Organizing for TSMO
Case Study 9: State Department of Transportation Examples 1 of 2

Chapter 2 - Best Practice Examples

The agencies highlighted in this case study, Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) and Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), participated in the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) workshops to complete capability maturity model (CMM) assessments. The workshop assessments supported agency identification of needs and raised awareness of transportation systems management and operations (TSMO). The following section describes several successful initiatives that address the dimensions of the CMM that each agency accomplished to advance their TSMO programs across the State.

Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA)

MDOT SHA owns, operates, and maintains the numbered, non-toll routes in Maryland. This includes interstate highways, freeways, and major arterials comprising of 17,000 lane-miles and 2,576 bridges. MDOT SHA operations are led by central offices like the Office of Coordinated Highways Action Response Team (CHART), Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Development, and seven Districts that focus on implementation of transportation policies, programs, and projects across the State.

TSMO Implementation Plan

The 2016 MDOT SHA TSMO Strategic Implementation Plan was primarily focused on mainstreaming TSMO across the agency with a focus on highway operations. With progress made on various strategies from the 2016 TSMO Plan and to better align the TSMO program with policy priorities of the Administration, MDOT SHA released its 2018 TSMO Strategic Plan (Figure 2) with a focus on multimodal solutions that are applicable across jurisdictions. This revision was made because MDOT SHA realized the value of a wide range of solutions to improve safety and mobility.

The update is also different from the initial plan because the action items have come from MDOT SHA's "front line implementers" through the TSMO working group and TSMO task forces. Working groups and task forces are comprised of mid-level management, subject matter experts from various domains, maintenance staff, traffic management center staff, first responders, signal timing experts, and other individuals that interface directly with assets. By engaging these individuals through the task forces regarding how daily responsibilities contribute to the overall TSMO program, MDOT SHA identified action items and areas for improvement in their day-to-day activities to help the agency reach their TSMO goals. They also identified resources needed to accomplish these tasks.

The 2018 MDOT SHA TSMO Strategic Plan provides vision, purpose, goals, objectives, and strategies. There is a huge focus on integration at institutional, operational, and technical levels across the agency and partners at all levels.

A key component of the TSMO Strategic Implementation Plan is a TSMO master plan, which is a list of TSMO projects or strategies that are not fiscally constrained. MDOT SHA leveraged existing tools to develop benefit-cost analysis of strategies to prioritize projects. The TSMO master plan is aligned with long-range planning documentation and includes needs, strategies, solutions, and evaluations as shown in Figure 3. This approach is beneficial because it helps find funding from either capital funding or preservation funding without being siloed.

Organizational Structure

MDOT SHA has established a leadership position to serve as the TSMO Program Manager overseeing implementation of the TSMO Strategic Plan. Responsibilities include management of the TSMO Program, TSMO Master Plan, education and training, communications and outreach, and coordination/collaboration with the Executive Committee, working groups, partners, and stakeholders. Figure 4 shows the TSMO organization structure for MDOT SHA. The TSMO Executive Committee, co-chaired by the Chief Engineer-Operations and Deputy Administrator of Planning and Engineering, provides strategic guidance and program governance. The TSMO working group comprises mid-level management and subject matter experts from various offices and Districts. Various task forces have been developed with cross-cutting and interdisciplinary teams who develop action items to support TSMO Plan objectives and strategies.

The TSMO Working Group plays a role in tactical matters as it is the interface between TSMO Executive Committee strategic directives/guidance and the operational day-to-day functions at various offices and Districts. The TSMO Program implementation activities on specific action items are undertaken with management and staff efforts at individual offices and Districts. The TSMO Program Manager works closely with implementation teams to develop appropriate performance measures, targets, resource needs, and expectations.

The finalized TSMO Strategic Plan was developed through close collaboration with a range of disciplines internally and externally. Each major stakeholder is discussed in detail in the TSMO Strategic Plan with specific roles, requirements, and authorities. This helps groups understand their part of the TSMO program and make staffing plans to accomplish TSMO activities.

Communicating TSMO

Alongside the 2018 TSMO Strategic Plan, MDOT SHA developed a dedicated TSMO website for communicating TSMO objectives, sharing resources to implement strategies, and providing access to operations-specific data as shown in Figure 5. The website provides accessible information to the public, external agencies, and internal staff so it is easier to be engaged in the TSMO program.

Training

To mainstream TSMO across MDOT SHA at all levels, the agency is developing various education and training programs. This includes web-based and in-person 2- to 4-hour coursework and full-day workshops across the State for district engineering management and staff to discuss the value of TSMO, how to get engaged in the program, and how current job functions can strategically align with TSMO objectives. The workshops also provide in-depth discussions and recommendations for specific operations strategies, such as ramp metering, hard shoulder running, adaptive signal timing, etc. Training and open dialogue helps encourage staff to better understand their role in supporting TSMO and engages them for future activities.

MDOT SHA supports several training opportunities to reach a wide range of participants, including:

• Graduate Engineering Training Program: Multi-year technical training (including incident management and signal operations) with some supervisor information.
• Supervisor Training: Training program to support supervisor responsibilities with some technical information.
• Advanced Leadership Program: Information geared towards leaders advancing to executive levels of the organization.
• Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Training: CHART oversees SHRP2 TIM training. Additional information regarding CHART can be found in Case Study 6: Collaboration - Collaboration for Traffic Incident Management.

MDOT SHA also provides training to public and local agencies. When new operations strategies are deployed, MDOT SHA provides information to travelers about the solution and how it fits into the overall TSMO vision and mission. This has been beneficial for MDOT SHA because if the public or interested stakeholders reach out, staff can explain how strategies are part of a broader program.

