Release Information

Last Revised: 2/13/2023

Obtaining the Latest Maintenance Release of Legacy QRS II or GNE

Licensees of QRS II may be able to obtain the most recent release of their own version of either QRS II or GNE by contacting AJH Associates. There is no charge for this service, provided that the relevant files can be transferred by e-mail. For example, if you currently have version 7.0 of QRS II, you can request version 7.1.6. Please provide us with the number of licensed zones and the full version number. Note that the latest GNE Version 8 executable may be downloaded from the Resources page.

QRS II 9.2 Beta Available for Testing

QRS II 9.2 adds the ability to have MOE indexes, such a pollution estimates, vary by vehicle class. Thus, trucks or electric vehicles can have different emissions than conventional automobiles, for example.

QRS II 9.1 Released

QRS II 9.1 increases the functionality of QRS II in trip generation and in network coding. Networks should be based on the QRSExtensiveS.dta application schema to use all features.

The number of independent variables in trip attraction equations has been increased to 8 (from 5 previously).
It is possible to add a linear equation of demographic variables to any trip production method.
It is possible to have up to two different cross-classifications structures active for any model.
Names of trip generation variables within QRS II’s parameters and within application schemas may be customized.
It is possible to code traffic-controlled intersections having one-way pairs of streets, without needing to bring all approaches to a single node.

GNE 8.4 Released

There are no big plans for GNE. However, there is now a new GNE version 8.4 (32-bit) available for download for current licensees of version 8 on the Resources page of this site. There is also 64-bit edition, but a full setup is necessary. Version 8.4 fixes one serious bug and smooths out numerous other issues. There are two major changes worth noting.

GNE 8.4 is now touch sensitive for zooming and panning. If desired, you can move around large networks fairly easily with gestures on a touch screen.
GNE 8.4 entirely replaces its looping feature. Looping allows interval-by-interval displaying of dynamic traffic assignment results, among other things. The old feature was difficult to use and was limited to displaying varying link widths and node sizes. The newer feature is integrated into the Sketch Pad, with the controls contained on a button bar. Any “view” settings that are affected by attribute values may be varied.

QRS II Version 9 Released

Development is completed for QRS II Version 9. Some performance issue fixes made in version 9 have been applied to a maintenance release of version 8.3. Otherwise, all future changes to QRS II will be to version 9.

QRS II and GNE and Windows 10

QRS II and GNE have been tested on Windows 10 with no issues detected.

QRS II Version 9

Version 9 of QRS II makes many changes to earlier versions of QRS II. In some cases existing features have been extensively revised or entirely replaced.

New Trip Purposes. There are now 8 trip purposes. They are initially designated as HBW, HBNW, HB?, HB4, HB5, HB6, and HB7. Two new application schemas (QRSExtensive.dta and QRSExtensiveUK.dta) provide places for entering productions and attractions of these additional trip purposes. For transit networks each purpose may have its own captivity value.
Mode Split Now Nested Logit. QRS II’s original mode split step has been completely rewritten into a nested logit procedure. QRS II’s old three-mode step can be replicated under the new framework.
Mode Split Now Has Eight Modes. Nested logit can be used to split up to eight modes: auto, transit, thirdmode, fourthmode, fifthmode, sixthmode, seventhmode, eighthmode. Each of the last six modes are user-definable and can be given unique names.
Modes May Be Vehicle Classes. Each of the last six modes can be associated with its own vehicle class. The class can skim impedances (in units of time) from the highway network, and the class can be assigned back to the highway network. A mode/class combination may have its own occupancy parameters.
Time Rates and Class Rates Files, TRatesN.txt and CRates.txt. Vehicle class factors have been taken away from the TRates files and now should be placed into a file called CRates.txt.
Count Range RMSEs. QRS II creates a new report that compares assigned highway volumes to counts within many count ranges. The report is LinkRMSEX.txt, where X is either 1 or the dynamic interval. Count ranges may be established on the Run Controls dialog box
Count Type Attribute. Count type attribute is partially functional in this version of QRS II. Choose “B” or “b” if the count is bidirectional and choose “D” or “d” if the count is directional.
Queue Times. For dynamic traffic assignments, QRS II computes estimates of time spent in queues, on average across a time interval, for links where volume exceeds capacity. These queue delays may be added to times computed from the BPR curve or from the traffic control relationships (signs and signals), at the user’s option, by clicking the appropriate checkbox on the Time Intervals dialog box. Left turn queue delays are also added to left turn penalties from calculated control delay, if exclusive left turn penalties has been checked on the Intersections General dialog box.
OD K Factors. OD tables may be modified by multiplicative factors given in AddKTripsX.txt.
KFactors.bin Replaced by KFactors.txt. KFactors.txt is in “Add” format, instead of the old KFactors.bin in binary format, which has been discontinued.
Equilibrium Traffic Assignments May be Terminated by RMS Link Volume Change. An additional control has been added to equilibrium traffic assignments on the Assignment Options dialog box. Optionally, QRS II will stop when the RMS change in link volumes between successive iterations is sufficiently small.
PRatesN.txt, HRatesN.txt, and HAdjustN.txt May Be Inspected and Edited within QRS II. Buttons on the Productions Parameters dialog box and on the Vehicle Occupancy Parameters dialog box will launch a table editor, which can be used to inspect and modify values in certain QRS II parameter files.
OD Table Refinements Can Ignore Small OD Flows. The memory requirement and the computation time for an OD table refinement can be reduced, perhaps greatly, by ignoring small OD flows through links.
New Vehicle Occupancy Parameters. Parameters on the Vehicle Occupancy Parameters dialog box and within HAdjust.txt have been updated to match values published in NCHRP Report 716.
Changes to the Way QRS II Interprets the Count Type Approach Code. The Count Type approach code on links was previously put into some application schemas as an experimental change. Version 9 of QRS II uses counts in two different ways: when comparing volumes to ground counts for validation purposes; and when doing OD table refinements.
OD Table Refinement Speeds of Execution. Improvements in the manner in which data is stored in memory and accessed during refinements have resulted in significant decreases in execution times, particularly for whole table LS methods.
QRS II Tools Combine Tables Tool. The Combine Tables Tools allows for the transposing matrices before adding.
New Report – AddSplits.txt. If there are bidirectional links in the network, QRS II creates a report, AddSplits.txt, in the Reports folder, which contains the implied directional splits (as fractions) in the A to B direction. This report may be used to change bidirectional counts into directional counts for refinement and reporting.
New “Add File” – AddSplits.txt. Users may provide a new “add” file, AddSplits.txt, which contains directional splits for bidirectional links. Adding this file, essentially turns bidirectional links into directional links for reporting and refinement.
Revised Occupancy and Mode Split Expressions. Occupancy expressions may reference more than 35 centroid attributes, if there are that many. Distance between zones (over the road for vehicle class 1) has been added as a variable. All mode impedances are available for any one mode expression. Times of day for both highway and transit networks are available.
Transit Network Changes. New transit (internal network) size limits in the larger (2000, 6000) zone editions (up to 432,000 links).
New Transit Extra Time. Extra time attribute added to transit networks by way of the new schema, QRSTransitExt9.dta.
New Number of Seats Attribute. Number of seats attributes added to transit networks by way of the new schema, QRSTransitExt9.dta.
Faster Transit Path Building. Transit path building and loading have been made threaded for parallel processing and much faster execution.
Clarifications. Many changes have been made to make QRS II adhere closer to its own documentation and to improve consistency across various options. Some of these changes, however, may affect the reported answers, in some cases from previous versions of QRS II.
Accumulated Delay Reports. For dynamic traffic assignments the three delay reports, Signal.txt, Someway.txt and Allway.txt (no interval number within the file name) accumulate all the data across the reporting period. The files are in tab-separated format for importing into spreadsheets. Each interval has it own set of columns.
New Dialog Boxes. There are new dialog boxes for time-of-day and balancing. Other dialog boxes have been reorganized
Help is Updated. The on-line “Parameters” Help has been updated and overhauled. The keyword search feature has been activated.
User-Interface. Several issues related to the user-interface in Version 8 have been addressed.
Reference Manual. The Reference Manual has been expanded and updated.

