to the network using fixed tolls
and the toll matrix.
2. Choose Base Year Network from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Planning > Static Traffic Assignment > Multi-Modal Multi-Class Assignment
to display the Multi-Modal Multi-Class Assignment dialog box.
4. Verify that N Conjugate UE is chosen from the Method drop-down list, Bureau of
Public Roads (BPR) is chosen from the Delay Function drop-down list, and AM Peak
Period Trips is chosen from the O-D Matrix drop-down list.
5. Click Tolls to display the Toll Settings dialog box, choose SR24 Toll Schedule from
the Toll Matrix drop-down list, and click OK to return to the Multi-Modal Multi-Class
Assignment dialog box.
6. Click on the Choose OD Classes button, highlight all available matrices, and click on the
Add >> button to select The Auto (7-9) and the Truck (7-9) matrices and click OK.
7. Make the following changes in the Auto (7-9) row:

- Click on the cell in the Link Toll column and choose [Link Toll (Auto)] from the
drop-down list
- Click on the cell in the OD Toll column and choose Auto from the drop-down list
8. Make the following changes in the Truck (7-9) row:

- Click on the cell in the PCE Global column and type “2.0”
- Click on the cell in the Link Toll column and choose [Link Toll (Truck)] from the
drop-down list
- Click on the cell in the OD Toll column and choose Truck from the drop-down list
- Click on the cell in the Exclusion Set column and choose Truck Exclusion from the
drop-down list
9. In the Delay Function Parameters grid, verify that [Freeflow Time] is the field chosen
for Time and [AB AMCapacity/BA AMCapacity] is the field chosen for Capacity.
The other settings are correct.
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11. Type “My Boston” in the File Prefix edit box and click OK. TransCAD assigns the flows
to the links in the network and displays the Results Summary dialog box.
12. Click Close. TransCAD displays the results in a joined view.
13. Choose Planning > Assignment Utilities > Create Flow Map, to display the Create
Flow Map dbox.
14. Click OK to create a flow map
15. Choose File > Close All and click No to All to close all of the windows without saving.
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Creating Transit Skim Matrices
1. Choose File > Open Workspace and open the workspace TRANSIT SKIMS.WRK in
the Tutorial folder. The transit network TRANSIT.TNW is also opened.
2. Choose Node from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Transit > Skimming > Shortest Path to display the Transit Skims dialog
box. If it is your first time opening this dialog box, you will automatically be directed
to the Shortest Path Network Settings dialog box. In this case, click OK to display the
Transit Skims dialog box.
4. Choose Centroids from the Origins and Destinations drop-down lists.
5. Highlight Generalized Cost, Fare, Number of Transfers, Total Time, LENGTH,

and IVTT in the Skim Variable scroll list by holding the Ctrl key and clicking on the
variables.
6. Make sure that the Skimming on Modes box is not checked.
8. Type “My Transit Skim” as the file name in the Short File Name cell and click OK.
TransCAD solves the transit skims and displays the Results Summary dialog box
9. Click Close. TransCAD displays the output matrix.
10. Choose a matrix from the drop-down list on the toolbar to see any of the five skim variables
you chose in step 5.
11. Choose File > Close All to close the map and matrix.
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Estimating an O-D Matrix from Traffic Counts
1. Choose File > Open Workspace, then open the workspace ODME FROM TRAFFIC
COUNTS.WRK in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of traffic zones in
UTOWN, along with a seed matrix to use as a starting point for estimation. You want to
estimate an O-D matrix using network link information, including observed traffic counts.
2. Choose Street from the drop-down list on the standard toolbar.
3. Choose Planning > OD Matrix Estimation > Single Class Matrix Estimation
to display the Single Class Matrix Estimation dialog box.
4. Choose User Equilibrium from the Method drop-down list and Bureau of Public
Roads (BPR) from the Delay Function drop-down list.
5. Choose OD FLOW MATRIX from the Matrix File drop-down list and Seed OD
Values from the Matrix drop-down list.
6. Select [[AB Count Peak Hour]/[BA Count Peak Hour]] for the Count field.
7. Verify that [[AB FF Time]/[BA FF Time]] and [[AB Capacity]/[BA Capacity]]

