In this issue of EMME/2 NEWS you'll find again a lot of information about and around the use of EMME/2. The new data base transformation utility E2XFBANK allows EMME/2 data bases to be exchanged between different types of systems without any need to rebuild. In the continuation of his series on EMME/2 benchmarks, Denis Lebeuf from INRO looks at the performance of some very fast 386 and 486 PC's and also explores the benefits of disk cache and RAM disks. But there is more: Would you know what to do when a bad disk block creeps up in an EMME/2 data base or how you can generate random numbers with the network and matrix calculator? Finally, I'd like to draw your attention to the announcement of the Fifth Annual EMME/2 Users Conference, which this year is hosted by the Data Management Group of the University of Toronto. Note that this years meeting is in June, so it's time to send in your registration soon. Hope to see many of you in Toronto!
Heinz Spiess, Editor
EMME/2 Support Center
Haldenstrasse 16
CH-2558 Aegerten
Switzerland
tel: (41) 32 53 20 57
fax: (41) 32 53 57 86
Over the last five years, since INRO began the distribution and support of EMME/2, a mixed bag of comparative evaluations of transportation planning packages came our way from different sources. In the beginning, the first evaluations that included EMME/2 were carried out with practically no knowledge of the way EMME/2 was designed and with no "hands on" experience. Needless to say, we spent considerable effort in getting the record straight, if only to make the authors of the evaluations state that they have no pertinent knowledge of EMME/2 and to eliminate it from their reports. However, over that past two years, with the number of EMME/2 users growing and EMME/2 becoming better known, the quality of the evaluations has improved and the concepts underlying the design of EMME/2 are better understood. Here is a quotation from a recent evaluation study: "while the other four packages apply the black box approach to modeling, EMME/2 applies the glass box approach. [...] EMME/2 allows the planner to use the models of his choice, in a sequential or simultaneous manner, to suit his way of performing the analysis." We concur entirely with this statement. While some planners may prefer the black box approach which uses "canned" models, the "glass box" approach of EMME/2 makes it necessary to state the modeling approach used explicitly and to make it visible and clear to the recipients of results of planning studies. As so many demand modeling and network modeling procedures are expressed in the form of macros, the clear window into the EMME/2 glass box is the ability to write and interpret such macros. Chances are that EMME/2 will be the subject of other evaluation studies in the future. We are more optimistic now that EMME/2 will be properly evaluated in such studies.
Michael Florian, President
INRO Consultants, Inc.
4950 Queen Mary Rd. #100
Montreal, Que H3W 1X3
Canada
Tel (514) 738-8336
Fax (514) 738-8579