Organizing for TSMO – 2020 Peer Exchange Report

Summary Observations on TSMO Readiness

The TSMO community of practice has matured in the past decade. From the beginning of the National Academy of Sciences Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) to the current rollout of research completed in that program, State DOT leaders have supported integrating research outputs into agencies across the nation. The SHRP2 research put definition to organizing for operations and created a framework State DOTs could use to measure their maturity for operations and implement plans to advance awareness and understanding of how TSMO fits into organizations, whether they are State DOTs or regional collaborations.

This peer exchange provided a valuable opportunity for a group of TSMO leaders to share experiences and have conversations about how TSMO programs are succeeding across the nation given the wide diversity of how TSMO programs have been approached—generally unique to each agency. The participants' observations about the advancements made in the TSMO community over the past two years since the previous peer exchange were insightful. Drawing on the report from the 2018 peer exchange, participants and organizers saw advancements in the TSMO community.

For instance, organizers noted from the beginning of planning this event that:

• Many more States are implementing TSMO plans or currently planning TSMO programs.
• While topics from past years are similar (the need to message TSMO and how to collaborate with stakeholders, for example), the landscape where these topics are discussed has expanded. For example, while the messages that promote TSMO may be familiar ("TSMO addresses congestion without building more lanes"), the messaging's reach now extends further throughout agencies, beyond just those staff involved in ITS, traffic engineering, and other day-to-day operational activities. Planning offices, design staff, and district/region staff in more rural areas are several key examples of where TSMO awareness and efforts to mainstream have gained focus.
• States that were not able to participate two years ago have evolved to placing greater emphasis on advancing TSMO and participating in these types of exchanges. This interest aligns with States just now embarking in preparing a TSMO program plan.
• Several States have designated key statewide TSMO staff positions that did not exist two years ago (Maryland, Minnesota), and some States have added TSMO coordinators within their regions/districts. TSMO champions exist in more disciplines and organizational roles throughout agencies and not just among staff with strong operational backgrounds within headquarters/central office.
• The conversation around performance measures has evolved from a need to simply measure or communicate performance, to accessing capabilities for more advanced data analytics that develop "actionable insights" to better manage a TSMO program across the board and in finely targeted ways. The explosion in the quantity of data and the improved quality of data, drives this trend.
• States are starting to take advantage of new resources and ways to tackle perennial workforce development challenges, including capitalizing on the work of NOCoE, which offers numerous resources and has made workforce a marquee outreach topic.