QRS II Version 8.3

Version 8.3 of QRS II makes just three substantive changes and fixes a few performance issues:

The limit on the number of nodes has been greatly increased to accommodate networks with many polygon vertices.
It is possible for QRS II to initiate an e-mail message to alert a user that the current run is finished.
A new tool has been added to QRS II Tools, which assists in finding the weighted average of two tables in AddVTrips format.

QRS II Runs Faster in Safe Mode

Test on some computers reveal that QRS II will run considerably faster in Window’s “safe mode”, even if virus checking and indexing have been turned off.

Hot CPUs Can Cause QRS II to Crash

Users have been reporting intermittent, unpredictable runtime errors on long QRS II runs that seem to be related to hot CPUs. QRS II, by default, will try to fully use all the cores on a computer. This may cause the CPU to go into “turbo” (overclocking) mode, which can cause the computer to run very hot. A hot computer can have negative implications on CPU, GPU and hard-drive life. It is suggested that QRS II be degraded slightly to avoid this automatic overclocking, unless your computer has excellent cooling. There are two ways of accomplishing this. First, you can set the “priority” for the run in the Task Manager to “low”. Alternatively, set the number of threads QRS II is allowed to create to one less than the number of processors. This can be accomplished on the Run Controls dialog box.

GNE Version 8.3

Version 8.3 of GNE adds several enhancements to improve the reading of ArcGIS shapefiles, extend the usability of aliases, enable styluses on tablet PCs, and allow room for growth for future versions of QRS II.

It is possible to define up to 100 attributes for any entity type. There are subtle changes to the user-interface to accommodate more attributes, but these changes should not be immediately noticeable for most QRS II users.
It is possible to save Extract/Update formats in a file.
Extract/Update format strings may be built by automatic insertion of aliases for properties and attributes.
Aliases for properties can now be used in expressions.
There is a new multiple-shapefile import feature. This feature allows the user to define (and save and reuse) a sequence of actions that mix single-file imports with file opens, file appends, Calculate programs, and updates.
All the “snap” features have been combined on a new button bar.
The zoom button has been split into a zoom-in button and a zoom-out button. A new button has been added to finish node plot operations (similar to the old right-click).
There are new Calculate statements and one new Sketch Pad action to better handle polygons.
There have been several changes to the user-interface.
The Help has been updated.

QRS II 8 and Windows 8 and 64 Bits

Version 8.2.3 and higher are 64-bit as well as 32-bit. QRS II for both platforms are compiled with Delphi XE3, rather than the previous Delphi 7. The 64-bit version is now available to qualified QRS II users by request. The only motivation to moving to 64-bits would be the removal of the 4GB limit on memory in Windows 7 and 8 for a single QRS II run. The 64-bit Help feature will crash QRS II on some older editions of Windows 7, so users are cautioned when invoking Help. Otherwise, QRS II runs fine in its 64-bit compilation. Executables for both platforms are available on the CD-ROM for the 500-zone, 1000-zone, 2000-zone, and 6000-zone editions. The 32-bit and 64-bit editions cannot coexist on the same computer. If you are planning to uninstall a 32-bit edition of QRS II, be sure to first save all your parameters in the QRSII8Project folder. The 64-bit edition requires Windows 7 or Windows 8.

QRS II 8 and GNE 8 run as expected on Windows 8. So far the 64-bit Help has checked out OK on Windows 8. Mainly because of the Help issue on Windows 7, QRS II’s Parameters Help should be accessed from the Start Menu for 64-bit editions.

QRS II Version 8.2

QRS II 8.2 is an interim release to update selected features to the 2010 HCM and NCHRP Report 716. Here are the new major features in QRS II 8.2.

The 2010 HCM roundabout procedure is almost exactly the same as QRS II’s existing algorithm. Version 8.2 updates QRS II’s parameters to match the 2010 HCM.
Version 8.2 implements actuated signals according to the 2010 HCM. Several additional data items are necessary for each signal.
Version 8.2 allows selection of new someway stop parameters from the 2010 HCM.
Version 8.2 fixes an issue that caused QRS II to sometimes hang when trying to achieve very high precision in OD table estimation.
Version 8.2 makes changes to the user interface.
Version 8.2 provides two new time of day (HRates) tables to match data from NCHRP Report 716.
Version 8.2 implements a cross-classification procedure for trip productions based on NCHRP Report 716.
Version 8.2 allows as an option for paths to be built using free travel times for certain vehicle classes.
Version 8.2 implements a procedure for stochastically splitting of vehicle classes into separate paths in response to work zones and incidents.
Version 8.2 provides a report of equilibrium queue lengths for dynamic traffic assignments.

GNE Version 8.2

GNE underwent some internal changes that gives it better compatibility with GIS software, particularly in its ability to create shapefiles. In particular GNE now has short “aliases” for all of its attributes and entity types that are used within shapefiles. In addition, aliases may be used within expressions (calculate, width, etc.) and in Extract and Update format strings. The maximum length of expressions has been increased to allow room for more characters in aliases as well as more complexity. Predefined aliases have been incorporated into five QRS II application schemas. Click for more information about aliases and short names.

QRS II Version 8.1

Version 8.1 of QRS II does not have additional functionality but will accommodate the new file format for GNE Version 8.2.

QRS II Version 8

We have begun a slow roll-out of QRS II version 8, as of March 28, 2011. A 64-bit version of QRS II is still planned for when a 64-bit compiler (Delphi) becomes available and problem free, sometime later than Spring 2012. We are also monitoring the revision to NCHRP Report 365 and we plan an update to QRS II 8 when the new report becomes available. Here are some new or changed features that are contained in Version 8.

QRS II will go to parallel processing for most of its time-intensive tasks. That is, QRS II will use all the processors in a multicore machine. Performance improvements vary depending upon the application, but most users will experience dramatic reductions in computation time.
Users can supply a district-to-district OD table and disaggregation factors instead of an AddVTrips.txt files for static traffic assignments.
QRS II has a new method of OD table disaggregation that depends upon ground counts. It works similarly to Fratar biproportional refinement, however the user only supplies a district-to-district OD table, with QRS II finding the zone-to-zone OD table.
It will be possible to give QRS II additional constant clock times on links, which are similar to the extra times.
The maximum number of vehicle classes has been increased to 10.
The maximum trip length has been increased to 7200 minutes. The MaxAssignTime and MinAssignTime parameters have been eliminated.
Improvements have been made in the convergence of the Entropy Maximization technique for OD table refinement by changing to a newly published algorithm. The EntropyDamping parameter has been eliminated.
The number of pollutants (or environmental indices) has been increased to 10 and it is possible to give custom names to the pollutants.
A new experimental OD table refinement method, dubbed “least squares mulitproportional”, has been added. This method has results that resemble entropy maximization, but it it possible to closely control the amount of distortion in the OD table.
All the refinement methods have been enhanced for greater speed of convergence.
It is possible to select individual OD cells to be refined.
QRS II will have an interface to an “add” file of “micro” trips, that is individual trip records that are identified by their origin long/lat, destination long/lat, time of departure, and vehicle class.
QRS II will output node-to-node times and distances for later processing.
QRS II will be able to account for a pause in long-distance travel (overnight stay or truck rest stop) in clock times for dynamic traffic assignments.
Traditional Fratar factoring of a static OD table has been added. The factored OD table may be further factored into many dynamic tables.
Some QRS II Tools has been eliminated. The file conversion tools have expanded in functionality and incorporated into QRS II itself.
The Consumer Surplus Tool has been completely rewritten to generalize it to multiple vehicle classes and include the third mode.
The Reference Manual and Help have been updated. QRS II help is now fully compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7.
The installation creates a sample project folder that is outside the Program Files folder and QRS II’s shortcut is configured to reference it.
QRS II allows path building for any vehicle class to be based on a linear combination of times and distances.
Path building can include the effects of travel time reliability.

