Modelling and analysis of roundabouts, priority junction and signalised junctions
Junctions 9 is the latest version of TRL’s industry-standard package for modelling roundabouts, priority junctions and simple signalised junctions.
Junctions Version History
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| PRODUCT | Enhancement: Now a 64-bit application, offering better memory management and hence resolves issues where more memory is needed such as the use of high–resolution background images in the Junction diagram |
| MODEL | Enhancement: HCM roundabout simulation model, offering the option to use the HCM capacity model in conjunction with Simulation Mode. This offers the ability to model junctions close to capacity and over capacity for the first time, as well as those with time-varying traffic demand |
| MODEL | Fix: HCM Proportional Lane Demand division (non-sim) now working as intended |
| MODEL | Improvement: Demand dependency: Now allows controller to continue to run same stage when there are two or more adjacent intermittent stages |
| UI | Improvement: SAVED files are added immediately to “Recent files” list |
| UI | Fix: Measuring tool – Minor Road visibility component no longer annoyingly moves the schematic |
| UI | Fix: Switching from Vehicles to PCU now correct for bypasses in HCM |
| UI | Fix: Phase Timing Diagram – Phase order now matches that of the Data Outline |
| UI | Fix: copy-paste of a DataGrid now works for customised DataGrid |
| REPORTS | Enhancement: Vector diagrams replaced with high-quality bitmaps, offering improved quality of PDF reports and more control over the resolution of report images |
| REPORTS | Fix: Content links within Report Word Document now working |
| VARIOUS | Fix: Several other small fixes have been implemented in this release |
| USER GUIDE | Revised User Guide (Issue G):
|
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| MODEL | Enhancement: Calculation of arm RFCs and DoS values while in Lane Simulation mode |
| MODEL | Enhancement: Modelling the effect of the presence of cyclist on capacity, using dual PCU factors |
| MODEL | Enhancement: New VA option that adds a delay to signals triggering an ‘absent demand’ event, to better represent best-practice controller configurations |
| LICENSING | Enhancement: Login requirement now 21 days instead of 7 days |
| MODEL | Fix: Issue with ‘Obstruction’ in a network with linked junctions is resolved |
| MODEL | Fix: ‘Stage skipping’ and implicit ‘all-red’ stage options now functioning as intended |
| MODEL | Fix: Simulation – ‘vehicle getting stuck near crossing’ issue is resolved |
| UI | Fix: Issue with the copy/paste facility, between turning counts and OD screens in J10/T16 and for left-right staggers both resolved |
| UI | Enhancement: Alternative method of panning in diagram, without use of middle mouse button/wheel |
| UI | Enhancement: Newsfeeder – links now open in default browser |
| UI | Fix: Oddity with diagram’s scale ruler resolved |
| RESULTS | Fix: ‘Max stage duration’ and ‘Mean phase duration’ now correctly calculated |
| RESULTS | Fix: Reports now generated quicker after removal of unnecessary processing |
| VARIOUS | Fix: A number of other small fixes have been implemented in this release |
| USER GUIDE | Revised User Guide (Issue F):
|
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| LICENSING | Organisation (company) name shown in both the TRL Software Portal and in the Licence Information screen within Junctions 10 |
| UI/PORTAL | Enhancement: From within Junctions 10, access to cloud-based ‘guest’ files that are shared with you by other organisations |
| UI | Enhancement: Reduced chance of reports failing to save to your chosen location due to too long a path length. Additionally, a new ‘File Preference’ allows users to direct Junctions 10 to save HTML reports to their ‘temp’ folder |
| UI | Blue file selector controls at the bottom of the screen now shows full filename in preference to attempting to show location too. Full path shown as a tooltip instead |
| UI | Fix: Data Field Finder can now optionally show “Advanced” data items as well as being more reliable in what it shows |
| UI | Fix: Top menu drop-downs now show more Demand Sets, Analysis sets and time segments without having to scroll |
| UI | Fix: A number of other small fixes have been implemented in this release |
| USER GUIDE | Revised User Guide (Issue E):
|
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| LICENCE | Enhancement: Ability to lock licence to a device so that Junctions 10 can be used off-line (No internet) |
| LICENCE | Improved tolerance of poor internet access: It tolerates short outages better |
| PORTAL | Enhancement: The ability to offer either “read-only” or “contributor” access to files and folders within your file directory area, facilitates close collaboration with client |
| UI (Fix) | Excel demand set source “offset” ignored when it is meant to be |
