Faster computing with PTV Visum 13

With its new PTV Visum 13 release, the PTV Group has significantly enhanced the computing power of its transport planning software. Distributed computing and accelerated procedures allow for faster calculations. Moreover, improved handling and new model deployment functionalities increase both efficiency and performance. PTV Group today announced the immediate release of PTV Visum 13.

This release features a concurrent computing capability which allows users to distribute several scenarios on multiple independent computer resources. "This means that computers used for daytime desktop work automatically take on overnight batch calculations for multiple scenarios," says Dr.-Ing. Johannes Schlaich, Director Product Management PTV Visum.

In the new version of the world's leading transport planning software, distributed computing is not the only approach to going faster: PTV Group's software developers have also improved the planning functionality for public transport applications. Consequently, fare calculation, timetable-based assignment and the calculation of public transport related parameters have become much faster. "Visum 13 offers dramatic speed improvements when used for line cost calculation and assignment. Compared to Version 12.5, the model's overall computation time has been reduced by 50%," explains Johannes Kuhr, Deutsche Bahn (German Rail), who has already tested the new release.

Boosting efficiency

The importer for network data from OpenStreetMap (OSM) is another tool which helps to make public transport modelling even more efficient. "In Visum 12.5, users could already use OSM maps as network basis for the creation or completion of transport models," comments Schlaich. "And now, in Version 13, they can import public transport data, such as railroad tracks, stops and line routing, to Visum data structures." Furthermore, arbitrary point or area information can be transferred to Visum as points of interest (POI) so that models are created in a more efficient manner.

Live maps can now also be displayed as background maps. "Matching the current section of the network, they can be directly downloaded from the map provider," according to Schlaich. Apart from the pre-defined map services OSM and Bing Maps, users can configure additional map services.