McTrans - Center for Microcomputers in Transportation
An International Technology Resource

In May, 1986, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) established the Center for Microcomputers in Transportation (McTrans) to serve the nation as a resource for the distribution and support of microcomputer software in the highway transportation field. Replacing three existing centers and now operating independently of FHWA, McTrans provides expert technical advice, information exchange and a wide range of transportation-related software at very reasonable costs.

Areas represented by the software include construction management; environmental; highway design, pavements, bridges and hydraulics; maintenance; safety; surveying; traffic engineering; transit; and urban transportation planning. McTrans distributes public domain software developed by FHWA, state DOTs, universities, local transportation agencies and private individuals. The McTrans also distributes both transportation and some general purpose "shareware" programs and many privately developed software packages.

McTrans provides a wide range of technical assistance for this software, and in some cases even program maintenance, ensuring users of timely updates, user tips and the highest level of tech support. The Level of Support (LOS) categories are listed below:

  • LOS 1 Full Technical and Maintenance Support
  • LOS 2 Full Technical and Update Support
  • LOS 3 Limited Technical Support
  • LOS 4 User Supported/Freeware/Shareware
  • LOS 5 Unsupported
  • LOS 6 Proprietary Software, McTrans Distributed
  • LOS 7 Proprietary Software, Developer Distributed
  • LOS 8 Publicly Developed and Supported

McTrans is a full service software support center serving the transportation engineering and planning community. McTrans has a professional staff of faculty, programmers, technical support and administrative personnel to offer users a variety of services:

  • Quarterly McTrans newsletter and periodic bulletins.
  • Software catalogs in print.
  • Distribution of hundreds of programs, manuals and user references.
  • Technical assistance hotline for software problem help or information.
  • Software support of several packages to fix "bugs" and provide updates.
  • Training courses for the more popular software packages.
  • McTrans is a "node" of the global INTERCHANGE technology transfer network.

The McTrans catalog includes descriptions of all the software and documentation available. The catalog is distributed once annually, with new product announcements in the quarterly newsletters. The catalog naturally includes details on ordering the following from McTrans :

  • Software in several applications areas and support categories.
  • Documentation in the form of user's manuals and other references.
  • Training guides and courses available through McTrans.
  • Registered software maintenance and update services.

Membership in McTrans is free, as are most of the above services. The entire cost of the McTrans operation is funded by user software fees, which vary with the level of support, and fees for other services such as training, etc. McTrans can be accessed in several different ways:

McTrans: (352) 392-0378
Toll Free: (800) 226-1013
McFAX: (352) 392-6629
Email: mctrans@ce.ufl.edu

Anyone interested in becoming a member of McTrans can simply call us at 1-800-226-1013.or complete the Joining McTrans form to receive a catalog, be added to the mailing list and begin taking advantage of our services immediately, free of charge.

 

  Staff   1-800-226-1013   @ce.ufl.edu   Main Areas
 Czerenda,Jonathan   Extension 272  jonathan  Payments, Accounting
 Duda, Lee  Extension 222  lee  Orders, Registrations, Shipping 
 Powell, Debbie  Extension 242  debbie  Orders, Registrations, Processing
 Davis, Mitch  Extension 229  mitch  Accounting, Training
 Hale, David  Extension 240  david  TRANSYT-7F, CORSIM, Tech Support       
 Hill, Phil  Extension 236  phil  Software Development, Web Site
 Lee, Sonja  Extension 234  sonja  Proprietors, Advertising
 Sampson, Bill  Extension 241  bsampson  Director, HCS, Tech Support