Introduction to TransCAD

Murtaza Haider

murtaza.haider@ryerson.ca
Tel: 416.979.5000, ext. 2480

TRANSCAD
The only true comprehensive, transportation GIS
System
A true vector-based GIS with comprehensive
mapping capabilities
Extensive econometric ability for travel demand
modeling, (UTMS)
Matrix-based Object Oriented Programming
Language
Closest rival EMME/2, Vissum

TransCAD Screen
Everything is contained in a main window
Data are shown and controlled in one or more
windows
There are often several ways to perform a command
Status information and help are always available

Example: The Screen

TransCAD Menus, Toolbar and Toolboxes

Menus: list all the TransCAD commands
Toolbar: buttons for frequently used commands
Toolboxes: contain tools for general and specific
needs
Commands or tools are gray when they cannot be
used

Example: Menus, Toolbar and Toolboxes

TransCAD Dialog Boxes

Menu commands ending with three dots (...) have
dialog boxes
Some dialog box buttons take you to additional
dialog boxes
You can use defaults settings or change any of the
options

Example: Dialog Boxes

Help Is Available Several Ways

Balloon help appears if you leave the cursor over a
button
Status bar shows brief help and other information
Context-sensitive, on-line help by pressing the F1
key or using the Help menu

Example: Help

Types of Windows
Map: an electronic version of a paper map
View: two kinds:
Dataview: to view and edit tables of data from geographic
files, databases or spreadsheets
Matrix view: to view and edit values in a matrix

Figure: a window containing a chart or other

graphic
Layout: presentations with maps, views and figures,
plus freehand text and other items

Example: Three Types of Windows

Workspaces Save All Open Windows

You can save more than one window
You can save windows of different types
Workspaces are good ways to organize projects

Designing Maps and Creating Themes

Goal: Understand the parts of a map and how to use
them to:
Organize your data
Study relationships
Present information
Get your point across clearly

Basics: Map
Definition: classically, a drawn or printed
representation of the earth and its features. In this
case, an electronic version of that representation.

Example: Map

Basics: Layers
Definition: a group of map features of the same
type, such as states, highways, or retail stores;
conceptual equivalent of an acetate overlay on a
physical map

Example: Layers

Basics: Map Features

Definition: entities such as customers, rivers, cities,
states, and roads, that are displayed as points, lines
or areas on a map

Example: Map Features

Basics: Saving and Retrieving Maps

All the information needed to recreate a map is
saved in a .MAP file

Example: Saving and Retrieving Maps

File-Save
File-Save As

File-Open

Basics: Printing a Map

You can print a map directly, or place it in a layout
and print the layout

Example: Printing a Map

Quick Start: Overview

Step-by-step tutorial, showing basics in action
In this Quick Start we will create a map and move
around it
We are just touching the surface of what TransCAD
can do
In-depth sections will go into more detail

Creating a New Map

Choose File-Open or click

on the toolbar.

Choose Geographic File from the List Files of Type

drop-down list.
From the TCW\TUTORIAL subdirectory, choose
the file NES_HWY.CDF and click OK. TransCAD
displays a map of highways in southern New
England.

Moving around the Map: Zoom In

Click
tool.

in the main toolbox to activate the Zoom In

Click in the middle of the map. TransCAD redraws

the map at twice the scale.
Drag a rectangle around Boston. TransCAD
enlarges the Boston area to fill the map.

Moving around the Map: Zoom Out

Click

to activate the Zoom Out tool.

Click in the middle of the map. TransCAD redraws

the map at half the scale, with Boston still in the
middle.

Moving around the Map: Pan

Click

to activate the Pan tool.

Drag Boston to one corner of the window and

release the mouse button. TransCAD redraws the
map in the new location.

Moving around the Map

Choose Map-Previous Scale. TransCAD redraws
the map as it was before you used the Pan tool.
Choose Map-Previous Scale again. TransCAD
redraws the map as it was before you used the
Zoom Out tool.
Choose Map-Initial Scale. TransCAD redraws the
map as it was when you started.

Adding a New Layer

Choose Map-Initial Scale, then choose Map-Layers
or click
on the toolbar.
Click Add Layer to display the File Open dialog
box.
From TCW\TUTORIAL, choose the file
NESOUTH.CDF and click OK.
Click Close. TransCAD adds counties to the map.