| USER GUIDE | TRL Software Portal’s User Guide updated to include full details of the new collaborative “guest access” facility |
| USER GUIDE | Revised User Guide (Issue D):
|
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| UI | Enhancement: New ‘File Preference’ added to allow easy switching between the two licensing systems – CLOUD (user-based) and ERIS (device-based) |
| UI | Enhancement: ‘No give-way’ roundabout arms no longer treated automatically as entry-only – Can now be two-way |
| UI | Fix: Issue with number of background images that could be loaded is resolved |
| MODEL | Fix: ‘Use circulating lanes’ crashes when in simulation is resolved |
| REPORTS | Report correctly lists custom intercept adjustments (No longer repeats first adjustment) |
| DOCS | Updated EULA to include ‘fair use’ description for user licence allocation |
| USER GUIDE | Revised User Guide (Issue C):
|
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| UI | Enhancement: New message to inform users when there is a need to log out and in again, such as when licencing entitlements have changed will logged into the desktop product |
| UI | Fix: Minor fixes to the cloud load/save options |
| UI | Fix: Labelling of major road “width of carriageway” components when two components are used – Changed to match the labelling of these components in the user guide, i.e. W1+W3, and W2+W4 |
| UI | Fix: Major road measurement calculation with respect to 2 and 4 measurement components |
| MODEL | Fix: Vehicle actuation – Inter-stages now consistent when stage skipping occurs |
| MODEL | Fix: Additional checks added when using intermittent stages, such as checks on whether any banned stage transitions affect the simulation run. If so, simulation is stopped, and an error message issued to the user |
| UI | Fix: Calculation of phase lags no longer prevents the file status going to green, to indicate that it is up-to-date |
| MODEL | Fix for OSCADY opposition ECO / LR scenarios |
| UI | Various minor/trivial cosmetic fixes to the user interface |
| DOCS | Revised User Guide (Issue B):
|
Please see the main Junctions page for details about the new features in Junctions 10.
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| Model | Fix: No longer crashes when using “Use circulating lanes” in simulation mode |
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| REPORTS | Fix: Report no longer crashes if it contains the Junctions Diagram (This issue is often associated with newer laptops and with an Intel(R) HD Graphics Card Renderer) |
| FEATURE | Enhancement: Export to TRANSYT extended to include export of key ARCADY and PICADY data, including geometric data |
| FEATURE | Enhancement: Anonymous feature-usage analytics system added – This facility helps us to develop better software by establishing what features are more heavily or more lightly used, without capturing any personal data |
| UI | Enhancement: New user preferences:
|
| UI | Enhancement: Summary results screen: Formatting of analysis / demand set names can be achieved as it now responds to any HTML or CSS in the analysis/demand set name |
| UI | Enhancement: Summary Results: Set IDs (in addition to their names) reported |
| MODEL | Fix: OSCADY module “Unable to Calculate Random Queue” crash now fixed |
| MODEL | Fix: Lane sim: storage is now set correctly when exit lane is linked but not entry lane |
| MODEL | Fix: Small improvements to lane sim ORT and mutual opposition |
| REPORTS | Fix: Report no longer crashes if you close report window whilst generating PDF file |
| REPORTS | Fix: Report no longer crashes while in lane sim mode, if arm name contains an ampersand |
| UI | Fix: Ability to step to next/previous time segment restored |
| UI | Enhancement: Improved speed of analysis/demand/result set switching |
| UI | Fix: Some minor UI changes relating to accident prediction |
| DOCS | Revised User Guide (Issue E) – Revised to reflect minor changes associated with this release. Bypass advice revised |
| ALL | Various other fixes and minor enhancements. |
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| FEATURE |
Addition of OSCADY module for signalised junctions. More details |
| MODEL | Lane simulation: circulating lanes at roundabouts can now be modelled (including signalised cases, if OSCADY module is registered) |
| MODEL | Lane simulation: most files should run slightly faster |
| MODEL | Lane simulation: fixed bug where model would crash if lanes have non-integer storage |
| UI | New File>Export>Save without results option allows file to be saved with time segment results etc stripped out, allowing for a smaller file size. (Results must be re-generated when file is subsequently loaded.) |
| UI | Fixed bug where user guide PDF would sometimes not open (was dependent on PDF reader) |
| UI | Fixed bug where lane simulation movements grid not usable at 125% DPI |
| UI | Data Editor and Data Grids now use a non-bold font. Previous appearance can be restored by changing File>Preferences>Appearance>Windows Font Bold |
