| The National Dialogue on Transportation Operations culminated at the October 2001 National Summit in Columbia, Maryland. This article summarizes the significant amount of work that has been done since the summit to lay to foundation to move from "dialogue" to "action", including institutional changes that have been implemented, tools that have been developed, and a name change to National Coalition for Advancing Transportation Operations. |
In 1999, the Federal Highway Administration initiated the National Dialogue on Transportation Operations. The National Dialogue was conceived as a way to encourage discussion of transportation operational issues. The National Dialogue is a product of our time. Congestion has emerged as a topic of social and political interest. It is increasingly becoming clear that congestion is having a significant impact on the economic productivity of the nation. More attention needed to be devoted to making our transportation infrastructure perform as intended. The National Dialogue represents a "call to arms" for increasing consciousness of and attention to operations.
Members of the National Steering Committee for Transportation Operations created a vision:
Managing and operating the existing transportation system so that its performance meets or exceeds customer expectations.
The issues and opportunities raised by this vision were interpreted through a series of white papers. The papers have provided fodder for debate and discussion. An e-dialogue was begun to serve as an ongoing forum for debate and discussion of the meaning and role of transportation operations. Regional forums were held across the country to engage local transportation officials in discussions on improving operations. More than a year's worth of activity culminated in the Operations Summit in the fall of 2001. The summit brought together an array of transportation professionals to engage in discussion on the role of transportation operations in the future of transportation. A broad consensus on key challenges and next steps was achieved at the Summit as summarized below.
Operations Summit Summary of Recommendations
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A significant amount of work has been done since the summit to lay a foundation for moving from "dialogue" to "action". More specifically, institutional changes have begun, a resource of working tools have been developed, operational applications have been implemented, and a renewed version of the National Dialogue, the National Coalition for Advancing Transportation Operations, has been initiated.
After the National Summit, the focus of institutional activity in 2002 shifted to the associations representing key stakeholders. One of the most significant changes is the reorganization within the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). In 2002, AASHTO's Standing Committee on Highways reorganized itself into two Councils: the Council on Project Delivery and the Council on Operations. The Council on Operations includes Subcommittees on traffic engineering, maintenance, highway transport and, for the first time, a subcommittee on system operations and management. This is the first major reorganization of AASHTO in many years and its first structural recognition of the growing significance of operations. The change in AASHTO structure paralleled efforts in some state DOTs to rethink their own organizational structures. Within State DOTs, there is an increasing recognition of their "operational" mission that goes beyond maintenance activities. Several states have reorganized for a consolidated focus on operations.
In addition to AASHTO, other prominent transportation associations added to their organizations in order to focus more attention on transportation operations and management.
Thus, the National Dialogue on Transportation Operations has over the last two years, stimulated significant recognition of the policy, programmatic, and organizational implications of an increased focus on operations. However, while the attention that transportation operations has received from major transportation associations is a key indicator of progress, it takes more than new committees and reorganization of associations to advance the art and science of transportation operations.
The number of resources to help transportation organizations successfully incorporate management and operations as part of their mindset also continues to grow. A few key resources are listed below.
FWHA produced documents, workshops and other resources including:
- Primer on Regional Transportation Operations Collaboration and Coordination
- Traffic incident management self assessment tool
- Work zone mobility and safety self assessment tool
- Winter weather maintenance decision support system
- Work Zone and ITS Crosscutting Study
- Best Practices CD on Road Weather Management
- Video on benefits of signal timing aimed at decision-makers
- Traffic management center pooled fund projects on system maintenance, operator requirements and configuration management
- Rollout of "511", a nationwide traveler information phone number
- Suite of information on traffic analysis tools including a primer and guidelines for applying modeling software
- Freight profiles for each state
- Transportation emergency response/recovery workshops
ITE's efforts include documents, white papers, numerous conference sessions and other resources:
- On-line electronic library on key Management and Operations topics
- Informational Report on Signal Timing: State-of-the-Practice
- A series of White Papers by nationally recognized transportation experts on the management and operations of the U.S. transportation system.