Saving a Map
Choose File-Save or click

on the toolbar.

Choose a writeable drive and then create

TCW\TUTORIAL subdirectory.
Enter MYFIRST as the map name and click OK.
TransCAD saves the map.
Choose File-Close to close the map.

Retrieving a Map
Choose File-Open or click on the toolbar, and
choose MYFIRST.MAP from the
TCW\TUTORIAL subdirectory.
Click OK. TransCAD opens and displays the map,
as it was when you saved it.

Printing a Map
Choose File-Print or click

on the toolbar.

Choose Landscape from the Orientation drop-down

list and check the other printer settings.
Click Print. TransCAD prints the map.

Returning to a Previous Scale and Center

Map-Previous Scale command: use scale and center
from before the last change
Map-Initial Scale command: use scale and center
from when map was created or last saved. Style and
other changes shown
Map-Snapshot command: shows how the map
looked when last saved. Subsequent style and other
changes not shown

How Map Features Are Organized

Grouped into layers, stored in files
Layer can be points, lines or areas
Layers can be visible or not
Visible layers are drawn in order
Working layer is one shown in layer list

Changing a Map's Layers

Click

for Layers dialog box:

Renaming a Layer
Rename Layer dialog box:

Printing a Map
Click

for Print Map dialog box:

Basics: Style
Definition: The colors, patterns, symbols and lines
that are used to draw map features

Example: Style

Basics: Label
Definition: a way of identifying features on a map
using text

Example: Label

Basics: Freehand Item

Definition: a point, line, shape, symbol, bitmap, or
text item that is drawn using the freehand tools.
Freehand items may be moved or edited with the
pointer tool

Example: Freehand Item

Quick Start: Retrieving Your Map

Choose File-Close All to close any windows that
you have open.
Choose File-Open or click on the toolbar, and
choose MYFIRST.MAP from the
TCW\TUTORIAL subdirectory.
Click OK. TransCAD opens and displays your
Quick Start map.

Using Styles
Choose County from the drop-down list in the
toolbar.
Click on the toolbar to display the Style dialog
box.
Choose Solid from the Fill Style drop-down list and
a color from the Color drop-down list.
Click OK. TransCAD redraws the map with the new
style.

Changing the Map Background Style

Choose Map-Settings, then choose Solid from the
Background Styles drop-down list and a color from
the Background Color drop-down list.
Click OK. TransCAD redraws the map with the
background color behind the filled counties.

Labeling Features in a Map

Click

on the toolbar; click Add Layer.

From TCW\TUTORIAL choose the file

NES_PLC.CDF, then click OK.
Click
box.

on the toolbar to display the Labels dialog

Choose City from the Field drop-down list.

Click OK. TransCAD labels the places with their
names.

In Depth: Using Styles

Styles for points, lines, areas and the map
background each have their own dialog box
Two ways to changes styles (and labels) for a layer:
Choose the layer from the drop-down list on the toolbar
and click
Click

to get the Layers dialog box and click Style

Labeling Features in a Map

Labels identify map features
You can use any data field as a label
Labels can be:
Automatic: TransCAD decides how to place the labels,
and which features are labeled
Manual: you decide how to place the labels, and which
features to label. The labels become and act like freehand
text

Automatic Labels
Click

for Labels dialog box:

Manual Labels
Click

for Manual Label dialog box:

Notes on Using Manual Labels

If you zoom in to a larger scale, manual labels get
bigger; if you zoom out, they get smaller
More automatic labels may appear as you zoom in
Add manual labels to unlabeled features as a last
step to touch up a map design

Quick Start: Using Freehand Items #1

Click
tool.

in the main toolbox to activate the Text

Drag a rectangle on the map where you want the

text, type your name and press Enter.
Click
tool.

in the main toolbox to activate the Pointer

Using Freehand Items #2

Click on the text to select it.
Click on one of the editing handles in a corner and
drag it to change the size of the text. The text is
redrawn at the new size.
Click anywhere inside the text, but not on one of the
handles, and drag the text to a new location.

