Well-attended by the six New England states and a number of partnering associations, NOCoE’s October 27-28 Peer Exchange held in Boston and the third since its inception, covered a wide range of TSM&O matters.  The NOCoE expresses its appreciation to the I-95 Corridor Coalition for its partnership at the two-day event.

The following is a brief encapsulation of the opening remarks from Stephanie Pollack and the initial dialogue among the six states on their respective TSM&O practices.  The two day conversation also responded to questions such as “Is there a need to change? How is coordination handled? What are the biggest challenges faced in traffic operations? Emergency operations? Security operations? Incident management?  Traveler information?”  Also discussed in some detail were the state perspectives on weather management.  The abbreviated notes in this blog summarizing the initial dialogue are meant to serve as the basis for the six New England states to weigh in and build on the overview, both to clarify and/or correct the summary and to take the conversation deeper.  The following is a quick overview of TSM&O operations in the six states. Please comment/share your thoughts on this blog; exchanges from our TSM&O community wil help us to better understand and learn from each other’s experiences.

Stephanie Pollack, Secretary, Mass DOT kicked off the peer exchange with remarks emphasizing that the Mass DOT couldn’t have gotten through this past year’s snowstorms without the help from their neighboring states. Last winter they were able to help cities and towns by going beyond what they were legally required to do. MassDOT was able to plow a centrally located airport via heavy equipment received from peer agencies. The agency also created an incident management request system that works in real time while also receiving help from National Guard and minimum security prisoners.

Preparing for storms ahead of time and having training, procedures and plans can make a huge difference. For example, it’s important to know what to do when there is so much snow it can no longer be pushed to the side.

In traditional state DOTs and highway departments, the folks who do the traditional highway work are seen as the face of the highway department. That is 20^th century thinking. Operations is where the future of transportation is. We don’t have the funding to keep building. The way we address congestion and give people better travel in the future, is TSMO and real time traveler information and traffic incident management. These are the primary tools to give people a better commutes and a better start to their day. Having a NOCoE and peer reviews focused on operations is the leading edge of what we do. The more we help each other get better at this, the better we will be able to serve the people and the drivers of our states.

Tom Tinlin, Administrator of Highway Divisions, Mass DOT reminded everyone that customers don’t care when they cross state borders, hence the importance of the regional partnership.

DOT Organizational Structures and TSM&O

Each of the New England states discussed their DOT organizational structures in the context of TSM&O. 

Rhode Island

Rhode Island is looking to create a formal TSM&O standalone entity. This is still in process – there are looking for re-organize and incorporate all of their traffic operations into this operational bureau. It looks like they are trying to develop a standalone unit within their Highway and Maintenance Divisional unit. Rhode Island looks to have 4 divisions – so TSM&O would be a standalone that would fall under the Highway and Maintenance Division. This would be similar to the New Hampshire structure except that they are incorporating all of their traffic (Signals, Data Research Functionality in it).

Vermont

Vermont underwent a massive reorganization last year. In January TSM&O was recognized as a section as part of the maintenance and ops bureau under technical services. TSM&O is organized in three groups: traffic operations, ITS, and traffic research. Those three were joined together and turned in VTRANS TSM&O.

Traffic operations assigns lane signals and handles a number of work zone matters . ITS is where traffic operations center is housed, as well as RWIS, changeable message boards, ITS platforms, fiber optics, and interconnectivity. Traffic research does data collection and traffic counting and is using the data and traffic numbers to get important information out to the districts.   The challenge for Vermont will be to fully staff TSM&O to address the range of services to be provided.

Connecticut

Connecticut doesn’t use the term “TSMO;” and instead applies the term “highway operations.” Highway Operations has all ITS and signal operations.  Each district has a maintenance manager and a construction manager and is well coordinated.

Connect developed software called crescent that manages all incidents (weather, constructions, accidents, maintenance). It is self-contained—all variable message signs, etc. This goes out automatically. It has been around since 2001. They made a number of enhancements since then. The two operations centers are connected by a fiber optic operations system. Each operations center can take control of everything and so from a risk management standpoint, they are in good shape.

Maine

Within the state of Maine, the TSM&O function resides with the maintenance and operations unit of the DOT.  Given that Maine is rural state with a small population, its small DOT workforce takes on multiple functions to address as needed.  When a significant event occurs, the DOT allocates more people.

Maine has organizational boundary challenges given the roles and functions of the Maine Turnpike Authority, DOT and Southern Maine Planning.

One of the biggest challenges in Maine is that the I-95 from the southern point to the capitol is under the Turnpike. Coordinating efforts is important. Maine has taken a perspective from a DOT side of asking the MPO to facilitate operations in the area of TIM.

Massachusetts

Mass DOT has a collaborative TSM&O, but does not formally use this term. The chief of operations and maintenance oversees ITS, HOC and Maintenance subunits all of which have TSM&O implications.   As Mass DOT expands TSM&O, it would like to see the operations center fully integrated.  Currently, even though there is not a combined, the units have good cross coordination. When there is a policy decision, they work together to elevate the issue. When it comes to data collection, the FHWA requirements are supported.  An important change in recent years has been the merger of the Turnpike Authority with the DOT, leading to its own understandable challenges in integrating services and culture.