| Note
From the Director
Making
the Case for Regional Transportation Operations Collaboration and Coordination
The Practice of Regional Transportation Operations Collaboration and Coordination:
Overview
Structure
Process
Products
Resources
Performance
Regional
Transportation Operations Collaboration and Coordination and the Regional ITS
Architecture Development Process
A
Self-Assessment—Where Are You in Regional Collaboration and Coordination?
Applications
of Regional Operations Collaboration and Coordination Planning for Transportation
Operations
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Resources: Linking Needs to Sources
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Regional operations
collaboration and coordination relies on activities and relationships that
can occur only if individuals and organizations commit appropriate funding,
staff, and possibly equipment. Implicit in this statement is the allocation,
and possible sharing, of resources that enables a region’s operators, service
providers, and other stakeholders to improve system performance. Operations
must be viewed as a resource priority to participating organizations. This
element of the framework governs the availability of resources for achieving
a regional vision, implementing an agreed-upon strategy, putting into practice
a regional concept of operations, and implementing operations plans on an
ongoing basis. Regardless of the organizational model that evolves, the
key to a sustained commitment of resources lies in ensuring that all participants
see the benefits of their contributions, both to the system and to their
own agency or interest group (see the Action Steps below).
Action
Steps for Regional Operations Collaboration and Coordination—Resources
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Ensure linkages to the overall regional transportation planning process for needed investment in operations. |
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Use available funds to support convening activity for operators and planners. |
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Ensure that everyone at the regional collaboration and coordination table perceives a return on investment of time and other resources. |
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Make resources sufficiently available and flexible to effectively fund regional planning for operations activities and initiatives. |
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Funding Sources
Regional collaboration depends on the availability and commitment of resources
to fund the concept of operations1 and other agreed-upon actions. Most funding
for operations will come from individual agency budgets. This may involve
agreements to share key resources (equipment and personnel) across jurisdictional
boundaries or among operators or service providers; agreements on acquisition
and procurement that ensure interoperability and standard protocols for
communications and data exchange; or potentially, the identification of
capital investments in operations-related infrastructure (networks, operations
centers, sensors) to be deployed on a regional basis or in conjunction with
other capital improvement projects. Funding for such projects requires that
operating agencies and service providers have a role in the region’s capital
planning process and that regional planners share an operating vision. The
allocation of capital resources to operations improvements must complement
or augment capital investments in expanded capacity.
Several examples
illustrate the range of approaches to funding regional operations collaboration
and coordination:
- AZTech, which began as part of a Metropolitan Model Deployment Initiative,
has emerged as a funded entity made up of 40 public and private organizations
that collaborate to coordinate regional operations activities. (For
more, click here.)
- The Baltimore Regional Operations Coordination (B-ROC) Project was
initiated by the Metropolitan Baltimore ITS Partnership to the Baltimore
Regional Transportation Board, the Baltimore region MPO. A regional
operations coordination committee, B-ROC was formed to enhance mutual
support and resource sharing between operating agencies. (For more,
click here.)
- Agreements between Maryland’s Coordinated Highways Action Response
Team (CHART) agencies provide the resources necessary to manage the
transportation system effectively. For instance, the Maryland State
Highway Administration (MdSHA) funds items necessary for the Maryland
State Police (MSP) in return for full-time MSP staff at the Statewide
Operations Center (SOC). CHART also has agreements with the media to
receive real-time views of traffic incidents and delays from traffic
helicopters owned by local stations in exchange for allowing stations
to patch into live closed-circuit television feeds from the SOC. (For
more, click here.)
Dedicated Staff
Effective collaboration and coordination among regions depends on the availability
of qualified staff and related resources to do the work needed to support
the regional collaboration and coordination effort. This will require purposeful
job descriptions that translate into full time equivalents (FTEs) dedicated
to collaborative activities. Interagency or interregional positions may
be needed to facilitate the collaboration among organizations or jurisdictions.
It is also necessary that those who work in these positions perceive a return
on investment of their time dedicated to coordination and collaboration.
Range of Resource Strategies
How regional collaborative processes are funded and staffed reflects a region’s
commitment to and vision for the effort. Typically, when a few individuals
or organizations see a need to solve a problem or improve performance (incident
management or emergency evacuation) or when agencies agree to work together
on a project of regional importance (ITS regional architecture or special
event planning), resources may then be applied in the form of in-kind contributions
from participating organizations or through program funds administered by
a single agency on behalf of all participants. As the collaborative activities
mature, participating entities (including both public and private sectors)
may choose to pool resources and eventually align with, or form, entities
that assume responsibility on behalf of participating agencies and jurisdictions.
These entities should also establish positions with authority, accountability,
and responsibility for coordinated operations. Table 4 illustrates the range
of resource strategies.
Table 4.
Range of resource strategies.
1See
the Products section for a more detailed discussion
of the regional concept of operations. |
