Strong Concepts can now be reached in a number of ways:

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

Get in touch with us today!

Last fall, the first public viewing of the Windows version of SIGNAL94 at the Annual ITE Meeting in Minneapolis was met with rave reviews. After an extensive and exhaustive beta test period, WinSIGNAL94 is now shipping! With its introduction, SIGNAL94 now becomes one of a limited number of traffic operations programs available in the graphical Windows environment, and the only signal operations and capacity analysis program available for both DOS and Windows! Supported platforms include Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT, as well as continuing support for DOS. This Windows implementation incorporates a unique graphical user interface in a new Visual Mode which makes the programs quite intuitive using the familiar Windows environment. WinSIGNAL94 also retains the powerful Manual Mode for "power users". Combined with SIGNAL94's unique signal timing and phasing optimizer, this makes SIGNAL94 an unmatched opportunity.

WinSIGNAL94 includes context-sensitive help and a complete, on-line user guide with comprehensive search capabilities, even under Windows 3.x. Data files for WinSIGNAL94 are compatible with previous DOS versions of all TEAPAC programs, including SIGNAL94, PREPASSR, PRETRANSYT, PRENETSIM and SITE, and are interchangeable between all operating system platforms. WinSIGNAL94 boasts 2-3 times computing speed over its DOS counterpart. Also, the powerful and unique Control File feature of TEAPAC is still available, allowing continued use of WinSIGNAL94 for batch analyses which perform multi-scenario, multi-file computations with a single command.

WinSIGNAL94 is available from Strong Concepts for the same price as the DOS version, $595. SIGNAL94 DOS Licenses can be up-graded for $295, and licenses to SIGNAL85 can be upgraded for $395. See some of the unique features of WinSIGNAL94 on the next page.

A vast amount of information about TEAPAC and Strong Concepts is now available at our newly enhanced World Wide Web home page on the Internet, now at www.StrongConcepts.com. New features include:

Free demos of all programs
    Windows versions of SIGNAL94
    DOS versions of all TEAPAC programs

Copies of recent publications
    recent issues of InfoQueue
    recent technical papers,
       e.g. "1994 Changes to 1985 HCM"

FAQs (frequently asked questions)
    answers to common questions

Complete product information
    program descriptions
    program and package pricing

Current course offerings
    University of Central Florida
    Northwestern Univ. Traffic Institute

You can even join our mailing list here or send us email at our new email address: info@StrongConcepts.com. Visit the new page and see the latest at Strong Concepts.

Of the seven continents of the world, active TEAPAC licenses are in use in all but one -- Can you guess which continent doesn't have a TEAPAC license? This widespread use is also reflected in usage in the United States, where TEAPAC has been licensed in all 50 states and is used by a majority of Departments of Transportation in the U.S.A. and Canada. This expansive usage is a testament to the proven power and usefulness of TEAPAC. Having stood the test of time for over 20 years, this suite of mature programs continues to be the most popular privately-developed traffic and transportation package worldwide. This is in part due to our highly-acclaimed support for the programs which our users tell us is second to none! We frequently provide support for other traffic software! If you are not yet a member of this group of TEAPAC users, call us now so we can get you on the road to unparalleled efficiency in your traffic analyses.

Four delegates at the ITE Annual Meeting came home from the conference with more than they expected last fall. They were winners in the free software giveaway at the Strong Concepts exhibit hall booth, each winning a free, fully-licensed copy of their choice of TEAPAC software. The winners were:

City of Boulder, Colorado

City of Fargo, North Dakota

Snyder & Associates, Ankeny, Iowa

City of Olathe, Kansas

Three of these picked the new WinSIGNAL94 program to enhance their ability to optimize signal timings and phasings in an HCM capacity analysis. The other chose PRETRANSYT as a powerful means to prepare TRANSYT-7F inputs in a reliable, error-free manner, with the added ability to read these data inputs directly from the SIGNAL94 program.

Congratulations to these winners, and good luck to everyone in next year's drawing. We expect to continue this annual event this August at the next ITE Annual Meeting in Boston.

The next hands-on software training courses which feature TEAPAC will be offered in Orlando, Florida the week of March 10-14, 1997. The first course, "Timing Traffic Signals Using TEAPAC, PASSER, TRANSYT and NETSIM," has a focus on specific solutions to signal timing and simulation problems from isolated intersections and arterials to diamond interchanges and grid systems. Hands-on work problems using the software mentioned provide the user with real experience applying these solutions with the only software system that integrates all of these programs into a single system of software. The TEAPAC programs used include SIGNAL94, NOSTOP, PREPASSR, PRETRANSYT and PRENETSIM, in addition to PASSER-II, TRANSYT-7F and TRAF-NETSIM. This very popular three-day course will be offered at the University of Central Florida March 10-12, 1997 in Orlando.

The three-day course will be followed immediately by the two-day course "Advanced TEAPAC Application Techniques" which provides hands-on exercises for multi-file, multi-scenario analyses, batch analyses and comprehensive multi-program integration using TEAPAC and the above programs on March 13-14 in Orlando.

A four-day version of the first course called "Microcomputers Applications in Signal Timing" adds related survey techniques and will be offered in Evanston, Illinois at the Northwestern University Traffic Institute May 5-8, 1997.

Call Strong Concepts at (847) 564-0386 for more course information. You may also call the Universities directly for registration information:

University of Central Florida
(407) 823-6110

Northwestern University Traffic Institute
(847) 491-5040 or (800) 323-4011

Call early, as these courses fill up quickly and enrollment is limited. All of these courses will have the option of using either the DOS or Windows versions of SIGNAL94.

At the January meeting of TRB's Highway Capacity Committee, the Signalized Intersection Subcommittee chaired by Dennis Strong gained approval to proceed with the publication of an update to Chapter 9 of the Highway Capacity Manual. This update will include a number of important enhancements to the signals chapter, as outlined in the following paragraphs:

1) The measure of effectiveness used will now be total delay rather than stopped delay, and the level of service thresholds will be modified accordingly. New survey techniques will also be used to measure this delay in the field.

2) An enhanced model for the effects of actuation and coordination on delay will be used, based on research recently completed. A new Appendix II will outline a better way to estimate the "average" fixed-time timings for an actuated signal.

3) A new formulation for the delay equation will allow its evaluation for over-saturated conditions. This formulation will also allow the evaluation of delay for an analysis period that has an initial queue, as well as a multi-period analysis.

4) Lane utilization adjustments will be made to saturation flow rate rather than volume so that imaginary vehicles are not introduced into the analysis as they presently are.

5) Some adjustments to the permitted left turn model have been made to better reflect some of the permitted left turn conditions which may be observed.

6) Clarifications are given as to when it might be appropriate to use the "CBD" adjustment factor.

7) Better usage of lost time in the chapter is provided, primarily with the clarification of the inclusion of all-red time as part of the lost time.

8) Minor errata from the 1994 version of the Chapter is corrected.

Publication of the updated Chapter 9 is anticipated at the end of 1997, in conjunction with updates to Chapters 3 (Freeways), 10 (Unsignalized) and 11 (Arterials). A Metric User Guide for the HCM which provides guidance for conversion of analyses to metric will also be published concurrently.

Strong Concepts
15 Timber Lane
Northbrook, Illinois U.S.A. 60062-3715
(847) 564-0386

Do you want to receive your own 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 September 22, 1998