are chosen in the Time and Capacity drop-down lists. The remaining settings are correct.
8. Under Assignment Settings, type 20 for Iterations and 0.01 for the relative gap.
9. Under O-D Matrix Estimation Settings, choose Multiple Paths, and make sure that
Iterations and Convergence are set to 10 and 0.0001 respectively.
10. Click Options to display the Options dialog box, check the Create Themes box, and click
OK to return to the O-D Matrix Estimation dialog box.
12. Type “My ODME” in the File Prefix edit box.
13. Click OK. TransCAD estimates the O-D matrix, displays the O-D matrix and a joined
view showing the link flows associated with the estimated O-D matrix, and displays the
Results Summary dialog box.
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14. Click Close to close the Results Summary dialog box.
15. Choose Window > Matrix > Estimated OD Matrix (Seed OD values) to see the
estimated matrix.
16. Choose File > Close All and click No to close all of the windows.
Model Manager
While various travel demand modeling (TDM) components may be configured and run interactively
through TransCAD’s graphical user interface, they may also be assembled into a compact and
integrated model. Such a model automatically launches the entire TDM at the touch of a button.
This can also be an efficient way to manage model input files and parameters, analyze multiple
scenarios, archive output results and reports, and conduct what-if/sensitivity tests.
TransCAD’s flowchart model interface provides flexible tools to define individual steps,
associate each step with macros that perform specific actions, and connect these steps in a
logical sequence reflecting the desired TDM structure. Feedback iterations, where the model is
re-run from a previous step until convergence, can also be easily incorporated and configured.
1. Choose File > Open
2. Change the file type to Planning Model and open the file PlanningModel.model
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This will open the structure of a simple 4-step planning model and its scenario manager
3. To run the model, click , type a description of the model run and click OK.
4. Click to open the data manager window. The data manager lets you view reports, logs
and input and output files associated with the model and your specific run.
5. Click Assignment to expand the assignment section and then right click on Assign FlowTable
and choose Visualize to create a map showing model flows and congestion levels.
6. To view individual files click on a section to expand it and double click on the file parameter
to open it.
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Chapter 4
Network and Route System Tutorials
The tutorials in this chapter will give you a chance to try out and learn some of the network
and route system features of TransCAD. These ”60-Second Tutorials” come from the TransCAD
documentation set and cover finding shortest paths and toll shortest paths, solving a traveling
salesman problem, partitioning a network, creating network bands, modifying route systems,
and creating strip charts.
The tutorials in this section require you to use commands in the Networks/Paths and
Route Systems menus. If they do not appear on the menu bar, choose Procedures >
Networks/Paths and Procedures > Route Systems to display the respective menus.
Finding a Shortest Path
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map SHORTEST
PATH.MAP in the Tutorial folder.
2. Make sure that Highway shows in the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Networks/Paths > Shortest Path Toolbox or click on the Standard toolbar
to display the Shortest Path toolbox.
4. Click to display the Network Settings dialog box. Verify that NES HWY.NET is the
active network and click OK.
5. Click to display the Route Options dialog box, choose [Route 1] from the Direction
Field drop-down list, and click OK.
6. Choose [Travel Time] from the Minimizing drop-down list.
7. Click , then click on the map at the point labeled HERE and click again at the point
labeled THERE.
8. Click Find Route. TransCAD displays the shortest path based on travel time.
9. Click , then click on the middle of the path to add a stop and drag it to the point labeled
THROUGH POINT. TransCAD updates the shortest path to include the stop.
10. Right-click on the first stop in the Shortest Path toolbox and choose Choose as End.
11. Click Yes to confirm that you want the first stop to also be the last stop.
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12. Click Optimize. TransCAD updates the shortest path to include the return trip.
13. Click in the Shortest Path Toolbox next to one or more stops to see the directions.
14. Click on the Standard toolbar to close the Shortest Path toolbox and click Drop when
prompted.
15. Choose File > Close and click No to close the map without saving any changes.
Computing a Shortest Path with Tolls

1. Choose File > Open Workspace, then open the workspace Toll Shortest Path
SE MA.wrk in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of Massachusetts. The
Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), a toll facility utilizing an entry-to-exit toll structure, is
highlighted. The workspace also includes a node-to-node toll matrix that specifies the
entry-to-exit tolls for the toll facility.
2. Choose Base Year Network from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Networks/Paths > Toll Shortest Path to display the Toll Shortest Path
toolbox.
4. Choose [Freeflow Time] from the Based on drop-down list.
5. Click in the Toll Shortest Path dialog box to display the Toll Skim Settings dialog box.
6. Ctrl-Click Generalized Cost, Entry/Exit Toll, and AutoToll in the scroll list to
highlight them and click OK.
7. Click to display the Toll Settings dialog box.
8. Verify that SR24 Toll Schedule is chosen in the Toll Matrix drop-down list, Auto is
chosen in the Matrix Core drop-down list, and Endpoints (Entry) is chosen in the Row
Index and Endpoints (Exit) Column Index drop-down lists. Choose AutoToll from the
Toll Field drop-down list and click OK.
9. Click to display the Network Settings dialog box and click the Toll tab.
10. Verify that the In network radio option is chosen in both radio lists and click OK.
11. Click to activate the Add a Location tool.
12. Click on the map first at the point marked “Here” and then at the point marked “There.”
13. Click . TransCAD finds the shortest path that minimizes the travel time and displays
it on the map. TransCAD also displays the skim results.
14. Click the Close button in the top right corner of the Toll Shortest Path toolbox to close it
and the Shortest Path Results window.
15. Choose File > Close All and click No to close the workspace without saving changes.
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Traveling Salesman Problem
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, and then open the map
TRAVELING SALESMAN.MAP in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map
of highways and stops and opens the network NES HWY.NET.
2. Choose Highway from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Networks/Paths > Shortest Path Toolbox or click to display the Shortest
Path toolbox.
4. Make sure that [Travel Time] is selected in the Minimize drop-down list.
5. Click on the Shortest path toolbar to add stops, and choose STOPS (8) from the
Features drop-down list.
6. Click OK. TransCAD populates the eight stops on your map.
7. Right click on the seventh listed stop (in the Shortest Path Toolbox). Click Choose as
Start. Scroll to the same stop, now listed as the first stop. Right click it, and click
Choose as End.
8. Click Optimize. TransCAD finds the shortest path, based on travel time, going from
HOME to each of the stops, and back to HOME. The path is displayed on the screen, and
a message window displays the total travel time.
Partitioning a Network
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map NETWORK
PARTITIONING.MAP in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of city streets
with three ambulance locations and opens the network NET PART.NET.
2. Make sure that Streets is shown in the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Networks/Paths > Network Partitioning to display the Network Partitioning

dialog box. The settings filled in automatically are correct.
4. Click the Options tab.
5. Check the Create Zone Layer box, the Create Link Table box, and the Display
Theme boxes.
7. Click OK to use the default names for link table and zone layer. TransCAD partitions
the streets into three zones, one for each ambulance, displays a color theme to show the
three zones, and displays the zone layer.
8. Choose File > Close All and click No to All to close the map and dataview without
saving any changes.
65
Creating Travel Bands
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map NETWORK
PARTITIONING.map in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of city streets
and opens the network NET PART.NET.
2. Make sure that Streets is shown in the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Networks/Paths > Travel Bands or click on the Standard toolbar to display
the Travel Bands toolbox.
4. Click and click on the center of the map.
5. Create 1 band at 1 mile/km interval.
6. Click . TransCAD adds a network band for one mile/kilometer around the point where
you clicked.
7. Click to clear your stop.
8. Click and verify that Street Node is chosen in the Layer drop-down list and Ambulance
is chosen in the Using drop-down list.
9. Click . TransCAD adds network bands around the three selected nodes.
Setting Route System Styles
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map shipping.map
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map showing a warehouse and shipping routes.
2. Choose the Route System layer from the layer list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Click on the Standard toolbar to display the Style dialog box.
4. Choose 3.5 from the Width drop-down list and choose Around Centerline from the
Offsets drop-down list.
5. Click OK. TransCAD redraws the map, with a separate line for each of the 15 routes.
6. Click again to display the Style dialog box.
7. Choose Territory from the Tracking drop-down list.
8. Click OK. TransCAD redraws the Map. Routes with the same Territory value are
displayed on top of one another.
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Working with Strip Charts
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map LRS.MAP
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of southern New England. The Route
System layer contains 3 Interstate highway routes. A linear referencing layer named
HIGHWAY LRS is attached to the Route System layer.
2. Choose Route System from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Route Systems > Linear Referencing > Strip Chart to display the Strip
Chart toolbox.
4. Choose I - 90 from the Route drop-down list.
5. Click to display the Strip Chart Settings dialog box.
6. Click and drag on the [HIGHWAY LRS].PAVEMENT, [HIGHWAY LRS].FLOW,

[HIGHWAY LRS].LANES, and [HIGHWAY LRS].SPEED fields in the Fields scroll
list to highlight the four fields.
7. Click OK to close the Strip Chart Settings dialog box.
8. Click . TransCAD opens a new window containing a strip chart showing the highway
pavement, flow, number of lanes, and speed by milepost, along I - 90.
9. Choose File > Close All and click No to All to close the map and strip chart without
saving any changes.
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Chapter 5
GIS and Mapping Tutorials
The tutorials in this chapter will give you a chance to try out and learn some of the GIS
and mapping features of TransCAD. These ”60-Second Tutorials” come from the TransCAD
documentation set and cover dot-density and chart themes, selection sets, and geographic
analysis tools, including bands, density grids, and desire lines.
Creating Dot-Density Themes
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map SAN
FRANCISCO.map in the Tutorial folder.
2. Choose Map > Thematic Mapping > Dot Density or click on the Standard toolbar
to display the Dot Density theme dialog box.
3. Choose [OccHU Owner occupied] and [OccHU Renter occupied] in the Choose
One or More Fields list scroll list and click OK.
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TransCAD displays a dot-density map showing the distribution of the owner- and renter-occupied
housing units.
4. Choose Map > Thematic Mapping > Dot Density or click again and type 500
in the Manually At text box.
5. Click the Styles tab to display the Styles page.
6. Click Style to display the Style dialog box, type 4 in the Size box, choose a darker blue
from the Color dropdown list, and click OK to return to the Dot Density Theme dialog
box.
7. Click Copy Symbol to copy the smaller symbol to both fields.
8. Click OK to see the theme with the new style of dots for every 500 people.
Creating Chart Themes
FRANCISCO.map in the Tutorial folder.
2. Verify that SF Block Group is the working layer and is highlighted in the scroll list on
the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Map > Thematic Mapping > Chart or click on the Standard toolbar.
4. Click on [16+ Mode: Car Drove alone] in the scroll list and shift-click on [16+ Mode:
Taxi/ Other] to highlight the four mode of travel fields, and click OK.
TransCAD displays a pie chart map showing the mode share in each block group.
69
5. Choose Map > Thematic Mapping > Chart or click again, change the High Value
Size to 30, and click Apply. TransCAD redraws the map with smaller pie charts.
6. Choose the vertical bar chart ( ) from the Chart Type drop-down list, remove the check
from the 3-D box, change the Bar Width to 6, and click OK to see the same data shown
with a bar chart for each block group.
Selecting Records Based on a Condition
FRANCISCO.MAP in the Tutorial folder. You are going to find the block groups in San
Francisco where the household median income is more than $100,000.
2. Choose Selection > Select by Condition or click on the Selection toolbar to display
the Select by Condition dialog box.
3. In the Condition Builder, choose [Median HH inc in past 12 mo] from the Field List
drop-down list and choose > from the Operator List drop-down list, then type 100000 in
the Enter a Condition box after the > symbol.
4. Type ”High Income” in the Set Name box.
5. Click OK. TransCAD highlights the selected block groups on the map.
Now let’s change the style of the highlight.
6. If the Display Manager is not visible, choose Map > Display Manager Toolbar.
7. Click next to SF Block Group in the Display Manager to expand it, then click next
to Sets to expand the block group selection sets.
8. Click the style sample next to High Income to display the Style dialog box.
9. Choose Solid from near the top of the Fill Style drop-down list, choose a bright red from
the Fill Color drop-down list, use the spinner to change the opacity to 50, and click OK.
70
TransCAD redraws the map with the high-income block groups highlighted with the new
style.
10. Click on the Standard toolbar to display a dataview of the block group layer. Notice
that the high-income block groups are also highlighted in the dataview.
11. Leave the map and dataview as is for the next tutorial, “Combining Selection Sets.”
Combining Selection Sets

1. If you did not already do the previous tutorial, ”Selecting Records Based on Condition,”
go back and do it now. You want to see the high-income block groups within a 2-mile
radius.
2. Click on the map or choose Window > San Francisco.map - San Francisco to make
the map the active window.
3. Verify that the Selection selection set is displayed in the drop-down list on the Selection
toolbar.
4. Click on the Selection toolbar to activate the Select by Circle tool and click on the
map near the center of San Francisco. TransCAD displays the Enter Selection Radius
dialog box.
5. Type “2” in the Radius box and click OK.
71
Block groups within 2 miles are added to the Selection selection set.
6. Choose Selection > Combine Selection to display the Combine Selection dialog box.
7. Choose Choosing Features in Both from the By drop-down list, Selection from the
Set drop-down list, and High Income from the And/Or drop-down list.
8. Click OK. TransCAD creates a new selection set of parcels that are both within the
selection circle and have median household income over $100,000.
9. Choose Selection > Settings or click on the Selection toolbar to display the Selection
Sets dialog box.
10. Click on Selection and drag to High Income in the scroll list to highlight both selection
sets, then click Status to make the sets inactive.
11. Click Close. Just the new selection set of high income block groups within two miles is
highlighted on the map.
12. Click on the dataview or choose Window > Dataview1 - SF Block Group to make
the dataview the active window.
13. Choose Selection and High Income from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
Just the new selection set of high income block groups within two miles is displayed in the
dataview.
72
saving any changes.
Building Buffers
1. Choose File-Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map GAPS.MAP in
the Tutorial folder. You want to show where there are gaps in the service areas of your
chain of restaurants. In-store surveys have shown that people will drive 5 and sometimes
10 miles to eat at your restaurants.
2. Choose Store from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Tools > Analysis > Buffers or click on the Standard toolbar to display the
Buffers dialog box.
4. Click the Fixed Sizes radio button and type “5 10” in the Sizes edit box.
5. Click OK to display the Save As dialog box.
6. Type “My Buffers” as the file name and click Save. TransCAD creates the buffers and
adds them to the map, showing the gaps in the service areas.
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Creating a Density Grid
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, then open the map DENSITYGRID.MAP
in the Tutorial folder to open a map of Rhode Island with store locations.
2. Choose Store from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Tools > Analysis > Density/Heat Layer to display the Density/Heat Layer
dialog box.
4. Select Store in the Layer drop-down list on the Standard toolbar. The other settings are
correct.
5. Click OK to display the Choose a Geographic File Name for the Density/Heat Layer dialog
box.
6. Type “My Density” as the file name and click Save. TransCAD creates the density grid
and theme, and adds it to the map.
7. Choose File-Close and click No to close the map without saving any changes.
Creating Desire Lines

1. Choose File > Open Workspace and open DESIRE LINES.WRK in the Tutorial folder.
TransCAD displays a map with selected cities and a matrix that contains rail and truck
flows among the selected cities.
2. Choose Tools > Analysis > Desire Lines to display the Desire Lines dialog box.
3. Choose Place from the Source Layer Name drop-down list.
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4. Check the boxes in the Use column of the grid view for both the Rail matrix and the Truck
matrix.
5. Click OK. TransCAD displays the Save Layer As dialog box.
6. Type ”My Desire” as the file name and click Save. TransCAD creates the desire lines and
adds them to the map with a color theme.
7. Choose File > Close All and click No to close the matrix view and the map without
saving changes.
Locating (Geocoding) Your Data

1. Make sure that the Tutorial region is configured by opening the geocoding preferences and
choosing Edit > Preferences.
2. Activate the Locating tab. Setup the Default Data Region information. Click on the
button next to the Region prompt and add the tutorial.region file. Make sure the street
index refers to the San Franscisco HERE layer (ntStreet.cdf) and click OK.
FRANCISCO.MAP in the Tutorial folder.
4. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, and open the SurveyRespondents.bin
file in the Tutorial folder.
5. Choose Tools > Locate > Locate by Address to display the Locate by Address dialog
box.
75
6. Type “Respondents” as the layer name in the Name edit box and verify that TransCAD
found the Respondent ID, ADDRESS, and ZIP fields.
7. Click OK to display the Save Output Geocoded Database As dialog box, type “MySFRespondents”
as the file name and click Save.
8. TransCAD locates the records on the map using the street address and ZIP Code data
and display a report with the records found. Click OK.
9. Click on the Tools toolbar to activate the Info tool. Click on several respondents to see
information about them in an Info window. Click the Close button on the top right of the
Info window when you are done.
10. Click on the Standard toolbar to display the Color Theme dialog box, choose MODE TO WORK
from the Field drop-down list, and click OK. TransCAD adds a color theme to your new
respondent layer indicating the mode each respondent used to get to work.
11. Click on the Standard toolbar to display the Scaled-Symbol Theme dialog box, choose
HOUSEHOLD INCOME from the scroll list, and click OK. TransCAD adds a scaled-symbol
theme to your new respondent layer indicating the household income of each respondent.
saving any changes.
76
Chapter 6
Geographic Editing Tutorials
The tutorials in this chapter will give you a chance to try out and learn some of the geographic
editing features of TransCAD. These “60-Second Tutorials” come from the TransCAD documentation
set and cover editing line features, dualizing links, creating interchanges, and conflating.
Editing Line Features, Part 1
1. Choose File > New or click on the Standard toolbar, choose Geographic File from
the scroll list, and click OK. TransCAD displays the New Geographic File dialog box.
2. Click the Line Layer radio button, type “My Lines” as the layer name, and click OK.
77
TransCAD displays the Attributes dialog box. Click OK again to close the Attributes
dialog box without making changes.
3. Type ”My Lines” as the file name, and click Save. TransCAD displays a new map with
the My Lines layer.
4. Choose Tools > Editing > Layer Editing Toolbar the Map Editing toolbox.
5. Click the Line Geographic File radio button.
6. Click to add shape points to the line to be added
7. Double click to end the line. Draw several more lines, including some that start where
other lines end.
8. Click in the toolbox to save the lines. TransCAD draws them in the style for the layer.
9. Click in the toolbox to activate the Delete Line tool and click on one of the lines. The
line turns red to indicate that it will be deleted.
10. Click to cancel the edit. The line is not deleted.
11. Click in the toolbox to activate the Modify Line tool and drag some endpoints and
shape points to new spots.
12. Click on a line away from any existing points to add a new shape point, and drag it to a
new spot.
13. Click on a shape point to choose it. Press the Delete key to delete that shape point.
14. Click to save the edits. TransCAD redraws the lines with the changes
15. Leave the map as it is for Part 2 of this tutorial.

78
Editing Line Features, Part 2
1. If you did not do Part 1 of this tutorial, go back and do it now.
2. Click in the toolbox, then add two new lines, with the second line starting where the
first line ends.
3. Click in the toolbox, then click on the endpoint where the two lines meet. TransCAD
joins the two lines, changing the endpoint to a shape point. Click to save the edits.
4. Click in the toolbox, then click on the line. TransCAD splits the line in two with a new
endpoint where you clicked
5. Click again on the same point. TransCAD moves the endpoints of the two lines apart so
they no longer meet.
6. Click in the toolbox, then pick up either endpoint and place it on the other. TransCAD
connects the two lines. Click to save the changes.
7. Click in the toolbox, then add two new lines that cross in the middle in the shape of
an X.
8. Click in the toolbox, and then click on the point where the two lines cross. TransCAD
splits the lines. Drag the new endpoint to see how the lines are connected.
9. Click and click on the new endpoint. TransCAD splits the lines apart. Click to save
the changes.
10. Click in the toolbox to activate the Replace Line tool and make sure the Curves box is
not checked.
11. Click on one of the lines, click several times to add shape points to the line, and double-click
at the last point. Click to save the changes.
12. Check the Curves box and click on the same line. Move the cursor to display a curved
dash line and double-click. TransCAD creates a curve with several shape points. Click
to save the changes.
Advanced Line Editing-Dualizing Links
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, and open the map RAMPS.MAP
in the Tutorial folder.
2. ChooseTools > Editing > Dualize Line Segments to display the Dualize Segments
Toolbox.
3. Click in the Dualize Segments toolbox to display the Configure dialog box.
4. Type 50 as the shift distance (or 15 if your units are meters) and click OK.
5. Click in the Dualize Segments toolbox.
79
6. Click on the endpoints of the segment that has yet to be dualized at Interchange 21 and
Interchange 22.
7. Click in the toolbox to highlight the line segment, then click in the toolbox to
dualize the segment. TransCAD redraws the map with dual segments. Arrowheads show
the direction of travel on each segment.
8. Leave the map as is for the next tutorial on creating interchanges.
Advanced Line Editing-Creating Interchanges

1. If you did not do the Dualizing Links tutorial, go back and do it now.
2. Choose Tools > Editing > Create Interchanges to display the Create Interchange
toolbox.
3. Click in the Create Interchange toolbox.
4. Click on the node labeled Interchange 22. TransCAD displays the Create a Cloverleaf
Interchange dialog box and displays interchange ramps on the map.
5. Change the ramp offsets for ramps 1 through 8 to 2000, 500, 2300, 300, 2000, 500, 2300,
300 respectively (or 650, 150, 750, 100, 650, 150, 750, 100 if your units are meters).
80
6. Click OK. TransCAD redraws the map with a cloverleaf interchange. Arrowheads show
the direction of travel on each ramp.
7. Click in the Create Interchange toolbox.
8. Click on the node labeled Interchange 21. TransCAD displays the Create a Trumpet
Interchange dialog box and displays interchange ramps on the map.
9. Adjust the ramp offsets and click OK. TransCAD draws the map with a trumpet interchange.
Arrow-heads show the direction of travel on each ramp.
10. Click on the Standard toolbar and click Yes in the Confirm dialog box to undo the
trumpet interchange.
11. Click again and click Yes to undo the cloverleaf interchange.
12. Click one more time and click Yes to undo the dualize edit.
Advanced Line Editing - Conflating
1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar, and open the map CONFLATE.MAP
in the Tutorial folder.
2. Choose My Streets from the drop-down list on the Standard toolbar.
3. Choose Tools > Editing > Conflate Line Segments. TransCAD displays the Choose
Layers dialog box. Verify that Hartford Streets is chosen in the Source drop-down list.
81
4. Click OK. TransCAD displays the Conflate Segments toolbox.
5. Click in the Conflate Segments toolbox.
6. Click on the gray street segment that goes approximately between the points labeled Start
and End to highlight it.
7. Click in the toolbox and click on the points labeled Start and End.
8. Click in the toolbox to highlight the source segments that connect the points.
9. Click to conflate the segments, and click Yes in the confirm dialog boxes. TransCAD aligns
the target street segment with the source street segments.
10. Click on the Standard toolbar and click No in the Confirm dialog box to undo the edit.
82
Chapter 7
Routing & Logistics Tutorials
The tutorials in this chapter will give you a chance to try out and learn some of the routing
and logistics features of TransCAD. These tutorials cover vehicle routing, arc routing, weighted
matching, regional partitioning, and facility location.
The tutorials in this section require you to use commands in the Networks/Paths and
Routing/Logistics menus. If they do not appear on the menu bar, choose Procedures >
Networks/Paths and Procedures > Routing/Logistics to display the respective menus.
Solving a Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows

1. Choose File > Open, then open the Vehicle Routing With Time Windows.map in the
Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map with two depots and 25 stops.
2. Verify that the current active layer is the Streets layer
3. Verify that the active network is VrpNetwork.net. If it is not, choose File > Open and
open the network VrpNetwork.net in the Tutorial folder.
4. If the Routing/Logistics menu is not present, add it to menu from Procedures > Routing/Logistics
5. Choose Routing/Logistics > Vehicle Routing to display the Vehicle Routing with
Time Windows wizard. Click Next
83
6. Choose the Clients layer in the layer pull down menu and match all the client data fields
and click Next
7. Configure the Depots options and Click Next
8. Click and open the vehicle data from VRPVehicleTable.bin, matching the fields as
follows:
84
This will load the vehicles belonging to each of the depots, then Click Next:
9. Change the maximum route duration to 10 hours and click Finish to optimize all the
routes. Create a new output folder and select it to store the solution
10. The vehicle routing toolbox will show the solution and will let you interact with the routes
and clients.
85
11. Choose File > Close All and click No to All to close the map and other files.
Solving the Arc Routing Problem

1. Choose File > Open or click on the toolbar, then open the map ARC ROUTING.MAP
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a street map of Bayonne, NJ. Displayed on the
map are three snow plow depots and the streets that need plowing.
2. Verify that the active network is BAYONNE.NET. If it is not, choose File > Open and
open the network BAYONNE.NET in the Tutorial folder.
3. Choose Network/Paths > Settings. The Network Settings dialog box is displayed.
4. Click the Turn Penalties tab. Type penalties of 10 for left turns, 25 for U-turns, and 5
for through movements. Click OK to close the Network Settings dialog box.
5. Choose Routing/Logistics > Arc/Street Routing > Arc Routing to display the Arc
Routing dialog box. All the settings are filled in automatically.
6. Click OK to display the Save Route System As dialog box.
7. Type my plow as the file name and click Save. TransCAD solves the arc routing problem
and adds a route system to your map. TransCAD also displays summary data from the
arc routing procedure.
Solving a Bipartite Weighted Matching Problem

1. Choose File > Open Workspace, then open the workspace BIPARTITE MATCHING.WRK
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of eight offices that need cleaning and
eight office cleaners. You want to determine which cleaner should be assigned to each office
to minimize travel distance. A travel distance matrix is also displayed. Note that null
values in the matrix indicate that a particular cleaner cannot be assigned to a particular
job.
2. Choose Routing/Logistics > Weighted Matching to display the Weighted Matching

dialog box.
3. Click the Bipartite radio button.
4. Click the Minimization radio button.
5. Choose CLEANER from the Origin Layer drop-down list and All Features from the
Origin Set drop-down list.
6. Choose BUILDING from the Destination Layer drop-down list and All Features from
the Destination Set drop-down list.
86
8. Type “my matching” as the file name in the Short File Name cell and click OK.
TransCAD determines the best assignment of cleaner to building. The assignment of
cleaners to buildings is displayed in a dataview, and is also illustrated in the map using
freehand lines.
9. Click Close to close the Report Summary dialog box.
10. Click on the map or choose Window > Map1 > Caliper Office Cleaning Co. to see
the results on the map.
11. Choose File > Close All and click No to All to close the map, matrix, and table
without saving any changes.
Solving a Regional Partitioning Problem

1. Choose File > Open Workspace, then open the workspace REGIONAL PARTITIONING.WRK
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of San Francisco block groups. An
adjacency matrix is also opened. You want to create five school districts around the block
groups marked in orange. You are looking to have the same number of school-aged children
in each district.
2. Choose Routing/Logistics > Regional Partitioning to display the Regional Partitioning

dialog box.
3. Verify that the Adjacency of Block Group file is chosen in the Matrix File drop-down
list.
4. Choose Common Border Length from the Matrix drop-down list. This will cause
TransCAD to check for compactness by examining the ratio of perimeter to area.
5. Choose Block Group from the Layer drop-down list.
6. Choose [School Age Children] from the bottom of the Zone Size drop-down list.
7. Type 5 in the Tolerance (%) edit box.
8. Choose Create New Layer as the Output Option.
10. Click OK to use the suggested file names and folder location for the partition table and
the geographic layer. TransCAD builds balanced districts around the five seed blocks and
displays a dataview of the results. An additional map layer named New Territories is
added to your map.
12. Choose File > Close All and click No to All to close the map and matrix view without
saving any changes.
87
Solving a Facility Location Problem
1. Choose File > Open Map, then open the workspace Facility Location Problem.map
in the Tutorial folder. TransCAD displays a map of the Northeast Sales Region. On the
map are 46 customers, one existing facility and 8 candidate facilities. A matrix file is also
opened. You want to determine what two facilities to add to minimize shipping cost.
2. Choose Routing/Logistics > Facility Location to display the Facility Location dialog
box.
3. Choose Customer from the Layer drop-down list under Client Settings.
4. Choose Facility from the Layer drop-down list under Facility Settings.
5. Make sure that the New Matrix radio button is selected, and click Next.
6. Choose whether to route by distance or time and click Next.
7. Type 2 in the # New Facilities edit box.
8. Make sure that Best overall service is selected from the Type of Facility Location options
list.
9. Choose Demand from the Weighting Field drop-down list.
10. Click Finish to display the Output File Settings dialog box.
11. Type my facility in the Short File Name cell and click OK. TransCAD determines the
two new facilities to open that, in conjunction with the existing facility in New York, will
minimize the cost of shipping to the 46 customers. A selection set named New Facilities,
containing these facilities, is displayed on the map. A table is joined to the Customer layer
showing which facility will service each customer. The results summary is also displayed.
Click Close to close the Results Summary dialog box.
12. Click on the map or choose Window > Map1 to make the map the active window and
see the new facilities to open.
13. Choose File > Close All and click No to close the map, matrix and joined view without
saving any changes.
Where to Go From Here

The Quick Start and sample tutorials have given you quite a bit of hands-on experience with
TransCAD. If you have additional questions about TransCAD, visit our website at www.caliper.com,
call us at (617)527-4700, or send an e-mail to INFO@CALIPER.COM.
Thank you for your interest in TransCAD.
88
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TransCAD

Transportation Planning Software

2 Quick Start Tutorial 16

3 Travel Demand Modeling Tutorials 51

4 Network and Route System Tutorials 63

5 GIS and Mapping Tutorials 68

6 Geographic Editing Tutorials 77

7 Routing & Logistics Tutorials 83

Welcome to the TransCAD Demo Release User’s Guide.

About the Demo Release

• The TransCAD demo requires Windows 7, 8 or 10.

About this Book

• Chapter 3: Travel demand modeling tutorials

• Chapter 4: Network and route systems tutorials

• Chapter 5: GIS and mapping tutorials

• Chapter 6: Geographic editing tutorials

• Chapter 7: Routing and logistics tutorials

Installing and Running the Demo Release

To Run the Setup Program

To Start the TransCAD Demo Release

For More Information about TransCAD

• Broad and comprehensive sets of transportation, geographic, and demographic data

The TransCAD GIS

Extended Data Model

• Non-topological geographic data extensions, to represent features such as underpasses and

• Tools for maintaining, displaying, and performing spatial queries on linearly-referenced

Transportation Analysis and Modeling

• Detailed street files for the entire U.S.

• National highway, rail, and waterway networks

• Instruments for linking the build-in information to your own data

• An assortment of tools for analyzing, interpreting, and making effective transportation

Maps, Dataviews, Matrices, Figures, and Layouts

Maps are composed of many different layers of

TransCAD lets you label each feature on a map

Map Scale and Location

Networks are used by TransCAD to find

Routes and Route Systems

Routes are a special type of geographic feature

Quick Start Tutorial

Project 1: The Travel Patterns in Flintbury

Creating an Overview Map

To Create the Overview Map

1. Choose File > Open or click on the Standard toolbar.

2. Choose Geographic File from the Files of Type drop-down list.

3. Choose the Tutorial folder from the Look In drop-down list.

4. Choose the file FL ZONE.CDF.

1. Click on the Standard toolbar.

To Add a Street Layer to the Map

1. Choose Map > Layers or click on the Standard toolbar.

4. Click the Close button.

To Change the Zone Style

2. Click on the Standard toolbar.

3. Choose a dashed line from the Border Style drop-down list.

4. Choose 1.5 from the Border Width drop-down list.

To Add a Title to the Map

1. Click on the Drawing toolbar to activate the Freehand Text tool.

2. Drag a short, wide rectangle across the top of the page.

3. Type the title ”Flintbury” and press the Enter key.

1. Click on the Drawing toolbar to activate the Pointer tool.

2. Click on the title. TransCAD draws handles at the corners.

3. To change the size of the title, drag one of the handles.

To Save Your Work

1. Choose File > Save or click on the Standard toolbar.