QRS II 8 and 9 Maintenance Releases

Release 8.0.2. Fixed a bug that caused QRS II to crash when select zone analysis is performed.
Release 8.1.0. Fixed a bug that may have resulted in ignoring vehicle classes 6 to 10 in some traffic assignments. Added the ability to read networks from GNE version 8.2. Provided 5 revised application schemas with aliases. Fixed a number of attribute name inconsistencies within and across application schemas.
Release 8.2.1. Fixed a bug that would cause QRS II to crash if there is not a speed set on an approach to a fully actuated signal.
Release 8.2.2. Fixed a bug that would cause QRS II to crash if there were more centroids than links on a network. Added the RMS change in link volumes between successive equilibrium iterations to the History Box and History.txt.
Release 8.2.3. Upgraded the compiler to Delphi XE3. Fixed a bug that caused some transit network files to be rejected by QRS II. Made some minor changes to the user interface. Made some minor fixes that may improve the program’s performance when doing multithreading. Added the platform (32-bit, 64-bit) to the release number.
Release 8.2.4. Fixed a problem with TurnMove.txt for the base vehicle class. Made a minor change to the user interface.
Release 8.2.5. Fixed a bug that caused incorrect delay calculations on uninterrupted link segments. The bug did not exist in versions 8.1 or earlier.The bug only affects static traffic assignment, not dynamic traffic assignments.
Release 8.3.1. Improves the quality of information in QueueLength.txt.
Release 8.3.2. Assembles a full distance.txt matrix from all the pieces outputted by the threads.
Release 8.3.3. Fixed QRS II so it is consistent with documentation and has the fully refined OD table in Table.bin and Table.txt (optional). Fixed a problem that caused QRS II to stop running when there are dummy links in the network. Fixed a problem that caused QRS II to sometimes crash if there were added clock times within a dynamic traffic assignment.
Release 8.3.5. Fixed an issue in the Intersections General dialog box that would reset the selection of 2010 someway procedure to 1985 someway procedure. (Note: this problem occurred on entry to the dialog, so any settings made while in the dialog box would be correct unless the dialog box is later re-entered.) Fixed a difference in interpretation of the count type “D” approach code between one-way and two-way streets. (Note: in Version 8 a value of “b” or “B” for the count type will cause QRS II to ignore the count in OD table refinements.)
Release 8.3.5. Fixed some typos in the hints within the “enhanced” application schemas. The typos may have led to confusion as to the actions QRS II takes with the Count Type approach code. New application schemas may be downloaded by clicking here.
Release 8.3.6. Fixed an issue that caused automatic conversion of TableX.bin to TableX.txt at the end of a QRS II run to fail for dynamic traffic assignments.
Release 8.3.7. Fixed a bug that could cause QRS II to crash when left-turn penalties is turned on.
Release 8.3.8. Fixed some performance issues.
Release 8.3.10. Fixed additional performance issues.
Release 8.3.11. Fixed a bug that could cause QRS II to crash when calculating delay at actuated signals.
Release 9.0.1. Fixed a bug that could QRS II to crash when the unit extension attribute was set out of range of reasonable values.
Release 9.0.2. Same bug fix as 8.3.11.
Release 9.0.3. Fixes an issue that prevented full reading of TRates files during a DTA.
Release 9.0.4. Eliminates a problem reading P and A tag data from the “Extensive” application schemas.
Release 9.0.5. Overrides Windows’ regional setting for decimal separator with a period.
Release 9.0.6. Fixes a bug that can cause a crash when 100% trips are split to transit. Fixes a bug that causes QRS II to bypass transit assignment under some circumstances. Checks for bad data in the number of seats attribute in transit networks.
Release 9.0.7. Fixes a bug that causes an error interpreting P and A tag data from networks with older application schemas.
Release 9.0.9. Fixes a bug that causes a crash when running “land use” networks.
Release 9.1.0. Fixes a problem that causes QRS II to crash when encountering transit splits greater than1, after displaying an error message. Changes the default for the RMSChangeCriterion parameter to 0, thus preventing too early terminations of some traffic assignments.
Release 9.1.1. Fixes a problem that sometimes prevents AddBaseN.txt or AddPenaltyN.txt to be read for dynamic traffic assignments.
Release 9.2.1. Activates the trip table factors for individual vehicle classes, which had been disabled in earlier versions.
Release 9.2.2. Fixes a bug that could cause QRS II to crash when a roundabout approach code is used at a signalized intersection.

QRS II 8 and Windows Vista and 7

All issues noted below with QRS II 7 and the latest Windows editions have been resolved.

QRS II 7 and GNE in Windows Vista

QRS II 7 and GNE appear to run fine in Windows Vista. There is, however, a problem with the Help feature in older versions of both programs. Windows Vista does not normally contain the file WinHlp32.exe that Windows once used to display help files. Microsoft chose to discontinue supporting WinHelp because of security flaws that could not be easily corrected. It is possible to download a somewhat crippled version of WinHlp32.exe from Microsoft’s web page. This file should be sufficient for most QRS II users. Both GNE 8 and QRS II 7.1 have new help files that eliminate the need for a patch. QRS II 7 still has the old help file. The help for QRSTools has not been converted.

Users have experienced trouble creating reports under Program Files folders with Windows Vista. It is necessary to change the reports, temporary and parameters folders to something outside of Program Files. This is just good practice anyway.

QRS II with Indexing and Virus Checking

Windows Vista and 7 has an indexing feature that can occasionally interfere with QRS II, causing I/O errors. It is recommended that Windows indexing be defeated within all folders that contain reports, temporary files and parameters. The same problem can occur with Google Desktop and some virus checkers. In addition, these computer programs will slow down computations noticeably, maybe even considerably.

QRS II Memory Limit

Until just recently QRS II was limited to accessing 2 GB for its calculations, because it was inconceivable that the 2 GB limit could be reached for any model. Release 7.1.2 and later allows accessing 3 GB of memory. In the last several months we have seen some instances of OD table refinements that have tried to exceed the old 2 GB limit. Unfortunately, QRS II does not check as to whether Windows has refused a memory request, so exceeding 2 GB or 3 GB will likely cause QRS II to crash. It will take some time to fully resolve the problem.

Windows 7 appears to allow 4 GB for QRS II.

However, 32-bit versions of Windows, by default, allow programs to access just 2 GB. It is possible to change the configuration of Windows to allow up to 3 GB in a single application on some computers.

Users who suspect that QRS II is seeking more than Windows’ allowable memory of 2 GB or 3 GB should watch Windows Task Manager during the initial stages of the OD table refinement. If QRS II looks like it wants more than 75% of the limit, there is a need to rethink the specification of the refinement to conserve memory. Under no circumstances should a QRS II run be allowed exceed the physical memory (RAM) in the computer.

Telling Windows XP or Vista to allow more than 2 GB of memory should be done after obtaining the advice of an IT specialist. Your computer must have 3 GB or more of physical memory and you must not have any device drivers that map their memory between 2 GB and 3 GB. In Window XP, there are two relevant switches in the boot.ini file: /3GB and /USERVA. Consult Windows’ documentation to determine how to best use these switches. It is strongly recommended that you have an alternate way of booting your computer before trying these switches.

GNE 8 New Features

GNE 8 is was released on September 10, 2007. Here is a list of new features.

