The Value of a Business Case in Mainstreaming TSMO
1. Introduction
Transportation agencies use transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) to enhance the reliability and safety of their systems. There are a number of ways to support mainstreaming TSMO in transportation agencies and the advancement of TSMO as a way of doing business. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed a series of white papers focused on mainstreaming TSMO through formal 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 how a business case can support mainstreaming TSMO in transportation organizations.
Integrating and mainstreaming TSMO across business and geographic units of departments of transportation (DOTs) require making the case for the benefits of TSMO to all aspects of a DOT. This can be accomplished formally and informally to educate agency leadership, management, and staff about what TSMO includes, how it can support agency goals, how it interfaces with different DOT functions, and why staff should care. A TSMO business case can help DOT personnel across the agency understand TSMO’s potential and anticipated benefits, encourage agency commitment to TSMO as a way of doing business, and support adoption of TSMO strategies across the agency. A business case tells a compelling story about how things are, how they could or should be, and the ways in which TSMO can be applied to get there.
Objectives
The goal of this white paper is to help transportation agencies develop an effective business case to mainstream TSMO in their agencies. The objectives of this white paper are to:
- Define mainstreaming TSMO
- Define a business case
- Describe how a business case can advance mainstreaming TSMO
- Provide an overview of measuring the effectiveness of a TSMO business case
- Provide examples of TSMO business cases from State DOTs and other transportation agencies as well as business cases from other industries
- Identify materials available to support business case use and development
Chapter 2 discusses the role of a business case in mainstreaming TSMO. Chapter 3 discusses evaluating the effectiveness of a TSMO business case. Chapter 4 provides information on resourcing for TSMO at transportation agencies. Chapter 5 provides example business cases from several State DOTs. Chapter 6 discusses business cases from other industries and how they might apply to TSMO. Lastly, Chapter 7 lists some resources for agencies interested in developing a TSMO business case.
Intended Audience and Users
The audience for this white paper is State transportation agencies interested in advancing TSMO in their organizations. The content may also be beneficial to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and local transportation agencies that are implementing TSMO and want to build an understanding and appreciation of TSMO benefits.
Why Mainstream TSMO?
Transportation agencies have traditionally focused on design, construction, and maintenance of transportation facilities. TSMO is intended to expand this focus to operational improvements 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.” (Business Dictionary 2020)
TSMO mainstreaming is making management and operations strategies readily understood, considered, appealing, and available to system users (i.e., the public) and agency leadership and staff. Typically, TSMO has been initiated in operations and maintenance business areas in transportation agencies and has evolved alongside intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies, functions, and deployment programs (e.g., maintaining signal systems, 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). It 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 consider TSMO strategies as solutions of equal substance with other options for improving transportation system performance and addressing transportation needs within a community or region.
