CE 352: Transportation Engineering
Lab 8: UTP Modeling with QRSII
Iowa State University

Please submit the answers to all questions, typed.
Part 1
This is part one of a two part lab intended to expose you to travel demand modeling using a commercially available Transportation forecasting model (QRSII).

  1. Read the introductory materials provided (p. 1-5).
  2. Start>Transportion>QRSII and Start>Transportation>QRSII Network Editor
  3. Now you are ready to begin the sample network definition and analysis found on pages 60-65.
  4. If you receive an error running QRS, change the reports directory to c:\user
  5. Submit output.dta to cmonsere via ftp
    1. rename output.dta to yourlastname.dta
    2. Start WS_FTP
    3. Choose profile ccea1
    4. Use login as "anonymous.cmonsere"
    5. Use your email as password
    6. Select directory incoming
    7. Transfer file by clicking arrows

Part 2 QRS II for Wausau, WS
Read the handout (one page) from the QRSII manual. This will give you some background on the network we will examine today using QRSII. See also the maps.

  1. Open the Network editor and open the WAUSAU.DTA data set.
  2. Verify the location and attributes of the three external stations. List the number of attractions for each.
  3. Verify the location and attributes of the three central bridges crossing the Wisconsin River. (note that two of the bridges are represented as one-way pairs, and that the middle bridge has different names for each direction). What are the names of the bridges? What is the capacity of the Bridge St. Bridge? (each direction). Do you think this is a daily or hourly capacity?
  4. Verify the location of the North-South Freeway. Why do you think it is represented as a one-way pair through town?
  5. Examine the intersection to the west of the Bridge St. Bridge. How are turning movements modeled? What is the penalty for left turns? Verify the directions of the one-way street "dummies". Why are they one-way?
  6. Run QRSII. Load WAUSAU.DTA as the highway file.
  7. Verify that the Trip Attraction Parameters are set correclty See the image. Why is the parameter for HBNW Retail Employment larger than for HBW Retail Employment?
  8. Verify that the Trip Production Parameters are set correctly See the image. In class, we briefly discussed trip balancing. We know that productions for the study are must equal the attractions (conservation of vehicles principal!). What method is QRSII going to use to balance? (Balancing Type).
  9. Examine the Trip Distribution Parameters menu. Friction factor curves can be used to determine gravity model F factors for given travel times. QRSII can generate these curves using a function. What function is QRSII set to use to determine friction factors? (Distribution Model Type).
  10. Under Vehicle Occupancy Parameters, what is the average auto occupancy for the home-based work trip?
  11. Use the QRSII Help Menu to learn about Assignment Parameters. How can you force QRSII to perform all-or-nothing assignment? How can you force QRSII to use equal "slices" in incremental assignment? (remember what incremental assignment is? if not, see Lecture 22.
  12. Now run the model. Then, go back to Network Editor and load OUTPUT.DTA to view the output.
  13. The volumes you see are 24-hour volumes. Usually, about 10 percent of the traffic occurs during the peak hour. If this is the case, what is the implication for the Bridge St. Bridge?