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TRANSPORTATION PREFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FOR SYSTEM OPERATIONS: DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESSES, TOOLS, MEASURES AND TARGETS. By. Georgia Tech ...
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1. Report No. FHWA-GA-21-1925 2. Government Accession No. N/A **3. Recipient’s Catalog No.
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MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st^ Century) and FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) legislation formally introduced a performance-based approach to decision making on the nation’s surface transportation system, adopting seven national performance goals. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines Transportation Performance Management (TPM) as a strategic approach that uses system information to make investment and policy decisions to achieve national performance goals. The FHWA released rules establishing TPM measures in June 2017. All states, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and public transportation agencies must develop plans to document strategies and investments to address performance needs, incorporate these into the transportation planning and decision-making process, establish and report on targets for each measure, and make significant progress toward achieving these targets.
This report presents key findings of a project sponsored by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to accomplish the following: (1) identify best practices for transportation system management and operations (TSMO) in the U.S; (2) assess where GDOT stands using the TSMO capability maturity model (CMM); (3) develop recommendations to move the agency to the next level of TSMO; (4) develop a tool for calculating transportation system performance measures (PM3) for MAP-21 reporting, and, (5) implement the PM3 Analysis and Reporting Tool (i.e., PM3 Tool, for short) in the GDOT environment. The report presents TSMO effective practices at the strategic, programmatic and tactical levels, outlines the results of a survey conducted to characterize the status of TSMO at GDOT, and, offers recommendations to move GDOT to the next level using the TSMO CMM. The report also presents key elements for the development of the PM3 Tool and provides a manual for operating the tool and generating
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The research project team would like to acknowledge the following Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) staff for the responsive support and inputs they provided to ensure effective completion of the research and implementation of the PM3 tool in the GDOT environment. Our appreciation goes to the following individuals at the Office of Planning: Mr. Habte Kassa and Ms. Sarah Lamothe, the project’s Technical Implementation Managers; and Ms. Trang Mai – former Project Manager. We are also thankful to the support from the Office of Performance-based Management and Research, particularly to Mr. Brennan Roney, the Project Manager, and to Mr. Binh Bui, the former Research Implementation Manager. The authors remain exclusively responsible for the contents of this report.
The objectives of the project are to:
(1) Identify effective practices, including business processes, institutional arrangement, and TSMO strategies for transportation performance management at the agency; (2) Determine the current status (i.e., existing) and establish the desired status (i.e., next level) of GDOT on the Operations Performance Management Capability Maturity Model (OPMCMM) ( Figure 1 ); (3) Develop an analytic tool for calculating transportation system performance metrics and targets using the NPMRDS and other data sets, and, (4) Implement the tools within the OPMCMM framework for GDOT for TSMO.
Figure 1: Operations Performance Management Capability Maturity Model (FHWA 2017a) 4
includes measures definition, data acquisition, analysis and utilization – the main focus of this study. Culture includes technical understanding, leadership, policy commitment, outreach, and program authority. Organization and Workforce includes organizational structure, staff capacity, development, and retention. And, collaboration includes relationships with public safety agencies, local governments, MPOs, and the private sectors.
TSMO Effective Practices A total of 31 effective practices, distributed across over 20 states, were identified and characterized first by TSMO critical planning elements and then by the dimensions of a successful TSMO plan. Appendix A: Effective TSMO Practices presents the range of effective practices identified. The review results reflect the importance of pursuing an integrated approach to TSMO planning: one that includes well-aligned strategic, programmatic, and tactical elements, for superior outcomes.
This section of the report characterizes key features of the existing decision-making process for transportation system operation and management (TSMO) at GDOT and makes recommendations for enhanced next-level decision-making processes.
To characterize the status of TSMO at GDOT, a survey was developed aimed at characterizing the status of GDOT’s performance management, business processes, as well as system and technology practices. We applied the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) TSMO guidance to improve the effectiveness of TSMO programs. This is a web-based self-assessment guidance designed for transportation agency managers responsible for operating and managing the roadway system (AASHTO n.d.). The guidance is based on the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) approach developed for the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2 Project L06), by a team led by Parsons- Brinkerhoff working closely with the AASHTO Subcommittee on TSMO (Transportation Research Board and National Academies of Sciences 2011). The survey questions are included in the Appendix B: TSMO Survey Instrument. The results of the survey were used to determine the maturity levels based on the CMM approach.