Nodes can be shown on networks as pie charts. Pie slices can be apportioned according to node attributes or controlled by node size expressions.
Nodes and shape point locations can be recorded in longitude and latitude. GNE has the ability to convert x, y to long, lat and the ability to convert long, lat to x, y. Three map projection methods are available (Lambert, transverse Mercator, and linear/cosine), both direct and inverse. In addition, it is possible to set longitude and latitude using statistical interpolation from surrounding nodes and shape points. Longitude and latitude are preserved to 1 ten-millionths of a degree (about 1 cm of physical distance.) Longitude and latitude can be used in node size expressions, Calculate, Extract and Update.
GNE provides a place to enter the elevation of nodes and shape points. Elevation can be used in node size expressions, Calculate, Extract and Update. Elevations are preserved from shapefiles, should the shapefiles contain elevations. GNE can calculate node and shape point elevations by a method called Delaunay Triangulation. It is also possible to interpolate shape point elevations from the elevations at either end of its link. Elevations can be set network-wide or at individual nodes and shape points.
Nodes and links can have text attributes. Text can be used in expressions and in Calculate, extracted and updated.
GNE can animate node size and link expressions that may change over time, say from the results of a dynamic traffic assignment.
Enhancements have been made for polygon handling.
- It is possible to determine if a polygon is clockwise or counterclockwise.
- The direction of the polygon may be reversed at will.
- A node’s or shape point’s order in any given polygon chain is readily available.
- Calculate has two new commands, CCLK and CLKW, which will change the orientation of a polygon.
- GNE automatically calculates and presents the distance a vertex is from the first node in a polygon.
- The direction of a polygon is available as a node property in expressions.
- A new Sketch Pad mode allows the transfer of one owner nodes’s polygon to another node.
GNE can write shapefiles consistent with ESRI (ArcGIS) standards. Extract’s ability to write dbf files is synchronized with the routines to write shp and shx files, to form a complete GIS database. GNE shapefiles use longitude and latitude for object’s location. The set of elements in shapefiles can be modified by searches and layers, so shapefiles can be highly customized to a particular need. GNE sends nodes to pointz files; links to polylinez files, and polygons to polygonz files. This feature gives GNE a convenient interface with many GIS products.
GNE has a GIS-like buffering tool. Called the Polygon Coverage Tool, GNE can calculate the spatial coverage of a buffer across many polygons within a network. GNE then adds up one characteristic or a combination of characteristics across all polygons that are covered or partially covered. Partially covered polygons are only partially counted in the total. For example, it would be possible to find the total number of dwelling units in a subregion, regardless of whether the subregion boundaries closely match the boundaries of the TAZs or census tracts (polygons). Five types of buffers are possible: polygon, circle, link pearls, link blunt, and link sausage. A polygon buffer is appropriate when the region can be defined precisely. A circle buffer forms a circular region around a single node. A link pearls buffer forms a string of circular buffers around each shape point and each ending node of a link. A link sausage or blunt buffer forms a region within a fixed distance of a link. The buffer’s extent across the network can be seen visually on the network as the buffer is analyzed. Buffers can be drawn around a specific link or node or buffers can involve a combination of nodes or a combination of links.
Many improvements have been made to the user interface.
GNE has dialog boxes that extensively list node properties and link properties. Properties are attributes of nodes and links that cannot be directly set, such as link length, but are a consquence of their relationship to other elements on the network. The Properties dialog box, at the user’s discretion, can display very detailed information about the nestedness or other interactions of an element with respect to the rest of the network. Reported informaiton includes: polygons that contain a specific node or link, polygons that intersect a given polygon, polygons that are adjacent to a specific polygon, and nodes or links within a specifc polygon.
GNE reports a shape point’s position within a link. GNE automatically calculates and reports the distance a shape point is from the A-node of a link.
There is a new Shape Open Sketch Pad mode. It is possible to open a link by going through any one of its shape points.
Mark Shortest Paths can be given a maximum distance. The tool cannot be used to find all network elements within a specified travel distance or impedance from a specific node. Any number of starting nodes may be entered, so it is also possible to find all network elements within a specified travel distance of multiple nodes.
GNE reports link lengths, polygon perimeters, and polygon areas in standard units (e.g., miles or meters, instead of pixels), at the uses’s option.
Searches can include or exclude entities without attributes.
Links displayed with two widths (Width:Width) can now be displayed with two widths and a color using three link expressions.
The node size style Polygon:Size has been extented to allow a third expression to control node color.
Expressions can have a new function RAND, which is a random number generator. There are two new operators: “d” is the integer divide operator and “m” is the modulo operator.
GNE can display desire lines, which can be supplied to GNE in a text file in the same format as AddVTrips.txt. Desire lines are displayed using expressions and link width intervals.
GNE can help create good label offsets for links that are not straight due to shape points.

GNE Version 8, Maintenance Releases

Release 8.0.1. Fixed a problem that prevented GNE from appending networks that had been saved in GNE 8 file format.
Release 8.0.2. Fixed a problem with the mark shortest path feature that caused GNE to sometimes fail to see a starting node.
Release 8.1.0. Added the ability to easily replace text strings in link or node names.
Release 8.1.1. Fixed a bug that caused a crash if Initialize Clear was selected. Fixed a problem that sometimes prevented Append from working correctly.
Release 8.1.2. Fixed a bug that would cause GNE to fail to read a network after an unusual editing sequence involving shape points.
Release 8.1.5. Allowed names to be exported to dbf files by Extract or Shapefile Export, even if there are issues with the length of the link name.
Release 8.2.0. Improved the ability of GNE to export well-annotated shapefiles. Added the ability to use attribute aliases in expressions and in Extract/Update. GNE now saves Extract/Update format strings with the network.
Release 8.2.1. Fixes an issue that could cause long/lat data to be destroyed if an Update is performed.
Release 8.3.2. Fixes a bug that caused the wrong projection method to be run from the Calculate Long/Lat dialog box.
Release 8.3.3. Fixes a bug that eliminated delimiters between data items when extracting shape points for polygon vertices with tab or commas formats.
Release 8.3.4. Fixes a bug in the automatic insertion of link attribute aliases into Extract and Update format strings.
Release 8.3.5. Fixes a bug that can cause GNE to crash if aliases are used for Extract, but no aliases have been defined for the network
Release 8.4.0. Fixes a bug that prevented writing of DBF files when exporting shapefiles.
Release 8.4.1 fixes an inconsequential bug that caused an error message to display when importing shapefiles. This bug was not present in version 8.3.

The latest GNE 8.3 and 8.4 executables may be downloaded from the Resources page. Be aware that these executables will not run without other files that are shipped with GNE 8. One of these executables should be copied over the existing GNEwin.exe on your hard drive. This executable must not be copied over earlier versions of GNE.

QRS II Version 7, Maintenance Releases

Release 7.0.1. Fixed a problem that prevented the heavy vehicle acceleration rates to differ from the default.
Release 7.0.2. Fixed a problem that caused QRS II to underestimate signalized intersection delay when Exclusive Left Turn Penalties is selected.
Release 7.0.3. Fixed a problem that prevented District.txt from containing useful data when using area-spread assignment. Reduced the size of Skims.tmp by 25% by storing its data as packed 3-byte binary numbers instead of 4-byte binary integers.
Release 7.0.4. Fixed a problem that caused QRS II to crash when an lane geometry and sign code of “o” is selected for a one-lane roundabout.
Release 7.0.5. Fixed a problem that caused QRS II to crash if two-way dummy links are connected to intersections with delay. Work-around: replace “dummy” links with regular two-way street links.
Release 7.0.6. Fixed a problem that caused too low delay values for signalized intersections when doing dynamic equilibrium traffic assignment. Fixed a problem with the formatting of files similar to VehTrips.txt when labeling is turning off. Fixed a problem that causes spurious values to appear in the intrazonal trip attribute in Output.dta.
Release 7.0.7. Corrected an oversight that prohibited the third mode to be used in dynamic-multiclass traffic assignments.
Release 7.0.10. Fixed a problem that caused volumes to be incorrectly labeled in LinkVols.txt when the Initialize Link has been given a name. Fixed a problem that could give incorrect binary OD tables if a District.txt is requested.
Release 7.0.11. Fixed a problem that caused a underestimate of delay at some-way stops under very unusual volumes and geometries.
Release 7.0.12. Added a check for bad data in the cycle length attribute for intersections with delay. Fixed a problem where QRS II would compute illogical delays at signalized intersection approaches that were designated with user-defined functional classes.
Release 7.0.13. Fixed a problem that caused all data in MOE.txt for “user” functional classes to appear in the “other” class.
Release 7.1.0. Provided support for the GNE 8 native file format. Fixed a bug that caused QRS II to not see the “typical” interval when doing transit ridership forecasts along with a dynamic traffic assignment. Fixed a problem that caused QRS II to crash when doing a dynamic OD table refinement if there were a wind-down intervals after the report intervals. Fixed a problem with the Reverse Tool that affected networks with shape points. Converted the Help file to the new Windows specification.
Release 7.1.1. Fixed a bug that sometimes caused erroneous VMTs for lettered vehicle classes in MOE.txt. Eliminated a potential for QRS II to crash if both dynamic traffic assignment and uniproportation Fratar refinement are selected in the same run.
Release 7.1.2. Changed the “memory manager” to one that allows accessing greater than 2GB of memory. Eliminated two minor memory leaks.
Release 7.1.3. Eliminated a bug that caused QRS II to rarely crash when reading AddETime files. Removed a problem that caused problems reading TRates files for multiclass/dynamic traffic assignments.
Release 7.1.4. Removed a bug that sometimes prevented dynamic assignments with more than 24 intervals.
Release 7.1.5. Eliminated a conflict between AddPenalty.txt and LeftPenalty1.tmp that could cause a crash. Fixed a problem that prevented Result.dta from being readable if the original network file was created with GNE 8.
Release 7.1.6. Eliminate a bug that would cause somewhat wrong paths to be built under certain setting for dynamic traffic assignments.

