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Welcome back to the PTV Vistro Training Web Series.
I am excited to take you for a tour of Vistro's well organized
graphical user interface, or GUI,
in this two-part episode.
Have you experienced overwhelming and cluttered GUIs?
You know, those other programs that fill up your entire screen
with confusing icons and endless ribbons -
making a workable space...tiny.
Well, with PTV Vistro, we give you a sleek modern GUI
planned out for your optimal performance.
We've thoughtfully loaded Vistro with helpful icons and features
that provides you with intuitive workflow.
In this video, Part 1, I'll be describing what the buttons and tools
can do on the Menu Bar, Status Bar, and Main Toolbars.
In Part 2, I will cover the Workflow Panel, Data Window,
and my favorite shortcuts.
Later on, in the series, I will show you how all of these powerful
features are applied to build and analyze your Vistro network.
First, let's go over the Menu Bar and Status Bar.
When I open a new instance of Vistro,
I see our friendly Bing basemap and PTV Start Page.
On the Start Page, we can see Vistro highlights,
service pack information, and release information,
as well as links to this Video Web Series.
To click off the Start Page,
we can select an element on the Workflow Panel or just
start coding and intersection - then, the Data Window will appear.
Up on the top left, we see the Menu Bar, which contains the File drop-down.
This drop-down contains the standard: New; Open; and Save As
buttons. Also, there is the powerful Print Report button.
In here, you can set up report features.
Tip #1: Once you set up a report with custom headers and settings,
then you can save the file as your local custom template,
to use on your next Vistro project.
Tip #2: Set your Print Report options, in your base scenario,
so, your customizations carry to future scenarios.
Then lastly, we have the Import and Export buttons.
Here you can import from PTV Visum or Transoft's OTISS.
Also, there is a volume import function under Values, where you
can upload a .csv file of volume information.
In Export, we can convert to PTV Vissim and OTISS,
export our volume data under Values, and also export
the Current Scenario as a new Vistro file.
And, there is no need for a Visum conversion, because Visum
will directly import a Vistro file.
What about Synchro? With PTV Vistro, you can import and export
Synchro .csv files - so, if you have those old Synchro models
laying around, you can easily upgrade to Vistro.
Next, we have an Edit drop-down containing another way to
Undo and Redo things - but down on the bottom is Global Settings.
Global Settings can set up local agency information & preferences.
It is very important that you set these defaults up prior to coding
intersections -and much like Print Reports, once Global Settings are
set up for your local agency requirements, it's a good idea
to hit that save button to make a template.
Moving on to the View drop-down, we have the Network Statistics
button to let you know how larger network is.
Then, there is a Switch Table Position button which moves the
Workflow Panel to the bottom of the screen and back again.
And finally, the Message and Log File buttons. With these buttons
you can check status of your project,
review errors, and results during optimization procedures.
On the Signal Control drop-down,
you can create default signalization for all intersections.
This is different than the local intersection option under the Traffic
Control Workflow button that will be discussed in Part 2.
Next, we have Local and Network Signal Optimization options.
And, at the bottom we have the Edit Coordination Groups button.
This button will allow you to create and modify coordination groups
in your network.
A coordination group is a collection of signal controllers,
such as along a corridor or in a neighborhood
that will be coordinated together.
Over to the right, we have the Simulation drop-down -
and here you can preview your Vistro
network in Vissim or convert it to Vissim using the same
ANM tool listed under the Export option.
Of course, we have our Help drop-down with great links
to the Manual, service pack updates,
tech support, examples, and documentation.
Next to the Help, we have the main Undo and Redo buttons
and then the Scenario Manager List.
Here, with this drop-down you can select the
base scenario or selected and renamed any created scenarios -
all in one Vistro file. Below the scenario manager,
we have our View buttons to Window Zoom
and Zoom Extends, as well as the Zoom Slider,
or you can just use the mouse wheel to zoom.
Between Zoom buttons, we have the map layers drop-down.
Here, you can turn your Network Objects on and off
or the Internet Map on and off.
As you hover over the Internet Map, you have the ability to
select various Bing Map options
and Open Street Maps.
Also, here you can use the slider to change the map opacity.
At the bottom, the Insert Background button will let you place a
custom image file into the model and
scale it by dragging the corners. You can also set the precise
measurement using the ruler icon. Then, drag the scalar from
point-to-point, type in the value,
and then, moved your image into the correct spot.
Now, up in the top right corner is the Intersection Selection
drop-down. This useful sortable list, by
clicking on the header or typing in the intersection name or number,
will allow you to quickly pull up those intersection details
on larger models.
