Unique Aspects of TEAPAC Complete...

If you haven't seen or used TEAPAC Complete recently, download the free, fully-functional version and pay attention to all of the features of TEAPAC Complete that cannot be found in any other traffic and transportation software -
 

Only TEAPAC Complete Can Do These Things For You

TEAPAC Complete is the only fully HCM-compliant software for traffic signals that allows HCM capacity analysis & HCM delay optimization using either the 2016 or 2000 HCM method for signals.

Very few traffic programs these days are fully HCM-compliant.  HCS is often hailed as one of these programs; Synchro has never been HCM-compliant, even when evaluating what it calls HCM delay.  Of the limited HCM-compliant programs, TEAPAC Complete is the only one that does both fully-compliant HCM capacity analysis and  optimization of HCM delay, as well as offering the option to do this based either on the newest 2016 method or the historically proven 2000 method.

TEAPAC Complete provides a unique optimization of movement delays, and also provides unique options to prioritize movements and put a ceiling on the delay of non-priority movements.  This provides the user with un-matched options for dictating how movement delay is equitably distributed around the intersection.  Another option allows the balancing of v/c among the critical movements, a historical optimization method that has a significant downside that is easy to evaluate by simply comparing the results of these several different optimization techniques.

The 2010 HCM was the first version of the HCM to explicitly and completely adopt a comprehensive actuated signal model for calculating capacity, delay, queuing and level of service.  This approach has been further enhanced with the 2016 HCM update.  Although the 2010/2016 model approach is theoretically robust and well-founded on proven and validated traffic models, it can often deliver results that are significantly different than the 2000 HCM methods with which we have all developed a certain degree of comfort over a long period of time.  In order to assist the user in comparing results using the two methods, both are offered in TEAPAC Complete, so a simple click is all that is needed to duplicate an analysis with both methods for easy comparisons and better appreciation of what each method is (and is not) doing.

These are not features you will find in any other traffic software today.

TEAPAC Complete is the only software with export/import integration for over a dozen other traffic software tools to give you the most flexible analysis options to meet your project needs (ie, HCS, Synchro, TRANSYT, CORSIM, etc.).

We know that TEAPAC Complete is a useful & complete tool by itself for many different fully-integrated traffic and transportation analyses, ranging from capacity analysis, signal timing optimization and simplified progression analysis to traffic count and warrant analysis and traffic impact analysis.  On the other hand, we are not so caught up with TEAPAC to think that it can or will be all things to all people.  Recognizing the many other important and useful software tools available to traffic and transportation analysts and designers, an important part of our TEAPAC design is to provide useful & appropriate integration of our analysis techniques with other software.  For example,

No other software on the globe provides this degree of integration across such a wide range of possible analysis tools.  This increases your flexibility ten-fold in terms of what analyses you will be able to conduct from a single set of data inputs.  See a schematic of this integration here.  Amazing!  Efficient!  Profitable!

TEAPAC Complete is the only software that allows the use of more realistic HCM average green times for time space diagrams & all Export functions.

Historically, time-space diagrams showing progressive bandwidth flow potentials between actuated signalized intersections have been drawn using the maximum settings from signal controllers.  Since these diagrams are meant to represent the potential flows for an 'average' signal cycle, a more appropriate timing parameter to use would be the average green times.  Average green times are estimated by the HCM method, and TEAPAC Complete is the only program whose default option is to use these HCM-compliant average green times for preparing its time space diagram displays.

The same HCM-compliant average green times can be exported to programs such as CORSIM, Synchro, VISSIM and TRANSYT so that these timings become the basis for these third-party analyses, without the need to perform the more complicated and time-consuming actuated modeling these programs might offer.  With this option, for example, you can get much faster run times for CORSIM simulations, or coax Synchro to use HCM-compliant green times in all of its analyses and displays.

TEAPAC Complete is the only software with powerful & flexible scenario management that allows the efficient analysis of multiple scenarios, without the data duplication that occurs using File-SaveAs for alternative files which is nearly impossible to manage after the fact.

