Policies and Processes that Support Mainstreaming Transportation Systems Management and Operations
1. INTRODUCTION
Transportation agencies use transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) to enhance the reliability and safety of their systems. There are numerous ways to support mainstreaming TSMO throughout transportation agencies and to support the advancement of TSMO as a method of doing business. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed a series of White Papers focused on mainstreaming TSMO through the application of policies and processes, changes in agency culture, advances in decisionmaking and information management, and development of business cases for TSMO. This White Paper focuses on the use of policies and processes to advance mainstreaming TSMO in transportation organizations.
Objectives of the White Paper
The objective of this White Paper is to assist departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies engaged in managing and operating transportation systems in mainstreaming TSMO through their policies and processes. Formal and informal policies and processes can be used to introduce and integrate TSMO principles, strategies, and tactics across an agency’s business areas. Examples include policies that require TSMO strategies to be considered in project planning and development, and multidisciplinary TSMO teams that explore opportunities to implement TSMO strategies across disciplines. Policies and processes within agencies can encourage, promote, and support the consideration and advancement of TSMO agency-wide.
This Paper discusses policies and processes, organized by six themes, that have helped agencies advance mainstreaming. The six themes are:
- Develop TSMO committees
- Incorporate TSMO formally into planning and project development
- Include TSMO in agency manuals and guidance documents
- Integrate TSMO in business practices
- Develop TSMO-focused organizational structure and staff positions
- Integrate TSMO into agency-wide performance management
Chapter 2 provides an understanding of why policies and processes matter when mainstreaming TSMO. Chapter 3 describes the six themes identified in the bullets above that have helped agencies to mainstream TSMO. Chapter 4 presents the gaps, challenges, and opportunities to using policies and processes for mainstreaming TSMO, drawing on examples from transportation agencies. Chapter 5 concludes the paper with key takeaways and lessons based on the examples collected.
Intended Audience
This White Paper is written for transportation agencies—State DOTs and local and regional agencies who work in coordination with State DOTs—interested in mainstreaming and integrating TSMO into agency-wide activities. It is specifically aimed toward TSMO leaders, department heads, or functional unit leaders. It is intended to help agency personnel in multiple disciplines, not just TSMO and operations staff, understand ways TSMO can complement and integrate with their business practices.
Why Mainstream TSMO?
Transportation agencies have focused on the design, construction, and maintenance of transportation facilities. TSMO expands this focus by looking to operational improvements to existing facilities to maintain and restore system performance before adding physical capacity. Mainstreaming in the context of business processes is defined as “[P]roducts and services which are readily available to and appealing to the general public, as opposed to being of interest only to a very specific subset of the public” (Lexico 2020). Mainstreaming TSMO makes management and operations strategies readily understood, considered, appealing, and available to agency leadership and staff, regardless of where they sit in the organization, as well as to the system users (public).
Typically, TSMO has been initiated in operations and maintenance business areas within transportation agencies, often evolving with intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies and functions that involve ITS deployment programs and other operations (e.g., maintaining signal systems, and detecting and clearing incidents). Mainstreaming TSMO allows a broader range of strategies to be integrated throughout transportation departments and related agencies and organizations. Mainstreaming TSMO engages planners, designers, operators, and system users (public and private sector), and touches all aspects of mobility, including congestion, air quality, sustainability, safety, security, reliability, and related quality of life concerns. The goal of mainstreaming is to routinely include TSMO strategies as an “equal player” in addressing transportation needs within a community or region, along with other options for improving transportation system performance.
