As the world eagerly anticipates the start of a new millennium, TEAPAC celebrates its first quarter century of software development excellence. Starting with the first innovative version of SIGNAL written in 1974, through its continued evolution as SIGNAL85, SIGNAL94 and SIGNAL97, and all of the other TEAPAC programs added in between, TEAPAC's name has become synonymous with quality, both in software performance and user support.

In the early years TEAPAC made traffic software history with the groundbreaking evolution of a concept of integrated traffic software - a suite of traffic engineering programs which use the same user interface and share data amongst each other to minimize user learning curves and duplication of input data.

Today TEAPAC consists of more than a dozen programs which cover a wide array of traffic engineering applications, from signal timing optimization and modeling to traffic counting, signal warrants and site impact studies. As such, it remains in a class by itself as the most comprehensive suite of integrated traffic engineering programs.

In this issue of Strong Concepts' InfoQueue, you will find articles describing more about TEAPAC and its developer, Strong Concepts, including: new Windows versions of WARRANTS and TURNS, how the new TEAPAC2000 interface will change the way TEAPAC users get work done quickly and efficiently, the new location for Strong Concepts in the historic district of Northbrook, where to find Strong Concepts at the upcoming ITE meeting in Las Vegas, and other related articles.

After completing its first 25 years of traffic software development, Strong Concepts looks forward to starting the new millennium at an exciting new location. Effective July 1, Strong Concepts officially moved into its new offices in the historic district of downtown Northbrook, Illinois. Strong Concepts' new Shermer Road office is a recently renovated 19th century building (rendered below) originally built in 1881 in old Shermerville, the small farming community outside of Chicago which eventually became Northbrook.

The new location offers an abundance of opportunities for continued growth of support services and software development as Strong Concepts continues to lead the industry in the evolution of quality traffic engineering software and innovative integration efforts.

Strong Concepts' new address is now:

Strong Concepts
1249 Shermer Road, Suite 100
Northbrook, IL U.S.A. 60062-4540

Please update your records accordingly. Our phone numbers and internet locations remain unchanged at:

Phone: (847) 564-0386
Fax: (847) 564-0394
Email: info@StrongConcepts.com
WWW: www.StrongConcepts.com

Contact us today; Optimize tomorrow!

As they wrap up comprehensive beta testing, the popular TEAPAC programs WARRANTS and TURNS join SIGNAL97, NOSTOP, PREPASSR, PRETRANSYT and PRENETSIM as true Windows programs! TEAPAC users are now able to combine the proven performance of WARRANTS' MUTCD signal warrant analysis and TURNS' comprehensive traffic count analysis with the user friendliness of Windows. With their introduction, TEAPAC maintains its leadership position as the most comprehensive suite of traffic operations programs available for both the graphical Windows environment and DOS! Supported platforms include Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT and Windows 3.x, as well as continuing support for DOS. This Windows implementation incorporates the unique graphical user interface called the TEAPAC Visual Mode which makes the programs quite intuitive by using the familiar Windows environment to its fullest potential. WinTEAPAC programs also retain the powerful Manual Mode for "power users". Combined with SIGNAL97's unique HCM-based signal timing and phasing optimizer, this makes WinTEAPAC an unmatched opportunity for signal analysis and timing optimization and evaluation using Windows.

Each WinTEAPAC program includes context-sensitive help and a complete, on-line user guide with comprehensive search capabilities, even for Windows 3.x. Printed manuals are always included, as well. Data files for these Windows versions are compatible with previous DOS versions of all TEAPAC programs, including SITE for traffic impact studies, and are interchangeable between all operating system platforms. WinTEAPAC programs boast 2-3 times computing speed over their DOS counterparts. Also, the powerful and unique Control File feature of TEAPAC is still available, allowing continued use of WinTEAPAC for batch analyses which perform multi-scenario, multi-file computations with a single command.

The release of these new Windows versions of WARRANTS and TURNS will also be accompanied by a new release of their DOS counterparts and a new release of all TEAPAC programs which now exploit the latest standard TEAPAC2000 interface, Ver 3.10 (see separate article following).

WinWARRANTS, WinTURNS and all WinTEAPAC programs will be available from Strong Concepts for the same low price as the DOS versions, and DOS licenses can be upgraded for a substantially reduced fee.

Call Strong Concepts or visit our web page at www.StrongConcepts.com for availability and upgrade pricing, and get on the road to using the most effective and efficient signal timing and analysis software suite.