| UI | New “Sync” button on main toolbar will set the Data Outline position to the item containing the last clicked-on data field |
| UI | x-y graphs: if the graph is stopped, the last point is discarded rather than being given a value of zero. |
| ALL | Various bug fixes and minor enhancements. |
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| MODEL | Lane Simulation: capacity restrictions can now be applied to both entry and exit lanes. A “bottleneck” type of pedestrian crossing with a fixed capacity can be used to do this. In this way it is possible to model cases such as a two-lane roundabout exit that narrows to one lane a short distance from the roundabout. For more details please see Section 14.8 of the Junctions 9 User Guide. |
| MODEL | Lane Simulation: results are now available for each movement within each lane. Access these via the ‘Movement Results’ option in the Options tab of the Lane Simulation screen. For more details please see Section 14.4.2 of the Junctions 9 User Guide. |
| MODEL | Lane Simulation: fixed bug where model would crash if no movements are possible |
| MODEL | Lane Simulation: changed the way turning proportions and HV proportions are handled at linked junctions. (Previously certain files would sometimes fail to run.) This change is mostly transparent to users but may produce slightly different results. |
| MODEL | PICADY results now show total demand and queueing delay etc in the ‘Total’ row of data grids in the UI. |
| MODEL | Queue percentile results would sometimes show zero at high flows; they now show the existing upper-bound of 200 instead. |
| MODEL | Lane Simulation: the user is now prevented from changing Analysis/Demand Set or adding/deleting items during a simulation run. |
| MODEL | Fixed problem with Veh/PCU conversion with HCM TWSC/AWSC junctions |
| MODEL | Major road width for PICADY junctions previously had a minimum of 6m. Widths down to 4m can now be entered, although a warning will be shown to emphasise that these are outside the range of the original research. (For one-way junctions, the minimum width is 3m.) |
| MODEL | Demand Set Relationships: if using ‘advanced’ relationships, the resultant values now take into account any flow scaling factors on the constituent demand Sets. |
| MODEL | HCM Roundabouts now use calibration factors from HCM 2016 (6th edition) by default. Calibration screen now allows defaults to be restored from HCM 2010 and HCM 2016. |
| DIAGRAM | Fixed bug that made the selection and moving of items (particularly lanes in Lane Simulation mode) unreliable |
| DIAGRAM | HV% now shown alongside the OD demand (green arrows) next to each arm. In Edit Demand mode, the HV% can be edited directly on the diagram by double clicking. HV% display can be turned off in the Diagram Options>Text Overlays screen. |
| DIAGRAM | Clearer distinction between priority and non-priority streams for PICADY junctions |
| DIAGRAM | In Lane Simulation mode, a new option (Diagram Options>Other>Show lane interiors) controls whether solid white interiors should be shown for lanes. With this turned off, some of the visualisation overlays are easier to see against a background image. |
| DIAGRAM | Easier to move arms at one-way junctions |
| DIAGRAM | Top and bottom toolbars can be hidden using the View menu |
| DIAGRAM | The ‘whole period results’ overlay introduced in Junctions 9.0.1 is now turned OFF by default. |
| TEMPRO | TEMPRO link updated and tested for TEMPRO 7, 7.1 and 7.2. |
| UI | Right-clicking the Data Outline or Data Editor buttons on the main toolbar will toggle the active screen (if any) from one type to the other. E.g. if you press the Geometry button on the vertical toolbar to show geometry for Arm 1 in an Data Editor, then right-clicking the Data Grid button will switch to show geometries for all arms in a Data Grid, without creating any additional windows. |
| UI | Run menu and auto-run option removed, to simplify UI. |
| UI | Selections within data grids and matrices can now be copied and pasted. (Previously it was only possible to copy/paste the entire grid/matrix.) To do this, make a selection and then use the right-click menu. |
| UI | Any window can now be taken outside the main application window by double-clicking the window’s title bar. It can then be freely positioned on a second monitor, for example. To restore the window back inside the main program window, double click its title bar again. |
| UI | The ‘edit all’ function in data grids and data matrices (available on the right-click menu after selecting some cells) now works with checkbox and dropdown data types. |
| UI | New File screen now allows staggered junctions to be selected. |
| ALL | Various minor bug fixes and enhancements |
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| REPORTS | Export to Word has been improved |
| REPORTS | Most reports are quicker to generate |
