Now part of the Cubic Corporation’s Transportation Systems (CTS) business division, Texas-based transportation equipment manufacturer Trafficware has released Version 11 of its flagship Synchro Studio suite of traffic analysis, optimisation, and simulation software products.
Launched during the International Road Federation’s annual R2T Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week (November 19-22), Synchro V11 plus SimTraffic software and its suite of associated applications is a traffic signal timing software that assists engineers and transportation planners design, model, optimise, simulate and animate signalised and unsignalised intersections, including roundabouts. With more than 25 years of tested and proven results, the upgraded Synchro Suite should continue to set the standard as one of the industry’s leading software packages for transportation agencies and consultants.
Synchro is well-known as the suite of applications that allow engineers to analyse signal timing in hours versus days and the new release continues to include key recommendations from customers. Version 11 introduces the much-anticipated Scenario Manager that combines like models into a single-file format, simplifying electronic file management while also reducing development time and maintenance. New functionality includes:
- Saving multiple scenarios such as AM peak, PM peak, existing and future traffic, to a single Synchro file versus the challenge of managing multiple files for each analysis scenario;
- Modifying the timing plans for each scenario separately;
- Modifying the volumes for each scenario separately;
- Updating geometry in one scenario while automatically applying to all scenarios;
- Switching between scenarios to easily compare analysis results with different volumes and/or timings.
A significant benefit of the Scenario Manager within Synchro 11 is the mitigation of coding errors that are possible when managing multiple files with like data. In addition, Version 11 standardises to the global map language of longitude and latitude allowing Bing Maps to default as the Synchro background. Using this new map default, increases the efficiency of developing the geometry of a Synchro Network without putting extra effort into importing and scaling the background image.
Currently used in more than 90 countries and taught in college curriculums, CTS notes that all existing Synchro customers will receive a discount when upgrading to V11. Cubic’s Trafficware division has more than 300 major installations with hardware and software products deployed at more than 50,000 intersections on four continents. The company produces a full line of smart intersection technology including traffic signal controllers, traffic cabinets, a central traffic management system, adaptive traffic control systems at its technology and manufacturing centre outside of Houston.
“Taking and managing millions of data points and creating valuable insights is a highly complex process. By simplifying aspects of the software, we can have a profound impact as traffic engineers and planners manage their infrastructure around the world,” explained Jeff Cornelius, director of Trafficware software engineering and product development at CTS. “With the Version 11 release, we continue to make great strides improving our customers’ workflow.”
