Phil: We are glad to learn that distribution of the final Part 1 data will begin soon, and that distribution of the draft Part 2 data has begun. As a service to TransCAD users, Caliper has been organizing 2000 Census data so that it is easy to access and use. A set of Table Chooser add-ins for TransCAD work with SF 1, SF 3, and CTPP Part 1 data, and the new Version 4.7 of TransCAD includes these Table Choosers as menu commands. A new add-in has been prepared for the CTPP Part 2 data, now that some draft ASCII files are available. We have been processing the data for states and MPOs that send us copies of their ASCII files. We have reformatted these Census data from the many small ASCII files (with all the summary levels) into one file for each summary level (with all the tables). The Table Choosers let users pick which tables they want, from a full list of tables, from tables by organized by subject, and/or from user-defined groups. Users can select the areas for which they want the data, and create a geographic file with both the area boundaries and the demographic data. They can also create just a tabular file, which can be joined to existing geographic files. To make the fields easier to understand and use, metadata are available in balloon help that appears by moving the cursor over the columns headings in a dataview. The metadata were constructed from the documentation for each set of Census data and, for Parts 1 and 2, give the category for each variable, the full table name, and other useful info. When the final ASCII files are released, we will make the CTPP Part 1 and Part 2 Data CDs available. Users in some states, such as Florida, are already working with the draft Part 1 data. As soon as there are ASCII files for CTPP Part 3 data we will process those as well, so we would encourage you to release the ASCII files for all three parts as soon as possible. Peter ---------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Van Demark Director of GIS Products and Training Phone: 617-527-4700 Caliper Corporation Fax: 617-527-5113 1172 Beacon Street E-mail: peter(a)caliper.com Newton MA 02461-9926 Web site: http://www.caliper.com