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From the Managing Director
By Tom Kern

I would like to devote some space in this month’s newsletter to briefly discuss an area of TSMO that, historically, has not received the attention it deserves: infrastructure management. Compared to other areas of transportation infrastructure, such as pavements and bridges, TSMO-related assets frequenty do not command an appropriate level of expenditure for proper maintenance and repair, relative to magnitude of benefits that such activities can provide. This has created an opportunity for TSMO practitioners to educate legislative authorities, and the public, on the value provided by proper TSMO infrastructure management. Consider, for example, the maintenance of traffic signals. According to the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI)’s Urban Mobility Report, approximately 295 million vehicle-hours of delay are annually attributable to these mainstays of urban and suburban intersections. Please click here to read more. 

TSM&O Workforce Development Webinar

Please join us April 11, 2016 from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EST. This webinar will be a lead-up event to NOCoE's first National Summit on Workforce Development, and will review current TSM&O workforce development training opportunities. Click here for more and information and click here to register. 

AASHTO Webinar on State DOT Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems

Please join AASHTO on April 6, 2016 at 2:00-3:30 p.m. EST. This webinar presentation will include a discussion on the safety and regulatory concerns and the need for state DOTs to have language regarding policy, procedure and guidance for the use of UAVs.  Also, the impact the technology could have on worker safety, traffic mobility, efficiency of data collection and eliminating/minimizing infrastructure legacy liability. It is intended for professionals interested in taking advantage of the new aircraft and sensor technologies offering alternatives to what was once a difficult and costly. Please click here for more information and here to register.  

FAST Act ATCMTD and STSFA Grant Availability

On March 22nd, FHWA released solicitations for proposals on the FAST Act Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (Section 6004) and Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (Section 6020) grant programs. The press release can be found here. The Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program is intended to provide funding for eligible entities to develop model deployments of large scale implementation and operation of a diverse set of advanced transportation technologies in various geographic regions. For more information, please click here. 

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.