From the Chair and Managing Director of the NOCoE By Shalien Bhatt and Tom Kern
In conjunction with this year’s Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, the National Operations Center of Excellence is celebrating its first anniversary. This time last year the NOCoE was officially launched by its four partners: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) and the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Chaired by then Executive Director Don Hunt of the Colorado Department of Transportation, the partners gathered at TRB with a simple idea in mind:
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To improve surface transportation system reliability by lending exceptional support services to TSM&O practitioners
Led by its first Director Dennis Motiani until this past October, a transportation systems management and operations expert with more than 25 years of experience in the field, the NOCoE reached out to the TSM&O community to increase awareness about the Center and to identify and provide services that practitioners asked for to improve surface transportation system reliability. These services have included a one-stop shop knowledge center on the NOCoE website (transportationops.org), a range of ongoing webinars in collaboration with our partner organizations, and multiple face to face peer exchanges located around the country.
As Year 2 of the Center unfolds, we want to build on these initial efforts to do more to support your TSM&O mission and practices. Come by and see us on the TRB Exhibit Floor or join us as we participate in a number of TRB operations-related committees to identify how the Center can support the practitioner community. Or simply call (202-624-5478) or email me (tkern@transportationops.org) to let me know what is on your mind.
Happy Anniversary NOCoE!
Shalien Bhatt Thomas E. Kern
Chair, NOCoE Managing Director
Executive Director
Colorado Department of Transportation