Role
Operations Lead
Defined
The Operations Lead for the State DOT. This role is typically played by a Deputy Director with responsibility for traffic engineering, operations, and maintenance, or the Chief Engineer.
Challenges and Opportunities
In your role, what are the most critical challenges and opportunities? Looking across the agency, what capabilities are required to successfully take them on? How can you help build the necessary capabilities? The first step is to understand these challenges and opportunities in terms of the major change forces that are driving them.
| Change Forces | Challenge/Opportunity | Your Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Shift in Role and Focus | Maintenance and operations are increasingly important and visible agency functions. | Operations Focus. Strengthen the system operations function of the agency to make best use of available capacity. Attracting and Retaining. Build a team with the skills and background needed for Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) strategy planning and implementation. |
| Public Expectations | The traveling public expects reliable travel and seamless connections across modes. Public expectations are growing for real time information about the status of the system. | Operations Focus. Implement programs targeting improvements to travel reliability (e.g. incident management), and work with partner agencies to enhance intermodal transfers. Transparency. Partner with other agencies and with private sector data providers to make real time information available to the public. |
| Technology Advancement | A wide array of transportation technologies, including those related to connected and autonomous vehicles offer opportunities for improvements to safety and operational efficiency. | Technology Adoption. Monitor early adoption efforts and proactively develop a strategy for taking advantage of new technologies. Aligning Skills to Needs. Assess and fill gaps in workforce skills to implement currently available operations technologies. |
Strategies and Resources
What strategies can you apply now to meet today’s challenges and prepare for future opportunities? What resources are available to help support these efforts?
Where to Begin
- Identify high impact operations strategies for implementation
- Track emerging technologies that could enhance efficiency or effectiveness of transportation systems operations
- Create a committee to discuss the implications of advancing operations technologies and identify a future implementation strategy for the agency
- Work with the HR lead to fill current gaps in skills needed for effective system operations management
- Pursue partnerships with other agencies to enhance mobility and safety
Strategies
Information and Data Management
- IT Strategic Planning – to plan for adoption and use of new operations technologies and real time data streams.
- Services – to support sharing and integration of real time system information with partners and travelers
- Change Management - to help the agency integrate system management and operations strategies into planning, programming and project development processes.
- Recruitment and Retention – to attract employees with skills needed for operations.
- Professional Development – to build skillsets of existing staff.
- Social and learning communities – to provide a forum for exchange of information about operations strategies and technologies.
- Public/private partnerships – to implement coordinated operations strategies
Resources
- WSDOT Cooperative Automated Transportation Policy
https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/travel/automated-connected/home - FHWA Organizing and Planning for Operations website
https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/plan4ops/focus_areas/integrating/transportation_sys.htm - USDOT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office website
https://www.its.dot.gov/index.htm - AASHTO TSMO Guidance
http://www.aashtotsmoguidance.org/ - National Operations Center of Excellence
https://www.transportationops.org/ - NCHRP 20-102(09), Report 896: Updating Regional Transportation Planning and Modeling Tools to Address Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles, Volume 1
TRB's NCHRP Research Report 896: Updating Regional Transportation Planning and Modeling Tools to Address Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles, Volume 1: Executive Summary summarizes guidelines to help agencies update their modeling and forecasting tools to address expected impacts of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) on transportation supply, road capacity, and travel demand components.
http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4008 - NCHRP Report 693 Attracting, Recruiting, and Retaining Skilled Staff for Transportation System Operations and Management (2012)
TRB’s NCHRP Project 20-86, Report 693: Attracting, Recruiting, and Retaining Skilled Staff for Transportation System Operations and Management, provides guidance to aid transportation agencies recruit and retain qualified professional staff in the systems operation and management (SOM) area. The report explores SOM career paths, skill requirements, and training needs and identifies successful programs, state-of-the-art initiatives, and best industry practices. A set of tables showing SOM job categories, number of positions, and educational requirements for all 50 states was published as a additional to this report.
http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/166342.aspx