Abstract Manager

Traffic Management Centers (TMCs) are growing in numbers across North America.  The investment in managing the existing facilities, both freeway and arterial, are taking a priority as funding shifts from managing capacity through construction.  But what does it take to achieve an optimally performing TMC, one that can impact mobility, safety, and traveler information in both quantitative and qualitative perspectives?

TMCs are operations designed to respond to a multitude of event types on its transportation network purview.  However, without a meticulously defined concept of operations (COO) its value can waver in respect to its stakeholder reliability.  As a result, many operations have focused their COO on what is called the Five Pillars of TMC Operations. 

Defining the pillars, their operational value, and potential shortcomings without their incorporation into the TMC will be the focus of this presentation.

Pillar 1:  Staffing.  What is the optimal staffing size, composition of skills, and recruitment/retention strategy for a TMC?  Probably the most important pillar, designing the right staffing formula for the transportation network being overseen by the TMC is ultimately going to determine the effective delivery of services.  We will explore theories and case studies associated with establishing a formidable staff composition that can operate within a defined budget.

Pillar 2:  Training.  Employees learn differently based on what motivates them, their understanding of technology, and their incoming experience level in transportation.  Designing a training program that can be facilitated to a classroom or one person, engaging all student learning preferences, and in a format that continues throughout the career of the employee via recurrent training will be discussed under this pillar. 

Pillar 3:  Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).  The backbone of every effective TMC operation is the consistent delivery of services, reinforcing the principles of quality, and a thorough event response.  SOPs serve as the foundation of the training program and tend to be fluid in their content as technology matures, stakeholder agreements change, and new ITS infrastructure is introduced.  This topic will focus on how to establish and maintain valuable SOPs.

Pillar 4:   Performance Measures.  The modern TMC is a clearinghouse of information from multiple sources.  The ability to capture these data streams and produce operations, mobility, and special reports is a significant value to not only the host agency but also its stakeholders (e.g., law enforcement, transit operators, municipal traffic/safety engineers, etc.).  Data analytics is playing a more significant role in TMC operations as Advances Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), crowd sourcing entities (e.g., Waze), and advanced traffic mitigation technologies (e.g., wrong way vehicle detection) become more prevalent in TMCs.  This topic will cover the types of reporting and their stakeholder intrinsic value.

Pillar 5:  Quality Control (QC).  Tracking the performance of the staff and the TMCs outputs are a routine task, but how do managers implement corrective actions in response to QC findings?  This pillar will focus on the types of QC methods being deployed in TMCs today and how operations are fine tuning their staff through positive reinforcement training.