For Immediate Release
October 19, 2010

TransCAD Used for Demand Analysis for Tram Extension in Sofia

NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS (USA) - ROM Transportation Engineering, a leading international transportation consulting firm, is part of a team that has been awarded a contract that will make extensive use of the TransCAD Transportation Planning Software.

The project is funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to perform demand analysis for a proposed tram extension in Sofia, Bulgaria, for the Municipality of Sofia.

The project includes various aspects of transportation demand analysis, including:

  • Design of a travel demand model for the Sofia public transport sector
  • Calibration of public transportation demand based on existing passenger counts (2010)
  • Scenario appraisal for the proposed tram line extension
  • Calculation of operational specifications for the tram
  • Generation of 30-year ridership forecasts for each public transportation mode

The ROM staff that will be leveraged for this project include transport modelers and GIS professionals who have expertise in managing surveys, in the use of TransCAD, and in public transport planning.

Public transit is a specialty of TransCAD, with capabilities that greatly exceed those of other planning packages. TransCAD is the only software that has a realistic GIS-based representation of transit systems. TransCAD has special data structures for handling transit routes in all their natural complexity. Routes may be stored, displayed, edited, and analyzed. An important feature is that transit routes can be directly placed on the streets so that interactions between autos and transit can be treated explicitly. Moreover, stops need not be located at street intersections, but instead can be located where they really are and on the correct side of the street.

ROM is working independently of Caliper Corporation on the Sofia tram extension project.

About Caliper

Caliper is a leading developer of mapping, redistricting, transportation, and GIS software, including Maptitude®, Maptitude for Redistricting, TransCAD®, and TransModeler®. Caliper software is used by more than 75,000 users in over 70 countries.

About ROM:

ROM Transportation Engineering is a leading Israeli based transportation consulting firm, providing services both in Israel and worldwide. The firm specializes in consulting services on all aspects of transportation planning for the public & private sectors.