TEAPAC2000 represents the latest in the continued evolution of the standardized TEAPAC interface found in all Windows versions of TEAPAC programs. Available later this fall, the new interface has been designed to include many new features to boost the productivity and ease of use of TEAPAC programs, including:

• Increased use of Windows controls like drop-down lists, check boxes and radio buttons to speed data entry and improve intuitiveness.
• The more modern look and feel of Windows 95/98 applications.
• Support for the new Windows 2000.
• A more efficient Menu Mode for power users, patterned after the DOS versions.
• Free updates from previous Windows versions (see below).

The new interface has been designated as Version 3.10 of the standard TEAPAC interface. Licensees of prior Windows versions of TEAPAC programs with release dates of 27AUG98 or later will be able to update their software at no charge via free internet downloads.

Bookmark our webpage in your internet browser at www.StrongConcepts.com and check back frequently to get the jump on everyone else when the interface is officially released later this year. Then you can download free demos or do your free updates. You can even check out the new interface at the upcoming ITE meeting in Las Vegas and see how TEAPAC is staying at the cutting edge of traffic software technology.

This year in Las Vegas, everyone can be a lucky winner if they visit the Strong Concepts booth at the Annual ITE Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada August 2nd-3rd. This is your chance to Win Big! with TEAPAC in more ways than one. First, stop by and see the latest, including our new TEAPAC2000 interface described in the previous article. See how using TEAPAC can make your analyses the best possible, in terms of accuracy, efficiency and cost savings. When you use TEAPAC you Win Big! every time.

Another way to Win Big! at the ITE meeting will be in our drawings for free software during the exhibition. By answering an easy but significant question which is discussed in this newsletter, you will have as many as four chances to win a free TEAPAC program of your choice. On both Monday and Tuesday at Noon and 5 P.M. we'll draw random winners who can pick a fully-licensed TEAPAC program of their choice. Come see us early to maximize your chances of winning -- all names except winners will remain in the running for all subsequent drawings. Come see us at LUCKY BOOTH #222.

At the same meeting, Dennis Strong, president of Strong Concepts and author of TEAPAC software, will moderate a Traffic Signals Technology session (#PS3) on Tuesday afternoon. Join us there for a lively discussion of a wide array of intriguing new traffic signal technologies being used in the U.S. and around the world.

Strong Concepts and Innovative Transportation Concepts of Corvallis, Oregon recently completed development of an exciting new interface between TEAPAC programs and the StreetSIM and VISSIM programs. VISSIM is possibly the most powerful simulation and animation model available for simulating signalized street systems, especially for bus priority systems and other advanced signal controller modeling. Now VISSIM and its scaled-down partner StreetSIM have a built-in Import and Export function for transferring important signal timing and network data between TEAPAC programs such as SIGNAL97, PREPASSR, PRETRANSYT and PRENETSIM. This allows traditional tools such as SIGNAL97, PASSER and TRANSYT to be used for signal timing, while using the unprecedented power of VISSIM and StreetSIM to simulate the optimized timings under advanced ITS controller operation such as bus priority systems and LRT operation.

More information can be found about this new technology by contacting Strong Concepts at (847) 564-0386 or Innovative Transportation Concepts at (541) 754-6836. VISSIM and StreetSIM information and demos are also available at ITC's web site located at www.itc-world.com.

TEAPAC software courses continue to get rave reviews such as "This is the best traffic engineering course I've ever taken" and "I'd recommend this course to anyone serious about traffic software" from students all over the country and the world. Although the TEAPAC manuals have been noted as some of the best around, and technical support via phone or email is second to none, these courses appear to be a favorite way of learning the programs quickly and efficiently, whether you already have the software, hope to get it soon, or just wonder why it is so special.

To satisfy continued demand for these courses which have a history of selling out soon after they are announced, a new series of offerings are being planned for every other month starting this fall. Anticipated locations for the course "Timing Traffic Signals Using TEAPAC, PASSER, TRANSYT and CORSIM" are: Boulder and Allentown in the fall, Las Vegas in the winter, and Orlando and Evanston in the spring. "Advanced TEAPAC Application Techniques" is expected to be offered in Boulder and Orlando following the signal timing course. Check our web page for details as final schedules and locations develop.

A vast amount of information about TEAPAC and Strong Concepts is available at our WWW home page on the Internet, located at www.StrongConcepts.com:

• free demos of all programs
• copies of recent publications
• FAQs (frequently asked questions)
• complete product information
• current course offerings
• Y2K compliance and updates.

Strong Concepts
1249 Shermer Road, Suite 100
Northbrook, Illinois U.S.A. 60062-4540
(847) 564-0386

Do you want to receive your own printed copy of Strong Concepts InfoQueue? Please use our on-line registration form to be added to our mailing list. You can also use this form to let us know if your address has changed or you've moved on to a new position.

this page last updated May 07, 2004