Designing for Transportation Management and Operations: A Primer

Overview

This primer is focused on designing for operations; i.e., the collaborative and systematic consideration of TSM&O during transportation project design and development. Effectively designing for operations involves the development and application of design policies, procedures, and strategies that support transportation management and operations.

Successful integration of TSM&O considerations into the design process means that:
 

• Roadway and transit system infrastructure is designed to facilitate the needs of day-to-day system management and operations and meet transportation system performance targets for efficiency, reliability, travel options, and safety.
• ITS deployments are designed using systems engineering, and existing and future operational uses of ITS are incorporated into transportation facility design.   
• Operational strategies are considered as credible alternatives to infrastructure expansion during project design.
• The relatively low-cost, high-impact, and flexible nature (i.e., scalable to changing demands) of TSM&O strategies makes them attractive deployment options.

Advantages of incorporating operations into traditional design processes include:
 

• Increasing the benefits derived from a given infrastructure investment.
• Designing a safer facility for users, emergency responders, maintenance staff, and other operators.
• Designing for future work zones so that road users experience less interruption.
• Reducing the costs for future operational and ITS deployments.
• Reducing congestion and improving travel time reliability.

The primer specifically addresses policies and procedures associated with designing for operations, a toolbox of specific design considerations to support TSM&O strategies, and examples of effective strategies in practice.