A key in gaining leadership support has been the use of outreach and training. Using a combination of policies, leadership directives, subject matter guidance, and partnerships has encouraged district staff to engage in new processes and responsibilities. Making a good business case and aligning with performance objectives that the Districts are scored on helps to support the Districts and prioritizes new opportunities.

Reliability Tools

MDOT SHA received funding from SHRP2 to create reliability analysis tools and build on existing research. Examples of reliability tools include the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Tools for Operations Benefit/Cost used for estimating the value of operations projects; travel demand models and research for estimated projected operations; and statewide freight models to understand travel patterns of commercial vehicles. When TSMO strategies are evaluated, reliability performance metrics are considered using an analytic process.

User guides and training have been developed so data-driven decisions can be practiced both internally and externally. The reliability analysis process shown in Figure 6 and the master plan priority process shown in Figure 7 helped develop the TSMO master plan and supports longrange planning activities. MDOT SHA is able to provide data on expected reliability data and assign project improvements a monetary value that helps make the case to leadership for investments.

Figure 7. Chart. MDOT SHA TSMO Master Plan Priority Process
Source: MDOT SHA 2018 TSMO Strategic Plan

Local Agency Outreach

MDOT SHA maintains positive relationships with local agencies through engagement during strategic planning activities, involvement in the congestion management process for MPOs, and development of training materials for operations strategies, including integrated corridor management projects. MDOT SHA is also part of regional coalitions and develops presentations to provide updates on the TSMO program and facilitate conversations. Local agencies have great ideas and questions because of their in-depth understanding of their region. Oftentimes, agencies are seeking data on local facilities, but that data is not available yet due to connectivity or coverage gaps. MDOT SHA often uses these conversations to foster implementation of TSMO concepts and recommend pilot projects.

Operational strategies are also encouraged during the project prioritization process for local agencies. MDOT SHA supports this process by providing tools, data, and training to develop project recommendations. MDOT SHA also gains understanding of each agencies' project prioritization process. They encourage considering operations strategies. This helps everyone collaborate to understand what causes unreliability and which solutions are appropriate for their individual conditions.

Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT)

TDOT manages and maintains interstate and highway facilities statewide as well as rail, transit, waterways, and trail systems. TDOT is decentralized in structure and composed of four regions. The central Traffic Operations Division provides strategic and program level direction and oversight, while individual regions are responsible for day-to-day operations with the transportation management center and TIM program. The Traffic Operation Division leads and coordinates transportation systems performance monitoring, ITS architectures and systems engineering, and traditional traffic design, among others.

TIM Performance Metrics

TDOT has an advanced TIM plan that tracks performance metrics such as incident clearance times and quick clearance memoranda of understanding signings. These metrics and associated targets are reported to the Governor annually. They are also used to help inform best practices for TSMO strategies. For example, a "protect the queue" initiative has been implemented to use TDOT resources to clear incidents from the roadway and warn drivers as they approach slowmoving traffic from congestion.

To monitor TIM performance metrics, TDOT collects data at the transportation management center through ITS infrastructure (closed-circuit television cameras and radar sensors on urban facilities), TDOT HELP operators and operations field staff, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and other first responder partners. In addition, TDOT is utilizing crowdsourced data to help support identification of roadway incidents. This information is recorded in an incident management database that provides the three national TIM performance measures - time of lane closure, time responders are on scene, and number of secondary accidents - among others. TDOT is considering leveraging probe data and other sources to automate processes and improve data quality in the future.

Project-Oriented Local Agency Outreach

TDOT is in the design and deployment stage of an integrated corridor management project on Interstate 24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro. This project has promoted collaboration through a technical advisory committee formed from multi-agency stakeholders that meet monthly (Figure 8). The monthly meetings provide an opportunity to discuss mobility and safety strategies, maintenance and operations of assets, and interoperability between jurisdictions.

City of La Vergne, town of Smyrna, City of Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, Rutherford County Sheriff's Dept., THP/TN Dept. of Safety, Federal Highway Administration, Metro Transit Authority, Regional Transportation Authority, TN Dept. of Economic Development, City of Nashville, Transportation Management Associate, and Rover-Murfreesboro Transit Agency
Figure 8. Chart. Agencies Involved in Integrated Corridor Management Committee

Training and Outreach

As a result of the CMM self-assessment completed with FHWA, TDOT identified a need for a traffic operations program plan. This plan includes structure for a program-level traffic operations division, establishing priority corridors, and identifying operational strategies. Collaboration to develop the plan was an opportunity to engage the regions and agency staff to understand their needs.

For several years, TDOT has been an active supporter of regional operations forums (ROF) to provide operations training to national stakeholders. Inspired by the California Department of Transportation and previous ROF experience, TDOT initiated ROFs in each of their regions. The ROF includes regional CMM self-assessments to establish action items for local TSMO improvements, refining the traffic operations program plan, and engaging additional TSMO champions. A small challenge was encountered during the planning for the ROFs because of staff turnover. However, when TDOT was invited to the Regional Operations Leadership Forum and sent six regional stakeholder leaders to attend, the attendees were inspired by the training they received and re-energized to support the planning and organization of TDOT's ROF among other outreach activities.

After learning best practices from peer State departments of transportation, TDOT developed a video to explain "What is TSMO" as well as a quarterly video newsletter. Providing training and informational content has led to success for other TDOT programs. Making information easily accessible to internal staff and the public is key. The videos for the TSMO program are an opportunity to promote the TSMO culture throughout the organization and engage stakeholders in the goals of the TSMO program.