| REPORTS | A smaller font is used by default. This leads to more compact but still readable reports. If you prefer the original font size, you can restore it by changing File>Preferences>Reports>Font Size for Reports. |
| REPORTS | ‘Turning Proportions’ and ‘Average PCU per Veh’ tables are now only printed if the ‘Detailed Demand Data’ option is ticked. (File must also be in Advanced Mode.) |
| REPORTS | If the Input section is ticked, then the Traffic Demand section is automatically ticked and cannot be turned off. This is to prevent cases that have been described to us where reports have been submitted which include all inputs and results other than turning proportion grids. Such incomplete reports can potentially conceal discrepancies between the entered turning proportions and the results shown in reports. |
| REPORTS | Various minor changes to appearance, column widths, justification etc. Reports will tend to be neater than in previous versions when using the ‘Show arm and junction names’ display option. |
| REPORTS | If using a single Analysis Set and multiple Demand Sets, the second Demand Set onwards now omits the superfluous headings for Geometries etc. With large files this leads to shorter reports. |
| DIAGRAM | For roundabouts, a new data overlay shows whole period results (as shown in the Summary Results screen) next to each arm. This is turned on by default but can be switched off by clicking Overlays>Whole Period Results. Adjust the size/position via Options>Text overlays>Whole period results. The overlay uses the same colour coding (both background and foreground) as the corresponding Summary Result screen items. |
| DIAGRAM | If working with multiple junctions, the junction ID size can now be altered independently (Options>Other>Junction ID Size) |
| DIAGRAM | When exporting as a bitmap (right-click and use the Export menu), it is now possible to enter a desired resolution. This can be used to generate large high quality bitmaps. |
| DIAGRAM | Geometry measurement tool: for some measurements you can now right-click on a control point to add more control points, giving finer control over the curvature of the construction lines. |
| UI | Summary Results screen: a new item in the Show menu provides a shortcut to the Sorting and Display section of the Data Outline where various options can be set. |
| UI | Summary Results screen: priority PICADY streams (A-C etc) are no longer shown here. |
| UI | A Task List warning is now shown if the HV% is zero for all movements. |
| UI | Header cells in data matrices (OD screen, Veh Mix screen etc) now allow long arm/junction names to word-wrap. The Widths slider in each screen can still be used to control the column widths. |
| UI | O-D matrices can now contain negative values. This is ignored if running the traffic model but can be used to construct matrices for use with Demand Set relationships where negative growth is involved. |
| UI | Each Analysis/Demand Set can now optionally be associated with a Colour property. Edit the colour by clicking or double-clicking on the colour when showing the Analysis/Demand Set properties in the Data Editor or a Data Grid. Colours are shown in the Data Outline and the main program dropdowns and can be used to visually distinguish between groups of sets. This system can be turned off via Data Outline>Options>Sorting and Display>Colour Analysis/Demand Sets; this option has a corresponding file preference to set its value for new files. |
| UI | All demand, flow and capacity inputs and outputs are now rounded to whole numbers if the current traffic units areper hour. This leads to cleaner data grids and reports. If working in per minute or per time segment, decimals are shown. Decimals are alsoshown if a number between 0 and 1 is entered in the O-D screen, e.g. when entering linked junction turning proportions. This behaviour can be overridden by changing File>Preferences>Appearance>Round flows to whole numbers. |
| UI | If viewing PICADY stream results in a Data Grid, it is now possible to use the Filter menu to show only those streams associated with the current arm |
| UI | The padlock on the O-D screen, Vehicle mix screen and Demand screen now has a third state that freezes the entire contents of the screen in a read-only state. This can be used to view demand data for several Demand Sets at the same time. (Show the O-D screen for the first Demand Set, use the padlock to freeze the screen, then show a second O-D screen and activate the second Demand Set, and so on.) Clicking the padlock again will un-freeze the screen. |
| UI | The choice of traffic units for new files can now be set via File>Preferences>General>Default Traffic Units / Default Traffic Units Period. You can thus configure all new files to start off with units of e.g. PCU/hr or Veh/min according to your preference. Once a new file has been created you can change the units as usual via the Data>Units screen. |
| UI | Analysis/Demand Set dropdowns are wider , to accommodate long names |