When an analyst is presented with the need to analyze multiple conditions for a project, the normal approach is to create the first analysis and save it to a file, then make the data changes required for subsequent analyses, saving each to a separate data file with a descriptive name using the File-SaveAs option of most Windows programs (also possible in TEAPAC).  This is a viable approach for many analyses, as long as no follow-up analyses are required that include changes to the base conditions.

The trouble is, often some of the base conditions require changes due to changing assumptions, corrected or updated data, or new criteria that are provided for the project.  When multiple files have been created for the initial analyses using File-SaveAs, these changes will be required in every file that has been created.  If it is a simple change like changing the grade of one approach in the network or changing the assumed growth rate for traffic, this is fairly quick and easy - but it still needs to be done to every file, regardless of whether all files are needed for the updated analysis, otherwise, the integrity of the the entire file set is damaged for any subsequent analyses due to inconsistent data across all files.

When the changes to the base conditions become more significant, making these changes to all files can be significantly more burdensome, and less likely to be executed, raising the likelihood of having a set of analysis data files that may be fundamentally unusable for any future analyses without producing invalid results that will be hard to notice and/or trace back to their cause.  In light of ever-present budget constraints, schedule crises and demands for immediate answers, it's easy to see how this set of changes may not get executed across all files, leading to potential huge problems for future analyses.  Many of us have seen this too many times on our projects - subsequent project analyses flounder due to poor data management, not our technical know-how.

TEAPAC Complete has a completely flexible scenario management technique that allows the user to define project-specific, multi-level scenarios by specifying what input variables change under each competing scenario.  These inputs are stored for each scenario condition, while the non-scenario (base) data are stored separately, so when changes are made they are always saved in the appropriate place - scenario data in the appropriate scenario file and non-scenario (base) data in the base file.  The user need only make the appropriate data changes and use File-Save.  For any subsequent analysis, the normal File-Open is used, followed by File-GetScenarioCase.  All the storage locations are managed internally.  It's as simple as that.

Further, if an analysis utilizes third-party software via Export from TEAPAC Complete, this scenario management naturally becomes a management system for the data of the third-party software, extending this powerful feature to that software as well.

Combined with the automation tools described below, this unique feature makes TEAPAC Complete an unprecedented tool for efficiency and productivity needed in the real world of complex and ever-changing multi-scenario analyses expected from our profession.

TEAPAC Complete is the only software that provides simple automation tools (macros) for easily defining repetitive tasks and performing an entire integrated analysis with a single click.

These days, the normal approach to most, if not all, traffic analyses is to sit in front of a PC computer screen and interactively enter data and produce analyses.  Without a doubt, this is a huge advantage that the personal computer has brought to our industry, and for 45 years TEAPAC has been at the forefront of providing these types of interactive analysis tools to the profession, since the very beginning.

However, there can also be a considerable drawback to being required to be at the keyboard for every analysis that is performed, and this can be a huge drain of resources when even the mundane analysis tasks must be directed by the minute-by-minute instructions of the analyst, or worse, the design engineer.  Often times, we know clearly in advance what we want to do and how to accomplish it, but the limitations of the software we're using force us to spend our valuable time making each entry and instruction manually, one at a time, which can be a very inefficient use of our time in these cases.  TEAPAC Complete provides many alternative modes of operation to help make the time at the keyboard most efficient for a wide range of users - from the casual user to the expert user.  These modes include the Visual Mode, the Normal View, the Tabular View and the Manual Mode.

A further capability is the ability to create scripts or macros (we call them control files) of desired actions for TEAPAC to take in an unattended manner.  Essentially it is the Manual Mode getting its direction from a file rather than the keyboard.  The control files are simply a series of instructions that mimic the same instructions that are used in the interactive mode for producing analysis results, combined even with data entries that might affect those actions.  Control files can also be easily created to manage the data input for a large project so that technical staff with significantly better skills for such data entry can be used without the need to understand the inner-workings of the traffic software.