QRS II Version 7, New Features

QRS II version 7 was released on July 1, 2004. It contained these enhancements over version 6.

QRS II will run equilibrium dynamic traffic assignments. Traffic may be assigned in up to 255 time slices of as few as 1 minutes each. Reports are provided for each time slice as well as all traffic within a designated reporting period. Either static and dynamic (forward-looking) path building can be selected.
QRS II will allow much larger numbers of nodes and links in its biggest editions; each was previously limited to 32000. The largest edition of QRS II can accommodate the biggest travel forecasting networks known to exist in the United States.
Results of select link analysis are inserted into a network file, Select.dta, which has similar information as Selvols.txt.
QRS II can be told to “refine” a highway trip table to match ground counts, thereby creating a file called AddRTrips.txt that can be “added” by QRS II or inspected by the user as part of the calibration process. Five refinement methods are available: entropy maximization, generalized least squares (GLS), biproportional least squares, uniproportional least squares and single-factor least squares. The biproportional least squares method finds a set of Fratar factors of a given OD matrix that best fits ground counts. Uniproportional least squares finds a single expansion factor for each zone that best fits ground counts. All methods are compatible with QRS II’s elastic-demand equilibrium assignment method. A byproduct of the refinement is a file equivalent to Select.txt containing the select link information for all links with ground counts.
QRS II can be told to “refine” a time series of highway origin-destination tables that would be input to a dynamic equilibrium traffic assignment. There are three possible refinement methods: biproportional least squares, whole trip table least squares, and single-factor least squares. This type of refinement is most applicable to statewide models where trips are long and the time-of-day distribution on links would not necessarily match the time-of-day distribution of origins. The method can also be used for freeway corridor studies where there are good link data for time intervals of less than one hour.
QRS II now writes its full “history” to a file for later reference.
Explicit roundabout approaches have been added to the someway stop routines. It is possible to designate 1-lane or 2-lane roundabouts that behave differently from yield signs and properly account for the uneven lane distribution in circulating flow.
QRS II will create a report, Movements.txt, which gives the right, left, and through movements for all intersection approaches at traffic-controlled intersections.
Results of a select zone analysis are inserted into a network file, Selzones.dta, which has similar information as SelZones.txt.
Extra link times may be given to QRS II by way of an AddETime.txt file.
QRS II can perform multiclass traffic assignment. Users are allowed to define up to 5 vehicle classes and track those classes through the assignment process. Classes can have different “extra times” on links. Class OD tables are given to QRS II through the AddVTrips.txt file.
Frank-Wolfe decomposition has been deactivated (confusing and obsolete).
There are now 7 additional user-definable functional classes.
There are optional acceleration rates for heavy vehicles.
Confirmed that the 2000 HCM procedures are identical to those implemented in QRS II based on the 1997 manual. Updated all reference to the 2000 HCM. Added the ability to have double exclusive right lanes.
Many minor improvements to the user interface.
Individual turn penalties may be placed on the network with an AddPenalty.txt file, which has the same format as AddBase.txt.
QRS II can have separate delays for left turning vehicles from exclusive lanes at all types of traffic controlled intersections.
Capacities and saturation flow rates can be varied throughout a dynamic traffic assignment by using an AddCapacity.txt file.
Signal timing can vary throughout dynamic traffic assignment by using an AddTiming.txt file.
New sample networks are provided (along with supporting parameter and “add” files to illustrate OD table refinement, dynamic traffic assignment and multiclass traffic assignment.

GNE 7 Maintenance Releases

Release 7.0.1 fixed a bug that prevented the showing of plot margins. Also changed the way version numbers appear in the executable.
Release 7.0.2 accommodates networks that have had links removed outside of GNE, where those links had shape points that served as polygon vertices. This change was necessary for GNE to read some skim tree files that are produced by QRS II.
Release 7.0.3 fixes a problem with node merge that could cause the same vertex node to appear twice in a polygon.
Release 7.0.4 fixes a bug that prevented extracting link and node names to dbf files.
Release 7.0.6 fixes a bug that kept node merge from working when merging a node to shape point and the node was a polygon vertex. Fixed a problem that unnecessarily increased the size of network files.
Release 7.0.7 fixes a bug that prevented Calculate from moving nodes to new layers.
Release 7.0.8 fixes a bug that caused arrows to improperly appear on some links. It fixes a bug that caused the Set Search for Mark feature on Mark Shortest Paths to sometimes work improperly. Also fixed was a bug that caused GNE to sometimes fail to reinitialize the file name for a new schema. This release allows users to extract the first and second lines of “notes” by using the codes “)” and “(“, respectively.
Release 7.0.9 fixes a bug that allowed GNE to consider deleted links when marking shortest paths.
Release 7.0.10 fixes a bug that caused multiple problems when clear entity labels was selected. Also fixed several nuisance problems with Sketch Pad operations.

GNE 7 New Features

GNE Version 7 was released on August 1, 2002. Here is a list of new features.