| UI | Read data from Excel: a new option ‘Show details for all Demand Sets’ will launch a Data Grid showing the Excel options for all Demand Sets. This is useful for quickly reviewing or editing the options across multiple Demand Sets. |
| UI | TEMPRO Calculator: Some authorities contain two zones with the same name. The calculation for such zones was correct but if subsequently editing the TEMPRO properties, the selection would revert to the first of the two zones. This has been fixed by appending the zone ID to the zone name. If editing an existing file with TEMPRO properties you may need to re-set the zone. |
| MODEL | Lane Simulation: it is now possible to enter a Minimum/Maximum Capacity for PICADY lanes. This can be used as a way of calibrating or adjusting the capacity of lanes. Please note that this should be used with caution; please contact TRL for advice if necessary. |
| USER GUIDE | Clarification has been added to the User Guide to confirm that queues in ARCADY/PICADY are the total on the arm regardless of lane distribution (UNLESS in lane simulation mode), that they include slowly moving vehicles and that they represent expected values. |
| ALL | Various minor enhancements and speed-ups |
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| Model | Revised model for mini-roundabouts |
| Model | HCM TWSC and AWSC intersections (HCM intersections) |
| Model | Lane Simulation Mode for T-junctions |
| Model | Lane Simulation for linked roundabouts and T-junctions |
| Model | Lane Simulation for pedestrian crossings |
| UI | Measuring roundabout geometries using the junction diagram |
| UI | Stick diagram mode |
| UI | Junction diagram: text is clearer |
| UI | Editing Traffic Flow using the junction diagram |
| UI | Audit Trail |
| UI | Calculating TEMPRO Growth Factors |
| UI | Reading Demand Set flow data from Excel |
| UI | Edit O-D data for more than one junction at a time |
| UI | The same O-D data can be used by more than one junction |
| UI | Faster report generation and inclusion of graphs |
| UI | All results colour coded to show whether they are up-to-date |
| UI | Multiple Data Editors can be used at the same time |
| UI | New padlock state allows freezing of the contents of data editing screens |
| UI | Analysis/Demand sets can be renumbered |
| UI | More control over which data fields differ between Analysis/Demand sets |
| UI | Results for all Analysis/Demand sets stored in the file |
| UI | Analysis/Demand sets within a file can be compared |
| UI | Various other UI improvements |
| Area | Change |
|---|---|
| UI | Various fixes to make the importing of Junctions 9 files more reliable. Please note that there is a difference in the way that Junctions 8 and Junctions 9 handle Analysis and Demand Set IDs. Junctions 9 allows the IDs to be set by the user to any value, whereas Junctions 8 sets them automatically according to an internal numbering system. If you import a Junctions 9 file where Analysis/Demand Sets have been deleted/renumbered/re-ordered, the remaining sets may appear in a different order in Junctions 8. Any references to IDs such as Demand Set Relationships will be blanked during the import and will need to be re-entered manually in Junctions 8. Please contact TRL for further advice if necessary. |
| Area | Enhancement |
|---|---|
| MODEL | Entry Lane Analysis Mode allows you to investigate the relative performance of alternative lane configurations at roundabouts |
| MODEL | HCM 2010 Mode implements the HCM 2010 methodology for roundabout analysis |
| MODEL | Options for the modelling of linked roundabouts have been simplified |
| MODEL | Bypass and filter lanes at roundabouts |
| RESULTS | Residual Capacity mode quantifies the ‘spare’ capacity at any junction type |
| RESULTS | Junction results show demand-weighted delay and LoS for the overall junction |
| RESULTS | 95th percentile queues can be shown in the Summary Results screen |
| UI | You can choose whether or not to use Advanced Mode. If turned off, then many data items and options are hidden |
| UI | Library Files system |
| UI | Windows can be docked and there is a new window manager screen |
| UI | Files can be merged together |
| UI | Demand Set Utilities allow you to check for differences between demand sets |
| UI | It is now easier to distinguish between original turning counts and scaled demand used in the model, and the final calculated entry flows |
| UI | Various minor improvements to the Junctions Diagram |
| UI | Many more minor enhancements that make data entry easier |
| Area | Change |
|---|---|
| GUI | Fixed bug that caused report to show same data for multiple demand sets |
| GUI | Linked roundabout data now included in reports |
| GUI | Various minor bug fixes |
| MODEL | Various minor bug fixes |
ARCADY 7.0.0 was a major release that included a redesigned GUI and many changes to both the GUI and the model. For full details, please see the ARCADY 7 overview.