The AASHTO guidance recommends the survey be completed by the following positions (AASHTO n.d.):
documentation), and Level 4 in Performance Measures (including measures definition, data acquisition, analysis, and utilization). Table 5 summarizes the median values and ranges reported for CMM levels under Business Processes, System and Technology and Performance Management in the 2018 survey.
Table 1: Summary of Survey Results CMM Area Business Processes
System and Technology
Performance Management CMM Levels: Median (Range) 3 (2-4) 3 (1-4) 4 (2-4) Explanation of Maturity Levels
The results of a GDOT self-assessment in a 2013 workshop (Appendix B: TSMO Survey Instrument ) indicate the agency was at Level 2 in Business Processes, Level 3 in System and Technology, and Level 3 in Performance Management.
Follow up information obtained from the Office of Traffic Operations through the Office of Planning indicates that a TSMO Plan is currently under development by the Atlanta Regional Commission. While there is an MPO-directed TSMO plan under development, there is at this time no state TSMO Plan. However, there is an informal and internal living Intelligent 9
Transportation System (ITS) document, largely used for tactical decision making by the Office of Traffic Operations. It is a continuously evolving document.^1 Budgeting for ITS projects is conducted through the Office of Traffic Operations.
TSMO Decision-Making Map- Current The TSMO Decision-Making (DM) map shown in Figure 2 was developed based on the survey results and a review of the ITS Document. It reflects a tactical and evolving TSMO approach being led out the Office of Traffic Operations and involving multiple GDOT offices: the Office of Traffic Operations conducts ITS pilot studies and pilot projects on an annual basis in conjunction with the Office of Performance-based Management and Research, the Office of Planning, and the Office of Transportation Data. Budgeting responsibility for TSMO lies within the Office of Traffic Operations, and public input is included on ITS actionable information on an annual basis to prioritize ITS projects. The Office of Traffic Operations and the Office of Planning conduct data monitoring to identify travel hotspots, discover high accident areas, detect congestion hotspots and map trends of travel during incidents/construction as a basis for identifying appropriate ITS solutions. The current Decision-Making Map reflects strong tactical elements in the existing TSMO process, with opportunities to build on the existing processes by augmenting formal strategic and programmatic elements of TSMO within the agency.
(^1) The Living ITS document is an internal GDOT document managed by the Office of Traffic Operations. 10
Next-Level TSMO Recommendations/Map TSMO focuses on actively managing the multimodal transportation network to deliver positive safety and mobility outcomes. The United States Department of Transportation’s Office of Operations in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed the FHWA Primer for Program Planning. The purpose of the primer is to help State DOTs, MPOs, and regional operations organizations understand the rationale for and key elements of successful TSMO program planning. It is intended to help agencies understand (1) Why TSMO planning is important and how it can benefit a transportation agency or region; (2) What are the key elements of TSMO program planning and what steps or activities should be taken; and, (3) What an effective TSMO program plan looks like. It points out a shift from the traditional transportation agency functions - focused on capital project planning, design, construction, and maintenance with limited resources applied to managing and operating transportation systems - to TSMO as part of the core mission of Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). The Primer notes that this need arises because roadway capacity is largely built out in urban areas and transportation funding is in limited supply. It also notes that in order to be effective, TSMO should be recognized and structured as a core function of a transportation agency – more than simply a strategy or ad hoc set of activities, it must be a pervasive and cohesive program across the agency. Importantly, the Primer acknowledges there is no single approach to TSMO program planning nor is a TSMO Program Plan appropriate for every organization (FHWA 2017b).
TSMO Program Planning involves strategic , programmatic , and tactical elements. It involves the organizational business process and discipline of regular assessing, enhancing and documenting:
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The process of TSMO program planning identifies the strategic, programmatic, and tactical elements needed to advance TSMO as a critical part of the agency’s mission. A TSMO Program Plan is the documented outcome of this process (FHWA 2017b).
Based on the current TSMO Decision-Making Map ( Figure 2 ) and the review and assessment of TSMO programs in the literature (Amekudzi-Kennedy et al. 2019), we propose the following five recommendations for next steps in strengthening the strategic and planning elements of the agency’s TSMO Program, with the attendant benefits:
