20th Anniversary of the PTV Vision Users Group Meeting
Follow your visions – make a difference
How can we plan traffic and transportation in a modern and long-term manner? And what are the tools that we can use to achieve this goal? These were some of the issues that more than 70 transportation experts discussed at this year's international PTV Vision Users Group Meeting on October 19 and 20. The conference which took place in Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden attracted attendees from around the world in order to learn more about the latest PTV Vision developments and to share their knowledge and ideas with peers.
"The latest VISUM release includes numerous usability refinements that reduce the number of mouse clicks needed to perform a function," explained Klaus Nökel, head of the Vision Software Development division, during the Users Group Meeting. The software now provides a matrices editor for improved input data management. The new VISUM Scenario manager will support users in managing all scenario data within a single project and therefore helps them to compare output data more easily. Moreover, users will benefit from a number of user interface enhancements. "For example, the map display has been updated to an improved look and users can now set custom colours," said Klaus Nökel. The size of the stops can be displayed variably. This is particularly helpful for users who want to visualise transition points.
Better parking with VISSIM
Lukas Kautzsch, product manager at PTV Germany, presented the new VISSIM features: until now, it has not been possible to simulate the search for an available parking space in an optimal manner. The software has been extended with destination coordinates so that it is now possible to determine the attractiveness of a parking space. "We have allocated groups to the parking lots," said Lukas Kautzsch. "This means that each driver of a simulated car will select any type of parking space of a specific group." As a result, there will no longer be any traffic jams in the simulation.
Choosing the most attractive route was also a focus of the updated VISSIM pedestrian simulation tool since the shortest route is not always the quickest. Therefore, PTV software developers have worked on dynamic partial routes which are not dependent on travel time. So users can now easily model queuing scenarios, such as the central queue at several service counters which can often be found at airports, for example. This also allows realistic modelling of passengers that alight trains at railway stations. Users can determine when the simulated pedestrians have to be allocated to the train doors.
In dialogue with developers
Sharing their knowledge and ideas with other software developers is one of the reasons why many users attend the PTV Vision Users Group Meeting every year. Sideney Schreiner from the Support Center in Brazil is one of them. "Of course, I could teach myself how to use the new VISUM and VISSIM functions," he says. "However, if a software developer shows me the new features directly on the screen, I can save a lot of time which I can better spend on the preparation of new projects." He had travelled all the way from São Paulo in order to attend the conference. His aim was to enhance his transportation modelling expertise. "It's a great platform for great ideas." And the 20th Users Group Meeting had to offer plenty of interesting use cases.
Karen Giese from PTV America, for example, talked about transportation planning during the Olympic Winter Games which took place in Vancouver, Canada, in 2010. For this event the organisers expanded Vancouver's public transport system on a large scale. PTV supported the entire planning process. "With VISUM we showed them how the traffic flow increases within 15 minutes after an ice hockey game," she said. Based on this knowledge it was possible to optimise traffic routing in order to avoid massive traffic jams. "Scenario models definitely helped them to be better prepared for these situations," commented Karen Giese.
Portland's bike culture
Portland is well known for its excellent public transport system. The city located in the Northwest region of North America has a very bicycle-friendly culture: six percent of the citizens use the city’s network of bike lanes on a regular basis. The aim is to increase the percentage of cyclists by 10 percent. A major goal of the local planning authority is to get every citizen on a bike, at least once. Therefore, the City of Portland is working hard to improve its bicycle infrastructure. The central issue regarding investment therefore is: What should it look like? "Together with the Portland State University we analysed the criteria that are relevant for the cyclists' route choice," said Thomas Friderich who is in charge of the PTV Vision Sales & Marketing division. "To this end, we have integrated an algorithm into VISUM allowing us to simultaneously assess multi-modal measures."
After the presentations, the attendees had the opportunity to visit the Casino in Baden-Baden, however not by bike, but on foot. Everyone enjoyed the thrill of casino table games, like Roulette and Blackjack, and the great atmosphere of the Users Group Anniversary. At the end of the event, Klaus Nökel and Thomas Friderich emphasised the inspirational nature of the discussion and cooperation between PTV Vision users and developers. “We’ll be glad to welcome you again next year in New York City,” Thomas Friderich closed. The 21st Users Group Meeting is scheduled to take place September 13-14, 2011 in New York, USA.
