Caliper Deploys New Model for Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System

NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS - Caliper Corporation has announced the recent conversion and deployment of the regional travel demand model for the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS), the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Portland, Maine region, to TransCAD. The MPO region encompasses 15 distinct communities in the Portland metropolitan area.

The previous model was a combination of custom programs to facilitate the various planning stages and utilized the TRIPS travel demand modeling software program. The new model operates in a native TransCAD environment and with a higher level of performance and precision. It also provides PACTS staff with a far more interactive approach in presenting the model results to staff and serves as an invaluable tool in explaining modeling results to the general public.

PACTS is the latest MPO in the state of Maine to adopt TransCAD for its modeling platform. For the last several years, the Androscoggin Transportation Resource Center (ATRC) covering the Auburn-Lewiston region of Maine has successfully been using TransCAD for its modeling and travel analysis. John Duncan, PACTS Director, states: “We’ve been very pleased with the conversion and have already used the TransCAD version of the model in several region wide, corridor, and subarea studies.”