Contact Information:
AJH Associates
4845 N. Newhall St.
Milwaukee WI 53217
ajh.associates@att.net
What is QRS II?
Version 9
Quick Response System II is the strategic travel forecasting package. It runs the four-step planning process – trip generation, trip distribution, mode split, traffic/transit assignment – for highway and transit forecasting. Networks and data are entered and edited graphically using the powerful General Network Editor.
The Windows environment, with its buttons, menus and dialog boxes, permits fast setup of simulations, retrieval of results and data transfer to many other Windows applications, such as spreadsheets, word processors and graphic packages. An advanced version of GNE also is available.
QRS II has benefited from extensive research on travel forecasting methodologies by its developer and his co-authors. QRS II has been greatly influenced by NCHRP Reports 187, 365, 716, and 765. QRS II is a state-of-the-art planning package. It can provide traditional region-wide forecasting, as well as site impact analysis and corridor analysis. Recent innovations within QRS II has positioned it as the premier platform for project-level and strategic (short to medium term) travel forecasting.
Among its advanced capabilities, QRS II performs equilibrium traffic assignment and stochastic multipath transit trip assignment. Dynamic and/or multiclass equilibrium traffic assignment is also available for highway networks. It explicitly considers the effects of traffic-controlled intersections – signals and signs – following the 2000-10 Highway Capacity Manual. Traffic congestion is fully reflected in forecasts of patterns of travel, as well as the presence of conflicting and opposing traffic. Default parameters are supplied, but can be easily modified, either in dialog boxes or in text files. Although QRS II is not specifically a sketch-planning tool, it does support the highly popular sketch-planning procedures found in NCHRP Report #187, #365 and #716. QRS II provides an extensive range of methods for refining forecasts from traffic counts.
The latest release, Version 9, provides editions with up to 6000 zones with 4 gravity-model trip purposes plus user-definable trip purposes. Networks can have up to 100,000 highway links and 216,000 transit links. An extensive on-line Help topics list and a 300-page reference manual are included. Utility software is provided to assist conversion to QRS II from other travel forecasting packages and GISs.
The 32-bit Windows (95 to 10) edition of QRS II offers exceptional speed of calculation with true parallel processing on multicore computers. A 64-bit edition of QRS II is available.
What is GNE?
Version 8
General Network Editor for Windows, version 8, is a powerful graphics and data management system. It provides all the functions necessary for fast,easy data entry and network editing. Network editing capabilities include on-screen link and node plotting, deletion and restoration, transformations,search functions, node move, link split and splice, true scrolling, network append, zoom magnification, polygons, link shape, node and link initialization and layers.
All popular PC hardware is supported: graphics cards at all resolutions; pointing devices; and digitizers. Overlapping and movable windows allow simultaneous and multiple views of the data and the network.
The Advanced GNE packaged with QRS II expands data management control and graphics potential. It includes Extract and Update for exchange of data between GNE and other software packages – such as spreadsheets and database managers – and to permit manipulation and transfer of data between different GNE networks. Customized BASIC-like programs can be created within GNE and incorporated using the Calculate feature, including air pollutant emissions calculations and VMT estimates. Polygons have user-definable styles, and their characteristics, such as area, perimeter, and center of gravity, can be utilized in Calculate, Extract, and worksheets.
The Advanced GNE will plot to any pen plotter or printer compatible with Windows (all popular brands), as well as to the Clipboard. Clipboard plot images can be saved and transported to other graphics programs, desktop publishers and word processors. Labels,variable link widths, variable node sizes, and variable element colors can be shown on screen and plots. GNE also displays a variety of background graphics in such formats as JPEG and EMF. GNE can read TIGER 2000 files and “shape” files from GISs. GNE can also write “shape” files.
An extensive on-screen help is supplemented by a comprehensive 150-page reference manual, which has been expanded to include sample programs and examples.
Who is AJH Associates?
AJH Associates consists entirely of Shirley and Alan Horowitz. AJH Associates was formed in June 1987, shortly after the FHWA decided that QRS II represented unfair competition to privately developed travel forecasting packages, and suspended its own distribution of QRS II. Alan, who retired in 2014 from a full-time faculty appointment in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of of Wisconsin — Milwaukee, is the author of QRS II and GNE. Shirley handles all publishing and business duties.
AJH Associates is located in the village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin — a charming suburban community on Lake Michigan, a few miles north and east of Milwaukee.
Shirley holds a BA and an MA in English literature from UCLA. From 1973 to 1982 she held editorial positions in various publishing houses, ultimately rising to Publisher of Creative Homeowner Press. Shirley has edited nearly 200 books and has co-authored several others. Her books gathered 30 major book club selections. Many of her books are still in print. Between 1982 and 1987, Shirley devoted her time exclusively to raising a family. Since the inception of AJH Associates in 1987, she has juggled family responsibilities with customer assistance, fulfillment, manual preparation, and marketing. For many years Shirley also taught English at a private girl’s high school in Glendale, Wisconsin.
Alan has a PhD in Urban Planning and both a BS and an MS in Engineering from UCLA. He is currently an Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at UWM. He joined UWM’s faculty in 1979, after spending 4 years at General Motors Research Laboratories. He has authored over sixty published articles, and has directed numerous research projects about transportation for government agencies.
However, our smiling AJH Frog means nothing whatsoever, except to suggest the personal and friendly nature of AJH Associates. Some users have offered that he represents the bug-eating, cheerful quality of service that we (Alan and Shirley) try to maintain.
Where in the world does anybody use QRS II?
Abu Dhabi
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bolivia
Bosnia Herzegov
Botswana
Brazil
Canada
China
Columbia
Croatia
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kenya
Lebanon
Malaysia
Mexico
New Zealand
Norway
Pakistan
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Trinidad
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Venezuela
and …
United States of America