Using Freehand Items #3

Drag the rotation handle to rotate the text.
Double-click on the text to display the Freehand
Text dialog box.
Change the color to blue, the font to Times New
Roman and the size to 24, then click OK.
TransCAD redraws the text.
Press the Delete key to delete the selected freehand
items.

In Depth: Drawing Tools

Symbol tool

Line tool

Polygon tool

Rectangle tool

Circle tool

More Drawing Tools

Text tool

Bitmap tool

North arrow tool

Working with Freehand Items

Pointer tool

is used to:

Select one or more freehand items

Change the size of a freehand item
Rotate text or symbol items
Move freehand items
Edit freehand items

More Working with Freehand Items

Pointer tool

is also used to:

Align
freehand
items:

Change the order of freehand items

Make copies of freehand items
Delete freehand items

Basics: Theme
Definition: a method of illustrating the data that go
with a map layer. Map themes use color, patterns,
charts, or other symbols to illustrate the
characteristics of map features.

Example: Color and Pattern Themes

Example: Dot-Density Theme

Example: Scaled-Symbol Theme

Example: Pie and Bar Chart Themes

Example: Combined Themes

Basics: Legend
Definition: an explanation of the symbols, colors
and styles used in a map, usually in a box next to
the map.

Example: Legend

Quick Start: Retrieving Your Map

Choose File-Close All to close any windows that
you have open.
Choose File-Open or click on the toolbar, and
choose MYFIRST.MAP from the
TCW\TUTORIAL subdirectory.
Click OK. TransCAD opens and displays your
Quick Start map.

Showing and Hiding a Legend

Click in the toolbar, or else choose Map-Settings
to display the Map Settings dialog box, check the
legend checkbox and click OK. TransCAD will
show the legend.
Click in the toolbar again. TransCAD will hide
the legend.

Getting Ready to Create a Theme

Choose Map-Scale or click in the toolbar to
display the Map Scale dialog box.
Click the Show an Entire Layer radio button, choose
the County layer and click OK. TransCAD redraws
the map to show the whole County layer.
Make sure County shows in the drop-down list in
the toolbar.

Creating a Theme
Click on the toolbar or choose Map-Color
Theme to display the Color Theme dialog box.
Choose Population from the Field drop-down list
and click OK. TransCAD redraws the map with the
color theme, and shows the legend.

Adding Another Theme

Click on the toolbar or choose Map-Dot Density
to display the Dot Density Theme dialog box.
Click on White and Shift-click on [Other Race] in
the Field drop-down list and click OK. TransCAD
redraws the map with the multi-variable dot-density
theme and updates the legend.

Adding a Third Theme

Click on the toolbar or choose Map-Chart Theme
to display the Chart Theme dialog box.
In the Field drop-down list, click on [Mode: Drove
Alone] and Shift-click on [Mode: Bus], Ctrl-click
on [Mode: Subway], then click OK. TransCAD
redraws the map with the pie chart theme and
updates the legend.

In Depth: Legends
Click

to show or hide legend

Double-click on legend with the pointer tool

Using Themes to Present Information

About map themes
MapWizard instant mapping

Color themes

Pattern themes (no button)

Dot-density themes

Scaled-symbol themes

Pie and bar chart themes

About Map Themes

Color often used first when exploring data
Pattern good for black and white printing
Color and pattern best with negative numbers and
non-numeric data
Use chart or dot density to show values for two or
more fields
Dont use chart or dot density for percentages, ratios
or averages

MapWizard(tm) Instant Mapping

Looks over the data
Creates the theme
Chooses a design that makes map clear and
attractive
To change the designs, choose Edit-Preferences

Color Themes
Click

for Color Theme dialog box:

Color Theme Style

Click Style for Color Theme Style dialog box:

Methods for Color and Pattern Themes

Equal number of features
Equal range of values
Equal area/length
List of values
Nested means
Standard deviation
Manual

Manual Theme
Click Manual for Manual Theme dialog box:

Dot-Density Themes
Click

for Dot-Density Theme dialog box:

Dot-Density Theme Styles

Click Style for Dot-Density Theme Style dialog
box:

Scaled-Symbol Themes
Click

for Scaled-Symbol Theme dialog box:

Pie and Bar Chart Themes

Click
for
Chart Theme
dialog box:

Chart Theme Styles