The National Operations Center of Excellence has been featured in FHWA's Public Roads magazine.

Writers Grant Zammit and Ben Irwin's Smooth Operators  article reports on AASHTO and its partners and the recently launched National Operations Center of Excellence. It tells the story of the Center and how it is here to help transportation agencies establish systems management and operations as a discipline.

-----

Even transportation professionals find themselves stuck in traffic at times. If you are among those who have been caught in highway congestion, you are not alone in your frustration. U.S. drivers know that feeling all too well. According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute’s 2012 Urban Mobility Report, roadway congestion cost the United States $121 billion in delays and fuel in 2011 and gobbled up 5.5 billion hours of travelers’ time.

In today’s reality, funding and space constraints mean that State and local transportation agencies cannot simply construct new roads to address traffic congestion. Instead, transportation professionals are looking to improve the operations of existing highway networks to optimize capacity and improve reliable travel. Improving operations involves using new approaches and tools. Although the transportation community has quickly adopted strategies such as the coordination of traffic signals, management of work zones, electronic tolling, and traveler information systems, few departments of transportation have fully integrated these practices into their overall frameworks for transportation system management and operations (TSM&O).

Please click the article link to read more.