- Twenty sessions between its Spring 2002 Technical Conference and 2002 Annual Meeting that specifically related to transportation operations. Each of these sessions had papers included in CD's distributed to the membership.
- Seminar at the August, 2003 Annual Meeting addressing Regional Transportation Operations, Collaboration and Coordination.
APTA is partnering with other associations and developed workshops such as:
- Workshops to assist transit operators understand their role in traffic management and operations.
TRB produced documents on a wide variety of topics including:
- Transportation Planning and Management for Special Events
- Using Customer Needs to Drive Transportation Decisions
- Performance Measures to Improve Transportation Systems and Agency Operations
- Proceedings: National Conference on Traffic Incident Management: A Road Map to the Future
- A Guide to Updating Highway Emergency Response Plans for Terrorist Incidents
Applications "on the ground" are a telling feature. Since 1999, the state of ITS deployment in major metropolitan areas has grown from 22 areas with "high" levels of integrated infrastructure and 27 "medium" to 27 "high" and 30 "medium". Further evidence of continued deployment is the growth in regional ITS architectures. Since 1999, the number of ITS regional architectures has grown. Today 97 regional architectures are ready for use and another 129 are under development. The use of ITS standards continues to advance and mature. The standards initiative has developed from a program focusing on creating standards to one with a significant emphasis on testing, training and technical assistance in the application of the standards. Since "511" was rolled out, implementation has grown dramatically. Today, 511 serves approximately 16% of the U.S. population in 18 jurisdictions with an expected reach of over 50% by 2005.
Where do we go from here? Technical and deployment progress will continue, but institutionalizing a culture that supports transportation system operations requires a fundamental change in thinking. This is a long-term effort and the implications are broad and deep. Before we are finished, we will challenge our long held notions about capital planning, funding, transportation professionals and transportation "projects". Embracing the vision for transportation operations will require transportation agencies to cultivate a more intense appreciation for customer service, grapple with growing funding needs for operations efforts that may not fit into the "project" mold, struggle to find staff with appropriate skills, and support 24/7 operations. None of this is easy and none will happen overnight. But the evolution is underway, and is accelerating.
For some time yet we can expect a sifting out of needs to reach a balance between adding capacity and improving day-to-day operations. These are not mutually exclusive but rather will come to coexist within the appropriate balance. The day will come when a critical mass of infrastructure, applications and agencies with clear operational missions will be present. At that time the benefits will be clear to all. We will wonder then how we ever questioned the value of "operations".
Reaching that future vision will require all members of the transportation community to work together. There is a continuing role for a "national dialogue" among key stakeholders. But the mission of that dialogue has shifted in response to the progress made within the transportation community. We are moving from dialogue to action -focusing our energies and intellectual capital on the activities needed to make operations "real" both institutionally and technically. Toward that end, FHWA recently kicked off the renewed version of the National Dialogue, the National Coalition for Advancing Transportation Operations. The change in name represents the call to "action" and the need for participation from the full transportation community. The steering committee for the Coalition- also focused on action - is comprised of associations, practitioners and private sector representatives. Those members reviewed the goal statements that were developed through the National Dialogue. Those goals statements are:
We will know we are successful when:
- Customer surveys indicate consistently increasing satisfaction with the performance of the transportation system
- The focus of decision makers and transportation agencies includes continuous performance based delivery of services in addition to implementation of individual projects
- Performance measures are in place that are understandable, measurable, and are used effectively in making decisions improving transportation systems performance
- Managing and operating the transportation system are integral parts of a funding and staffing continuum that also includes planning, design, construction and maintenance
All agreed that these goals are still relevant and worthy of pursuit; however, some near-term action items are needed to make more tangible progress in institutionalizing management and operations into the transportation industry. They developed a short list of immediate actions to advance transportation operations. These actions fall into four broad categories.
Making the Case through Data:
Communicating the message:
Organize to Operate:
Advance the State-of-the-Practice:
In a cooperative spirit, a variety of transportation associations will work together to complete these actions. It is yet another step forward toward achieving the vision of a well operated and managed transportation system. Make no mistake, significant progress has been made, and yet the journey is still just beginning.