1.3 Can It Be Done?
Challenges
Although there are many reasons for improving the linkage between planning and operations, there are also serious challenges. The challenges of linking planning and operations vary depending on factors such as the experience, size, institutional arrangements, and institutional culture within each region. Some challenges that are common to many regions include:
- Difficulty demonstrating the benefits of management and operations investments. Most analysis tools are oriented toward calculating the benefits of major infrastructure investments. These tools do not consider incidents, construction, or other special events. Moreover, travel demand models have been the subject of legal challenges, particularly in air quality nonattainment areas, and tools that model the effects of M&O strategies must have demonstrated the credibility to withstand such challenges.
- An initial unwillingness of local officials to discuss management and operations costs at a regional level. Often, there is a philosophy that management and operations are local, not regional, issues.
- A lack of training among planning staff about operations activities. MPO staff tend to be composed of planners and engineers whose primary focus has been on planning and programming of capital programs.
- A lack of training and experience among operations staff about planning activities. Operations positions tend to emphasize a short-term outlook, with limited consideration of how their activities fit into broader regional goals.
- Limited funding to pay for capital needs of the roadway and transit network that may have been in plans for years. This can push any consideration of funding for operational programs and strategies off the radar screen.
- Limited funding to pay for on-going operations. While the capital costs of ITS technologies and traffic management centers is often paid for with Federal funds, on-going operational costs typically fall to state, regional, and local agencies.
Can These Challenges Be Overcome?
Yes they can! That is what the remainder of this guide is about. Coordination between planning and operations is happening today, and is being enhanced through a diverse range of strategies. This guide discusses the lessons from those who have had success at building this linkage, and highlights opportunities to further regional coordination.
Historically, operational considerations have been integrated into planning for transit projects, but much less so for highway projects. However, that is changing. Today, highway agencies are evolving to focus greater attention on maintaining existing infrastructure and recognizing the critical role of operations in achieving regional mobility goals. Both transit and highway agencies are recognizing new opportunities to improve reliability, security, and safety, and public information through their investment programs. MPOs are increasingly seeing their role as not only facilitating regional transportation planning, but also facilitating regional transportation systems management and operation.