It is possible to enter random text into nodes and links. This text can be used to document the condition or history of node or link data that is not apparent from the attribute values or the name. This text can be displayed on the network.
It is possible to use GNE node bitmaps as default images for nodes of specific entity types.
It is possible to use link shape points as polygon vertices.
There have been modest updates to the user interface, to be more consistent with latest Windows software.
You may add textual information about the network as a whole and display that information on the network.
Two new Sketch Pad modes have been added that allows shape points to be converted to nodes and nodes converted to shape points. These modes act like link splice and link split, except that all other shape points are preserved.
A new Sketch Pad mode has been added that allows merging of two nodes. One node is deleted and the other node gets the former node’s links and polygon. If both nodes have polygons, then GNE attempts to form a union of both polygons. Nodes can be merged with shape points if the node does not own a polygon or have any attached links.
GNE can import 2000 TIGER line files.
GNE can Update directly from dbf files and GNE can Extract directly to dbf files.
It is possible to obtain the A to B orientation of links (azimuth) in worksheets, Extract, and Calculate.
Variable names have been created for most link and node properties so that they can be easily included in various GNE expressions including Calculate, node sizes, worksheets, and link widths. Properties include node coordinates, link coordinates, polygon area, polygon perimeter, polygon centroid, link length, number of polygon vertices, number of shape points, and link orientation.
Variable names have been created for system attributes so they can be conveniently included into GNE expressions.
Calculate has four new statements that better exploit the topological nature of the data base: DONS (do node sweep); DOLS (do link sweep); DOVS (do vertex sweep); and DOOS (do owner sweep). These statements perform similarly to CALL (for executing one line subroutines), except the statement is applied to all items in a list of elements associated with the node or link currently being calculated. DONS sweeps across the A-end and B-end nodes of a link, executing the called line on each ending node. DOLS sweeps across all links attached to a single node and executes the called line on each link. Similarly, DOVS sweeps across vertex nodes when calculating on an owner, and DOOS sweeps across all owner nodes when calculating on a vertex.
GNE remembers the editing environment at the time that a network is closed or saved. If the network is “reopened” it will restore the previous zoom settings, toolbars, scroll setting, snap distance, etc.
Extensive additional “hints” have been added at various places in the program.
It is possible to easily lookup attributes when writing link width and node size expressions and insert the correct attribute name into the expression.
Calculate has a new command, FUSE, which does wholesale node elimination by performing “node-to-shape” operations on all nodes of a requested type.
There is a new Sketch Pad mode that finds the intersection of any one link with all other links and places nodes at all points of intersections, thereby connecting the links that would otherwise pass over one another.
Calculate has a new command, LNKX, that finds link intersections wholesale.
GNE can show links as user-defined bitmaps. As with node bitmaps, you can designate an entity type to display a specific bitmap or a group of bitmaps can be used with link width expressions. Bitmaps rotate with link orientation. Up to 240 link bitmaps may be active during any GNE session.
GNE can display legends for node size and link width expressions.
GNE can generate more than two dozen color palettes that can be easily used for polygon, link and node colors.
It is possible to override GNE’s logical shape for any given node or link with a chosen bitmap.
Calculate has a new command, MRGE, which causes any nodes within a specified distance of a given node to be merged with the given node.
GNE can read ESRI (ArcInfo/ArcView) shapefiles. All file types are supported, including points, polylines, and polygons. Update has been modified to allow easy interaction between dbf files with shapefiles.
Both import features, TIGER and shapefiles, can perform four types of map projections, including Lambert Conformal and Transverse Mercator, to convert long/lat to pixels.
GNE can fill polygons with user-defined bitmaps. Up to 240 fill bitmaps may be active during any GNE session.
Node and link labels may be placed anywhere relative to the node or link.
It is possible to display arrows only on links of a specific type.
It is possible to inspect and precisely set the extents of the Sketch Pad (top, bottom, left, right).
It is possible to make layer selection a function of the zoom state.
Two new “tools” allow wholesale reinitialization of undefined nodes and links.
GNE has an Auto Backup which backups the current network automatically every 15 minutes.
The GNE Reference Manual is provided on the CD-ROM as a pdf file.
GNE comes with 240 sample node bitmaps, 240 sample link bitmaps, and 41 sample fill bitmaps.

QRS II 6

QRS II 6 was released on July 28, 2000. Here is a summary of the major differences between version 5.1 and 6.

It is possible to define production or attraction expressions for any purpose. Expressions may contain up to 35 attributes (real or categorical) and are similar in syntax to link width expressions in GNE. Rather complex trip generation models may be implemented without requiring a spreadsheet, P&A tags, or AddPsAs.txt. All four trip generation methods may be used in the same simulation.
It is possible to define occupancy expressions for any purpose. Expressions may contain 35 attributes of the production zone, 35 attributes of the attraction zone, auto time (either direction), transit disutility (either direction), third mode time (either direction), attraction and production zone numbers, attraction and production centroid coordinates, or base occupancies. The occupancy expressions can be used to implement a choice model across nontransit modes.
It is possible to define expressions to add times to either the highway mode or the transit mode when performing mode split. These expressions can include all the same inputs available for the occupancy expressions.
A new file format for Param.txt will make future upgrades easier. Param.txt is also self-documenting and readable by people.
A new applications schema that allows capacities and approach codes to vary by direction of travel, allows a constant time penalty to be added to links, has a more convenient set of attributes for special generator centroids, allows parameter set selection directly on the centroid, and has a distance attribute on links. Because of the complexity of the new application schema, the old schema has been retained for those interested in a simpler set of inputs.
QRS II can be executed and closed from another program or from a set of batch commands.
It is possible to add both person trip tables and vehicle trip tables in the same run.
Select link analysis has been expanded to include a report containing the flows on all links that pass through one or more selected links.
Districting, adding P&A tags and adding a seed tag can be accomplished with polygons, as well as with pieces of strings.
QRS II can perform a new style of traffic assignment that essentially assigns trips point-to-point rather than zone-to-zone. This method should improve assignments in low-density areas when zones are large.
The maximum number of zones in the largest edition has been increased to 3600. The various editions have zone maximums of 15 (demo), 60 (educational), 400, 800, 1600, and 3600.
Delay at signalized intersections may be calculated with the operational analysis method from the 1997 HCM, Chapter 9. The method also incorporates the upstream filtering adjustment from Chapter 11, recognizing the degree of congestion at adjacent intersections. It is possible to now include triple exclusive left lanes in all three signalized delay methods. It is possible to override QRS II green-time allocation procedure and enter your own timing plans.
Delay at someway stop controlled intersections can be calculated with the method from the 1997 HCM, Chapter 10. The method also includes the upstream filtering on major approaches from adjacent signals. It is now possible to have three-lane approaches to stop signs.
QRS II’s all-way stop delay procedure was enhanced so that it could closely emulate the procedure from the 1997 HCM. Since the core parts of 1997 HCM procedure were written to match the same principles as originally contained in QRS II, only parameters changes are needed to achieve practical consistency with the HCM. It is now possible to have three-lane approaches.
QRS II has the ability to recognize the proportion of trucks in the traffic stream and to adjust delay relationships accordingly.
There have been modest improvements to the user interface, including the ability to rename trip purposes to better match project objectives.
QRS II can now handle yield signs. Yield signs are an offshoot of the some-way stop procedure, using guidance from the roundabout section of chapter 10 and advice on critical gaps from the 1985 HCM. Yield signs can be used at low-volume intersections, channelized right turns, and at entrances to 1-lane roundabouts. Both two-lane and one-lane yield signs are possible.
One run of QRS II can initiate another run of QRS II. The process is referred to as “cascade”. Each run has a separate parameter directory, so the characteristics of the runs can differ considerably. Multiple cascades can be initiated from a single run. The ability to cascade allows unusual feedback options, automatic inclusion of freight forecasts, indefinite extensions of the number of trip purposes, external trip table preparation, etc. In addition, it is possible to have QRS II accumulate assigned volumes into the base volume field of Output.dta, thereby facilitating preassignment of trips for subsequent QRS II runs or cascading. Cascade can be used to prepare vehicle trip tables (AddVTrips.txt), base movement files (AddBase.txt) and third mode times (AddTrdMd.txt) for any other QRS II run.
Three additional “hooks” have been added for user-supplied subroutines — AtStart, PostAveraging and PostRun. PostRun may be especially helpful for post-processing simulation results.
QRS II reports VMT, VHT and average speed by functional class.
QRS II can calculate total air pollution emissions for up to 4 pollutants or it can calculate up to 4 MOE’s that are a function of speed, distance, volume, and functional class.
An option has been added to allow QRS II to assume time of day distributions of traffic when adding vehicle trip tables in multihour forecasts, thereby eliminating the need for a VolHourU.txt file for most simulations.
Mode split can now include a user-definable “third mode”. This mode can be introduced by way of an “add” time file or by disutility expressions. The third mode does not have a network but can access information from the highway and transit networks. The third mode is suitable for nonmotorized transportation, passengers or other modes not requiring a loaded network. Disutility expressions may contain any of the information available for occupancy expressions.
It is possible to exclude one or more functional classes from a traffic assignment. This feature can be useful when a vehicle type is restricted from using certain links. For example, heavy trucks can be restricted from weak bridges or single passenger autos can be restricted from HOV lanes.
QRS II now includes all activity allocation features of HLFM II+. HLFM II+ is no longer sold as a separate product. The activity allocation procedures have been enhanced to permit weights on district areas to allow better base-case calibration.
The program is now being compiled with Delphi 5, which provides better long-term operating system compatibility and faster execution.
The program is distributed on CD-ROM and contains the complete QRS II Reference Manual and all GNE bitmaps.

QRS II Version 6 Bug Fixes:

Upgrades from any release of version 6 to the latest release may be requested by e-mail. Be sure that you have the ability to receive large attachments.

Release 6.0.1: Fixed an innocous bug that caused the Signal.txt file sometimes displays a delay for a left movement. This delay value should always be zero. The bug only affects this report and does not affect any of the delay calculations. Fixed a bug that caused QRS II to not create a protected phase when given a Green L value on the network.
Release 6.0.2: Fixed a bug that caused QRS II to fail to recognize phasing options where only one approach has a protected left. Allowed QRS II to have access times on transit networks greater than 324 minutes. Placed a time stamp at each equilibrium iteration in the History box.
Release 6.0.3: Fixed a bug that caused QRS II to crash if a label has been selected from the entity format dialog box for the initial node. Fixed a bug that caused QRS II to crash if a link is selected when using area spread assignment. The link-to-link matrix is still not available with area spread assignment.
Release 6.0.5: Fixed a bug that inactivated the inflation adjustment parameter.
Release 6.0.6: Fixed a bug that prevented QRS II from running if the initial parameter directory was invalid. Also, fixed a bug that would sometimes cause QRS II to crash if an AddHTime.txt file was provided by the user.
Not yet released 6.0.7: Fixed a bug that sometimes caused QRS II to stop on an error when there were external stations in the network. Fixed a bug that would cause QRS II to reject an intersection in AddBase.txt if the intersection had one-way links. Fixed a bug that would cause QRS II to crash on some very old networks. Fixed a bug that put blank lines into AddBase.txt when created from a completely empty TurnMove.txt during Cascade.
Version 6.1.0. Added the ability to read networks created with GNE Version 7. Added the ability to apply a constant factor to AddVTrips.txt.
Release 6.1.1. Fixed a bug that could cause slow convergence of equilibrium traffic assignments when the “extra time” attributes are used in the “detailed” schema. Also, eliminated the maintenance release number from the About box. To learn the release number, right click QRS II’s icon in Windows Explorer and select Properties.
Release 6.1.2. Fixed a bug that could cause QRS II to crash while trying to read a GNE 7 file with polygons, notes or special formatting.
Release 6.1.3. Fixed a memory leak. Fixed a bug that prevented QRS II from reading transit files saved from GNE 7. (Workaround: resave transit files to a new file name in GNE 6 file format before running QRS II.)
Release 6.1.4. Resolves an issue in Versions 6.0 and 6.1 of QRS II which fill the ThrdTrip.txt file with information when doing trip distribution for the NHB trip purpose. Thus, this file will contain all zeros for simulations that do not contain the NHB trip purpose. Eliminates a bug that caused QRS II to look in the temporary directory (rather than the reports directory) for HighDis.bin when doing a cascade to produceAdd3rdMd.txt.
Release 6.1.5. Fixed a file name conflict that prevented cascading a third mode trip table. Rationalized the use of extra times and distances so that their effect on the network is more intuitively reasonable.
Release 6.1.6. Fixed a problem in the someway stop routine that cause the traffic in the exclusive right lane of a 3-lane approach to be ignored.

Y2K

Obviously, QRS II does not use dates so the Y2K issue is irrelevant for all QRS II applications. GNE has the ability to have date attributes in non-QRS II applications. In GNE version 5.1 dates were limited to the years 1900 to 2154. In GNE 6 and 7 any date may be used. GNE 6 stores the year as a 2-byte binary integer number with zero pegged at 1900 and possible deviations of more than 32000 years before or after.

Getting Maintenance Releases of GNE 7 or QRS II 6

We do not have patches for GNE 7 or QRS II 6 on this site. For a limited time, maintenance releases can be obtained by e-mail. If you are a registered user of GNE 6 or QRS II 7 we can send you new executables for one or both programs. Please confirm that you are able to receive large attachments before requesting the maintenance releases. There is no charge for e-mail maintenance releases. Maintenance releases are described below.

Previous GNE Version Release Information

GNE Version 6 was first released at the end of 1998. This revision of GNE makes effective use of the Windows 95-8 API plus the amazing capabilities of Delphi 3. The user interface underwent a complete rewrite from version 5.1. At the same time we released QRS II version 5.1, which exploits some of the new GNE features. The major changes to GNE are listed below, roughly in the order that they became part of the program.

Several networks may be opened simultaneously.
Each network may have several different “views”. A view consists of link widths, node sizes, labels, zoom states, direction arrows, Calculate program, Extract/Update setups, etc. The network may be edited and saved from any “view”.
Each Sketch Pad mode has it own button.
Hint boxes are extensively used.
Minimum zoom is now 1:24.
Sketch Pad may have a maximum size of 1 million pixels in each dimension (was 32000).
Maximum number of attributes has been increased to 35 (from 10); maximum number of categorical variables per attribute has been increased to 8 (from 6).
Full support for Win95 file names.
Significant improvement in speed of network transformations and plots.
Links may have shape points.
Clipboard plots may be clipped to margin limits.
User interface updated to have a look similar to latest Win95 applications.
Link arrow sizes can be controlled by link width functions.
Improved precision for size and width functions: up to 40 intervals for link widths, nodes sizes, and polygon styles. Up to 41 different polygon styles may be defined.
More efficient and intuitive setting of of size and width intervals.
Two link width or node size expressions may be defined for each entity type. Both expressions may be applied to any entity, allowing dual variable widths, variable widths and colors, variable polygons styles and node colors, etc.
Up to 16 user-defined colors (previously 10) may be applied to links and nodes.
Additional trig functions (arccos, arcsin, tan) available in Calculate and all expressions.
Up to 35 parameters and up to 35 network-wide variables may be defined in a Calculate program.
Number of dialog boxes in Calculate has been reduced substantially. Most important parts of Calculate are now contained on a single dialog box.
Each value for a categorical variable may have a hint (yellow popup tags). Hints appear whenever a categorical variable is presented or defined.
Date attributes may have any year (previously 1900 to 2154).
Improved precision of extracted data when using delimited file formats.
Ability to create nodes and link directly with Update, thereby eliminating the need for the TOPO utility.
Up to 10 Jpeg images and up to 10 Windows metafile images (of any size) may be placed behind the network to enhance outputs, to provide backgrounds, or to provide digitizing information. Metafile images may be created by a variety of graphics programs or images may be transmitted through the clipboard.
Images may be resized or relocated with the mouse or with dialog box controls.
Nodes and shape points may be moved or deleted with the mouse or keyboard.
Any active “view” may be used as a background for any other active “view”.
Image shift and margins (for plotting) may be controlled with the mouse, directly on the network.
Ability to plot the network to a file in WMF or EMF (metafile) formats for importing into other software and for preparing background images for other networks.
Expanded and improved Help, including context sensitive topics.
A tool to find skim trees from a single origin, using any function of link attributes. This tool can also be used to build trees from several origins simultaneously, thereby doing market area analysis over the network. Shortest path distances to any node may be computed.
Delete by Search
Delete by Calculate

GNE 6 Maintenance Releases

GNE 6.0.1 contained two bug fixes and one small enhancement. The first bug fix concerned GNE’s inability to use all label positions when link labels are rotated. The second bug fix eliminated a problem when Calculate is used to change entity types. The enhancement added a cancel button to the Link Definition and Node Definition dialog boxes.

Version 6.0.2 fixed a bug that caused GNE to cease drawing the network on the Sketch Pad when displaying links as double lines and when there are links of zero length. Zero length links can occur when two nodes are directly on top on one another.

The next maintenance release (6.0.3) contained an experimental and undocumented ability to display nodes as bitmaps. Click here for more information on working with this feature. This maintenance release also fixed a minor bug in how an Update error message is formatted.

Release 6.0.4 fixed a minor bug that sometimes caused GNE to forget the location of node bitmaps and the help file when GNE was launched by double clicking a *.dta file name. This release also added a Reopen item to the File menu that allows quick reopening of any of the last 4 *.dta files that have been closed.

Release 6.0.6 fixed a minor problem with the display of shape points when node bitmaps are also being displayed. This release also fixed a problem with Update. When there were many shape points in the network, Update sometimes failed to find some link labels. (GNE release 6.0.5 contained minor code changes and was not distributed.)

Release 6.0.7 fixed a bug that prevents saving files in an older format when there are more than 10 attributes on links or nodes. This bug is unlikely to affect QRS II users, as all QRS II networks have 10 or fewer attributes.

Release 6.0.8 fixed a bug that causes a temporary reversal of the first and second link labels under certain conditions. Very few copies of release 6.0.8 were distributed because while fixing the labeling problem the link split mode was broken. This problem was quickly fixed in version 6.0.9.

Release 6.0.10 fixed a bug that caused temporary graphics problems with links that had been split or spliced in the current session. This release also fixed a few other minor graphics problems and a bug that caused the Lookup Table dialog box to twice report errors in inputs.

Release 6.0.11 fixed a bug that sometimes caused an error in the calculation of polygon area with the Overlay Tool if the polygon had recently changed shape when moving a vertex node in the Select Object mode.

Release 6.0.12 tried to fix a bug that sometimes caused unstraight columns in Extract’s columnar format. It fixed a minor bug in the View Bitmaps dialog box that on rare occasions causes GNE to display an error message.

Release 6.0.13 fixed a minor bug that permitted text to be entered into the list box on the Network Underlay dialog box. If text is entered there, GNE reports a “stack overflow” error. This release also fixed a bug that forces GNE to return a 0 for any expression containing a categorical attribute with more than 6 variables. This bug is unlikely to be a problem for any QRS II users as the maximum number of variables in any categorical attribute is 4.

Release 6.0.14 fixed a minor bug that sometimes caused a recently closed file to be omitted form the “reopen” list.

Release 6.0.15 fixed the unstraight column bug that should have been fixed in release 6.0.12.

Release 6.0.16 fixed a bug that sometimes omitted editing changes to GNE programs before the program is saved. This release also fixed a minor bug that sometimes added junk to new attribute values when appending a network with a small number of attributes to an application schema with a larger number of attributes. New attributes will now always receive a value of zero during an append.

Release 6.0.17 and 6.018 again tried to fix the junk attribute values problem that should have been fixed in release 6.0.16.

Release 6.0.19 fixed a bug that sometimes caused nodes to be rejected during Sketch Pad selection when there are shape points in the network. This release performs a trim after every transformation. A bug which sometimes interfered with closing the Extract box was removed.

Release 6.0.20 compiled GNE using Delphi 5. This release was not distributed. The recompilation of GNE fixed a problem on some computers where GNE used an abnormally large amount of Windows resources.

Release 6.0.21 fixed a bug that caused display problems after a network with polygons underwent a transformation. This version also fixed a bug that caused some link labels to be misplaced when labels are rotated and the along-the-link alignment was “centered”.

Release 6.0.22 fixed a bug that (under extremely rare circumstances) would cause GNE to believe that a normal link was a looped link when the network is first opened. This release also fixed a bug that would cause a node bitmap to be displayed for shape points when a double width link is being drawn. This release eliminated the spurious error massage the appears when a shape point is selected instead of a node during certain sketch pad operations.

Release 6.0.23 removed an coding inconsistency from Extract, which may or may not have been a bug.

Release 6.0.24 fixed a bug that could cause wrong attribute values to be assigned to a node or link. The conditions for the bug to appear are rare: you must have link width or node size expressions displayed on the network and perform a calculation with a GNE worksheet.

Release 6.0.25 upgrades the link redirection Sketch Pad feature to also reverse the order of the shape points.

Release 6.0.26 fixes a bug that can cause information (or/and) in the Search dialog box to be lost when a file is saved to disk.

QRS II Version 5.1

QRS II version 5.1 has the following changes from version 5.0.

Ability to have travel times up to 1200 minutes for statewide travel forecasting;
An increase to a maximum of 32,000 links in the 2400-zone edition;
An ability to have up to 10 active sets of parameters for each of time-of-day, occupancy, friction factors, production rates, attraction rates, and mode split.
Optional default parameters consistent with NCHRP Report #365 (replacement for NCHRP Report #187).
A new report documenting the degree of congestion on the network. The report consists of VHT broken down by functional class and the ratio of travel time to free time.
Ability to have a composite cost coefficient that differs from the mode split multiplier.
A new report providing the distance (scaled from the network) associated with the minimum path between all origins and destinations.
Ability to read networks from GNE 6.0.
Ability to use link shape points when determining link length.
Application schemas for highways networks implement categorical hints and default link and node specifications.
Ability to load trips to networks in time bands from the origin to see how long-distance trips progress through the network over the course of several hours.
Fixed a bug that prevented reporting of the problem signalized intersection when there is an error in data.
Fixed a bug that limited the length of highway file names to 100 characters, including folders.

Version 5.1 is only available in a 32-bit version for Windows 95, 98 and NT 4. Because of the increase in the maximum trip length, QRS II will use about 20% more memory than before. This memory increase may be problematic for some users, so we will provide editions of version 5.1 with the long trips disabled, on a request basis.

Upgrading from Earlier QRS II Versions

QRS II version 5.1 should be able read and process networks from all previous versions. However, QRS II version 5.1 cannot properly read one parameter file from version 5.0, Param.txt. Param.txt contains all the information that is displayed on the dialog boxes within QRS II. Before upgrading it is important to archive your old parameters. It is recommended that your old Param.txt be placed into a separate directory, and all changes from defaults be noted on paper. After installing QRS II version 5.1, remake all the changes from defaults on the various dialog boxes in QRS II.

We recognize the inconvenience associated with upgrading QRS II for a network currently in progress. The next version of QRS II (6.0) will have an entirely different structure for its parameter files that will make upgrades virtually automatic.

Known Problems with QRS II version 5.1

The following problems have been reported by users. These problems been fixed in the maintenance release of QRS II 5.1 issued on 1/19/99.

PROBLEM: QRS II fails to recognize centroid and link names with trailing blanks when included in “Add” files.
WORKAROUND: Remove trailing blanks in names in GNE for the nodes and link that are affected.

PROBLEM: QRS II sometimes fails to use the through adjustment (penalty) at intersections with delay that connect just two links. The reference manual states that other adjustments (penalties) are inactive in this situation.
WORKAROUND: QRS II in being inappropriately sensitive to the through traffic codes. Make sure that both links have the same through traffic code. (Do not place the penalty in the other movements attribute, which will work now, as this will be eliminated as a possible solution to the problem in all subsequent releases of QRS II.) If both links are one-way, change the downstream link into a two-way street.

The maintenance release (5.1.1) also removes an innocuous bug that increased the amount of time required to perform vehicle occupancy calculations.

The next maintenance release (5.1.2) fixes a bug that caused a misreporting of the number of intrazonal trips in Output.dta. The numbers of intrazonal trips were not being equilibrium averaged. Intrazonal trips were correct in Table.bin, and the last iteration intrazonal trips were correctly reported in Vehtrips.txt.

The latest maintenance release (5.1.3) fixes a bug that caused an incorrect delay to be calculated for certain signalized intersections. Under some circumstances, the bug could result in a negative delay, which would cause QRS II to terminate with a warning. The bug occurred when using the 1994 HCM procedures when there was overlapping phases and protected/permitted phasing.

Use of NCHRP Report #365 Parameters

It is recommended that users consult NCHRP Report #365 when using these parameters. When setting centroid attributes, Demographic 5 corresponds to retail employment in the CBD (CBD RE) and Demographic 4 corresponds to service employment (SE). We are not entirely happy with the report’s recommendations on trip distribution. An exponential friction factor function with a parameter of 0.1 for all trip purposes is probably a better starting point for most small- to medium-sized cities.