Message from the Managing Director

In the previous two issues of our newsletter, I shared some background on the workforce development challenges facing the TSM&O community, including the needed staff competencies and related education and training as captured in the first two of three White Papers that have been prepared for the June NOCoE Workforce Development Summit. 

The third White paper looks more closely at TSM&O workforce recruitment, retention, and professional career development and is supported by the results of an informal survey that was conducted in May of the AASHTO TSM&O Subcommittee members and Operations Academy graduates regarding TSM&O recruitment and retention. The responding agencies (34) indicated that the highest-ranked issue in workforce development overall were lack of existing training vs. emerging needs and the lack of a clear career path development for TSMO.  Other key findings included:​​​​

• Most agencies have retained a level staffing or increased slightly, perhaps reflecting continuing overall state DOT staffing restrictions. 
• While about one-half of new hires are CEs, the trends suggest some movement away from a dominant CE focus.
• Most states appear to be having some difficulty filling key technical positions –especially in systems engineering, IT and ITS device maintenance –and approximately half were significantly dependent on consultants.
• About one-half of responses indicated that new hires were generally knowledgeable in one or more specific TSMO topic areas (e.g., traffic signals) with the other half with little knowledge.  None indicated that their new hires were TSM&O savvy. 
• Difficulties in recruitment related to salary competition and/or lack of required skills/certifications.

These survey results and additional research focused on recruitment, retention, and career development will provide the basis for attendees at the Center’s Workforce Development Summit to identify a strategic direction for the TSM&O community to address its workforce challenges and opportunities. Here is the link to all three White Papers. Stay tuned for future issues of the newsletter to highlight the Summit outcomes and next steps.

Webinar: AASHTO STSMO/SCOHT/TRB RTSMO Annual Meeting Preview

Please join this webinar, Thursday, July 8th, 1:00- 2:30 p.m., EDT.

This webinar will accomplish three goals:

1. Attendees will be briefed on AASHTO Subcommittee on Transportation Systems Management and Operations (STSMO), AASHTO Subcommittee on Highway Transport (SCOHT), and Transportation Research Board Regional Transportation Systems Management and Operations (RSTMO) activities over the past year.

2. Those who attend will also be presented with a preview of the upcoming joint STSMO-SCOHT-RTSMO Annual Meeting in Denver, with an emphasis on the breakout sessions; and

3. Attendees will provide feedback on the breakout sessions they plan to attend (for venue planning purposes).

To find out more, please click here. To register, please click here. 

New Connected Vehicle Data Environements Now Available in the Research Data Exchange

The Research Data Exchange (RDE) now houses three new connected vehicle data environments from the U.S. Department of Transportation Dynamic Mobility Application program. 

The RDE is a web-based data resource provided by the USDOT's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) program. It collects, manages, and provides access to archived and real-time multi-source and multi-modal data to support the development and testing of ITS applications. The following additional data environments are now available in the RDE. Please click here to read more.

Reminder: TRB 2017 TRB Annual Meeting: Papers Due August 1, 2016

TRB is accepting papers for consideration as part of the program for the 96th TRB Annual Meeting, January 8–12, 2017, in Washington, D.C., and for publication in the Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (TRR). All papers—whether for presentation at the 2016 TRB Annual Meeting or publication in the TRR—must be submitted in PDF format directly to TRB’s paper submission website by August 1, 2016.

The spotlight theme for the 2017 TRB Annual Meeting is Transportation Innovation: Leading the Way in an Era of Rapid Change. TRB’s standing committees have issued general calls for papers on a variety of topics that would be appropriate for the Annual Meeting. Please click here to read more. 

Register with NOCoE and Join the Discussion Forums!

We hope you find the NOCoE (http://www.transportationops.org/) a place where you can share information as well as receive it – we encourage you to register and share in our discussion forum your latest work plan, specific challenge you are facing with an operations practice or new technology, or techniques you’ve used to empower your staff. This is your transportation operations resource and we are interested in your feedback to continually improve our portfolio of services. Please feel free to contact the Center with your suggestions, either through the website or at TKERN@transportationops.org.