TravTime™ FAQs

Q: What is TravTime used for?
A: To quicikly and efficiently conduct GPS-based travel time, speed, and delay studies.  View product information.

Q: Why is TravTime more efficient, cheaper, safer, and more accurate than other methods?
A: Only one person is needed in the vehicle, reducing data collection labor needs. Each driver has minimal involvement with the GPS device, leaving him or her free to concentrate on driving and the surrounding conditions. Automated GPS and GIS methods are much more efficient and accurate than manual data collection and processing techniques.

Q: Do I need a specialized device to collect GPS data for TravTime?
A: No, any GPS device capable to logging GPS points or NMEA sentences can be used to collect GPS data for TravTime. There are numerous commercial GPS data loggers available on the market to use with TravTime. We are happy to assist TravTime customers with selecting one.

Q: Can I use my existing GIS data with TravTime?
A: Yes, TravTime lets you load ESRI Shapefiles. Thematic maps of the data can be created and exported to report documents.  You can view attribute information for selected features in the TravTime map window.  You can also export your routes and results as ESRI-complaint Shapefiles.

Q: What image formats does TravTime support?
A: TravTime can display a wide range of geo-referenced image formats, in addition to GIS layers (see above).  Image formats include:

  • MrSid
  • GeoTIFF
  • GeoPNG
  • GeoBMP
  • GeoJPG
  • JPEG 2000
  • ECW
  • ERDAS
  • and others

Q.  If I don't have GIS layers or geo-referenced images, can I see my GPS data on a map?
A: Yes.  TravTime 2.0 provides a default base map.  This layer is composed of multiple tiled raster images, similar to what is seen in Google or Yahoo Maps.  It can be useful for giving context to your GPS data or if you do not have GIS Shapefiles or geo-referenced image files. 

Q: Does TravTime match the GPS data to a road network?
A: Yes, TravTime lets you create a system of link-based or points-based routes using a GIS interface. All the editing tools needed to create and edit routes are integrated in the TravTime user interface. Route editing includes a ‘gap-filling’ routine that makes the creation of link-based routes quick and easy. Users can also create ‘checkpoints’ along a route that represent controlled intersections.

Q: How automated is the processing of GPS data into runs and statistics?
A: As automated as you would like. TravTime makes extensive use of spatial computations to automatically segment GPS data points according to your defined routes. These segments can then be automatically assigned to routes and grouped into scenarios and time of day groups (TOD) for easy comparisons. At the same time, all of these automated procedures can be performed manually for full control of the process.

Q: What statistics does TravTime generate?
A: TravTime generates statistics by run, route or road segment. The following selected statistics are provided for these elements:

  • Minimum, Maximum, Standard Deviation, and Average Travel Time
  • Average Speed
  • Average Number of Stops
  • Average Stopped Time
  • Average Congested Time
  • Level of Service (if street classification and free flow speed are provided by the user)

 

Q: Does TravTime compute level of service (LOS)?
A: Yes, calculations and procedures conform to the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Manual of Transportation Engineering Studies.

Q: Does TravTime compute intersection delay?
A: Yes, checkpoints can be used to represent intersections or other points of interest. TravTime automatically computes approach delay for these checkpoints.  Delay components include:

  • Control Delay
  • Approach Delay
  • Stop Delay

 

Q: What other information is computed by TravTime?

A: Fields contained in the route summary output table (one of nine reports), includes:

  • Scenario and time period  
  • Route and compass direction  
  • Number of runs and days with run data
  • Average run distance and speed of route
  • Minimum, maximum, average and standard deviation of travel times
  • Average # of stops, stopped time and congested time  

 
  • Fuel consumption
  • Average VOC, CO and NOX emissions (grams)
  • Route’s declared and computed free flow speeds
  • Route’s average Level of Service
  • Travel Time Index  

Q: What graphs does TravTime generate?
A: The types of graphs available in TravTime are:

  • distance vs. time
  • speed vs. time
  • speed vs. distance
  • intersection/bottleneck analysis bar charts

Graphs can be copied and pasted into other Windows™ applications, exported as EMF files (high-quality vectors),  and exported into .csv files in a format ready to be plotted in your favorite spreadsheet/graphing application.

Q: Can I export the results into other GIS and analysis programs?
A: Yes, TravTime allows you to export the result statistics to plain text formats (.csv) for further analysis in Microsoft Excel or other analysis programs.  You can copy the contents of any of the reports into the clipboard for easy pasting into any Microsoft Windows™ program. 

You can also export raw and processed GPS data and routes to ESRI Shapefiles and to the Keyhole Markup Language (KML).  KML is a file format maintained by Google used to store spatial entities and styling for Google Earth and, to a certain extent, Google Maps.

You can also print maps, reports and graphs and export them to EMF files, a high quality vector-based format.

 

More questions? 

Please contact us and a member of the GeoStats’ TravTime Team will contact you within two business days.