This is one of the unique, power-user capabilities built into TEAPAC Complete that sets it head-and-shoulders above any of software for getting your work done quickly, accurately and cost-effectively. Two entire chapters of the on-screen or printable User Guide is dedicated to this type of use of TEAPAC Complete, including comprehensive examples.

TEAPAC Complete is the only software that moves traffic counts directly from electronic traffic counters to fully-integrated traffic analyses such as signal & stop warrants, HCM capacity analysis, HCM signal delay optimization and traffic impact analysis, without manually entering any volumes.

One of the most tedious and time-consuming data entry requirements of almost any traffic analysis is traffic volumes, usually based on some form of traffic count.  TEAPAC Complete provides an interface to read the traffic count data, both 'turning movement' and 'tube' counts, directly from the data files of five different electronic data collection devices, as well as any other devices which create compatible files.  This means the most tedious inputs for your analyses can be read directly into your analyses without the need to key in any volume data, and immediately use it for capacity analysis, signal timing optimization, traffic impact analysis, warrant analysis, and even exporting to any of the third-party programs supported by TEAPAC, all without any manual volume entry - no program in the industry provides this important capability to avoid unnecessary costs required to type in and validate electronically collected traffic data.

Furthermore, traffic adjustment factors can be entered to be applied on a movement-by-movement basis, including seasonal adjustment factors and compounding growth factors to make the counted traffic more relevant to the analysis at hand.

TEAPAC Complete is the only traffic and transportation software available today that is backed by 45 years of development & support by a professional traffic engineer (PE).

TEAPAC Complete is the culmination of 45 years of traffic software development by a professional traffic engineer, starting with interactive mainframe and mini computers in the 70's, to the early days of PCs in the 80's and graphical Windows technology in the 90's, through to the present day where the huge memory capacities of modern PCs and operating systems allow all of the prior integrated TEAPAC programs to be combined into a single program where the integration of the data amongst all the TEAPAC functions are seamless and immediate in TEAPAC Complete.

TEAPAC was developed by a professional traffic engineer (who is also a professional computer scientist) as a user, with other users in mind, knowing well what is important to those users, recognizing a full range of user capabilities from novice to seasoned expert.  Despite the loss of any meaningful interactive help (F1) in most traffic software these days, TEAPAC remains committed to this type of useful on-screen assistance, despite the added development burden that others have long-since abandoned.  Further, the interactive on-screen help system is a complete re-statement of the content in the printable, searchable and fully-indexed PDF user guide, providing multiple sources for any of the desired help information.  We like to think that our help system is actually helpful to the user.

Email support for TEAPAC is still available by maintenance contract directly from the actual developer of the software with a commitment to prompt and meaningful turnaround to keep you moving forward on your projects.  This is managed by an inexpensive software maintenance arrangement that is affordable and guarantees what has become known in the industry as the best technical support in the business.  A free User Forum is also maintained to review and/or participate in detailed conversations with other users about TEAPAC.

If you've spent any time using traffic and transportation software in recent history, you will know from experience how unique and important this development and support model for TEAPAC Complete is (or can be) to your traffic and transportation projects.  Visit our testimonials here to see what real TEAPAC users have said about TEAPAC through the years.

In summary, we've tried to highlight above the sometimes subtle and/or overlooked aspects of TEAPAC software that users should consider when deciding what traffic software to use.  Often only the simple question is asked - does the software do the analysis required, or what's the cheapest software I can get to do the job.  Now that TEAPAC Complete is free, using TEAPAC on every project should be a no-brainer.  The answers to the unasked questions can easily end up being the straw that breaks the camel's back at the end of the day.  Make sure you ask the right questions!

Download the free, fully-functional TEAPAC Complete now and see for yourself what has made TEAPAC stand apart from the others for 45 years.
 

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this page last updated April 15, 2019