And finally, on the bottom-left corner, we have the status bar.
This area will display a real-time scale ratio and real x,y-coordinates
of the mouse and the network area -
meaning, if you zoom to Greenwich Park in Southeast London
your x-coordinate will go to zero,
when you find the Prime Meridian.
These coordinates are important, because if you use the
internet maps for your network location, it will be synched across
PTV Visum and PTV Vissim platforms.
Next, let's focus on the left side of the screen
to view the features in the Main Toolbar.
The first 5 boxes are Network Tools used to create
Network Elements. The last 9 boxes are in the
Graphic Selector Tools and are used to toggle data displays.
The Graphic Selector Tools are ordered by lane group details,
intersection details, and approach details.
In-depth descriptions of these buttons are listed in Section 5.1.3
and 5.1.5 of the PDF User Manual.
Here on the Main Toolbar, I'm starting with the Intersection
Configuration button - and for all the buttons with the little arrow,
you can click underneath to open up a sub menu.
By opening up the arrow, we see that we have All-Way Stop,
Two-Way Stop, Roundabouts, and the one with the "?" is Unknown.
The Unknown type can be used anywhere
that you don't want an analysis - and perhaps this intersection
is used to distribute traffic only.
Next, are the traffic Zone and Gate buttons.
Zones and Gates are origin-destination elements
needed to develop and distribute site traffic.
A Zone is a location that can generate additional
or reduce traffic to the base volume.
Think of this is a place where a new development site
is located or an old development site is removed.
A Gate is a location where the Zone traffic goes to,
when leaving a zone, or comes from, when entering a Zone.
Next, is the Path button. A Path connects a Gate to a Zone,
a Zone to a Gate, or a Zone to a Zone -
but it cannot connect a Gate to a Gate.
To draw a Path, click on the start Zone or Gate symbol
and trace the dotted line to the small circle on the starting leg.
Then, click the small blue circle on the destination leg
and finally, end the destination on the Zone or Gate symbol.
To edit a Path, click on the intermediate point represented
by the gray push pin and drag to a new intersection location.
Below Path is the Route button. This button is used to develop
traffic signal offset optimization. You can draw a Route along
a corridor or around an intersection corner
to optimize a custom Route.
Similar to Path, to draw a Route, click on the starting location
and then, click on the end location.
The Route can be edited by dragging the gray push pins.
Now, on the Lane Group Detail area the first button
is for Showing Turn Movements.
Here, you can turn on graphical volume arrows displaying
a variety of volume types.
For more information on definitions
of these volume sets and calculations,
see the PDF User Manual under Section 8.2, Table 6.
The next button shows signal groups for each approach.
This is a great tool to visually error check your
model and helped design the intersection signal controller.
This button shows traffic conditions and is another great
visual tool that will colorfully display your lane groups, level service,
delay, and volume-to-capacity ratios right on your network.
Moving on to the intersection detail area, the next button
is Show Intersection Info. This button can display
a variety of useful intersection information,
such as colorful level-of-service grades, traffic control type icons,
coordination groups, and an ICA check. An ICA check reviews
if your intersection coding is sufficient
to perform intersection capacity analyses - and provides you
with another great tool to quickly error check your model.
This next function, Show Traffic Condition,
gives you a nice pop up display of your intersection
delay, level-of-service, and volume-to-capacity ratio.
Moving down to the approached details area,
the first button is the Show Unbalance Flows button.
This button will provide an in and out approach volume on each link
and will quickly highlight the areas that require
volume balancing in red and balance volumes in green.
This is a very powerful tool; especially, if you plan to
convert to Vissim in need balanced volumes.
The next button is queue length. This will graphically
display the max. queue length on your network to key you in
on potential intersection spill backs or short turn lanes.
Below queue length is the street name button.
This button will display the street names on legs
that you have activated an intersection setup workflow.
And finally, the approach traffic conditions button provides a
summary on the approach leg of delays, v/C, and level of service.
Wow, that's a lot of great tools and features.
should know what buttons three network elements You should now know how to navigate through
the Menu Bar, Status Bar, and Main Toolbar -
and you should know what buttons create network elements.
You should also know how to turn on and off your favorite graphical
displays. This concludes Part 1 of PTV Vistro's User Interface.
Make sure that you watch Part 2 to learn about
the workflow panel, data windows, and my favorite shortcuts.
Please subscribe so you don't miss a moment of this web series.
If you have a comment or a Vistro question, please connect
with me on the LinkedIn PTV Vistro Forum.
Streamline your traffic engineering or transportation planning study
efforts with PTV Vistro!