Integrating Operations into Planning and Programming

Communicating TSMO

Analysis and Performance Measurement

Regional Collaboration and Coordination

Organizing for Operations

Mainstreaming TSMO

Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Plans

Congestion Management Process (CMP)

How Does TSMO Relate To ...

All Resources

Resource Type

Resources Helpful to...

Policy and Regulations

Performance-Based Planning

Designing for Operations

ITS Architecture and Systems Engineering

Livability and Sustainability

Traffic Signal Programs

Corridor Management

Active Transportation and Demand Management

Transportation Demand Management

Traffic Incident Management

Reliability

Asset Management for Operations

Variable message signs for the use of dynamic shoulder lanes showing shoulder lane closed.

State Departments of Transportation

State departments of transportation (DOT) are a key audience in nearly all of the U.S. DOT planning for operations materials because of their important role in planning at the State and metropolitan levels.

Below are two publications developed specifically to speak to the opportunities and challenges of State DOTs in planning for operations.

  • Statewide Opportunities for Integrating Operations, Safety and Multimodal Planning: A Reference Manual (HTML, PDF 1.8MB) - This publication is a reference manual designed to provide "how to" information to assist transportation professionals in taking actions to integrate these activities. It identifies and describes opportunities at various levels of decisionmaking - statewide, regional, corridor, and project - and the benefits of these approaches. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-10-028, May 2010).
  • Statewide Opportunities for Linking Planning and Operations – A Primer (HTML, PDF 6.4MB) - This primer is designed to raise awareness of the benefits and opportunities for coordinating planning and operations activities within State DOTs, targeted at mid-level DOT planning and operations staff. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-08-028, June 2008).

Developing a management and operations program and improving organizational capabilities at the State DOT is an important enabler of planning for operations at the State level. These resources focus on strengthening management and operations at the State DOT.

  • Creating an Effective Program to Advance Transportation System Management and Operations: Primer (HTML, PDF 3.1MB) - The purpose of this Primer is to raise awareness of the opportunities for improving the effectiveness of State and local Transportation System Management and Operations (TSMO) activities. The Primer provides high-level guidance focused on key program, process, and organizational capabilities that are essential to the development of more effective TSMO strategy applications. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-12-003, January 2012).
  • AASHTO Transportation Systems Management and Operations Guidance

The Advancing Metropolitan Planning for Operations desk reference provides the foundation for understanding and applying the objectives-driven, performance-based approach to planning for operations that can be applied at the State level. It includes operations objectives fact sheets to be applied at multiple planning levels.

  • Advancing Metropolitan Planning for Operations: The Building Blocks of a Model Transportation Plan Incorporating Operations - A Desk Reference (HTML, PDF 2.1MB) - This publication is a resource designed to enable transportation planners and their planning partners to build a transportation plan that includes operations objectives, performance measures, and strategies that are relevant to their region, that reflect the community's values and constraints, and that move the region in a direction of improved mobility and safety. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-10-027, April 2010).

The Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis Desk Reference and Applying Analysis Tools in Planning for Operations documents provide support for the systematic analysis and evaluation of M&O strategies as part of the transportation planning process.

  • Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis Desk Reference (HTML, PDF 4.16MB) - This Desk Reference is intended to meet the needs of a wide range of practitioners looking to conduct benefit/cost analysis of operations strategies. The guidance provided in the Desk Reference includes basic background information on benefit/cost analysis, including basic terminology and concepts and also describes some of the more complex analytical concepts and latest research in order to support more advanced analysts in conducting their analysis. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-12-028, May 2012).
    • FHWA Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis Desk Reference: Real-World Examples of Application of the Guidance (HTML, PDF 610KB) (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-13-006, November 2012).
    • FHWA Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis Desk Reference: Conducting Benefit/Cost Analysis of Strategies Impacting Non-Typical Traffic Conditions (HTML, PDF 244KB) (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-13-005, November 2012).
    • FHWA Operations Benefit/Cost Analysis Desk Reference: Providing Guidance to Practitioners in the Analysis of Benefits and Costs of Management and Operations Projects (HTML, PDF 1.1MB) (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-13-004, November 2012).
  • Applying Analysis Tools in Planning for Operations (Brochure) (HTML, PDF 1.6MB) - The intent of this brochure, and four accompanying case study brochures, is to help planners and operations professionals use existing transportation planning and operations analysis tools and methods in a more systematic way to better analyze, evaluate, and report the benefits of needed investments in transportation operations, in order to make the overall transportation system work better. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-10-001, September 2009).
    • Case Study #1 - Operations Strategy Impact Reference and Deployment Guidance (HTML, PDF 1.4MB) (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-10-002, September 2009).
    • Case Study #2 - Incorporating Highway Capacity Manual Procedures into Long-Range Transportation Planning (HTML, PDF 1.4MB) (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-10-003, September 2009).
    • Case Study #3 - Using Archived Data As a Tool for Operations Planning (HTML, PDF 2.8MB) (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-10-004, September 2009).
    • Case Study #4 - Application of Microsimulation in Combination with Travel Demand Models (HTML, PDF 1.6MB) (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-10-005, September 2009).

Publications that help State DOTs and other agencies to increase their level of planning for operations include:

  • Applying a Regional ITS Architecture to Support Planning for Operations: A Primer (HTML, PDF 8.7MB) - This primer offers transportation planners and operations managers a menu of opportunities for applying the regional ITS architecture to enhance planning for operations. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-12-001, February 2012).
  • Designing for Transportation Management and Operations: A Primer (HTML, PDF 2.2MB) - This primer is focused on the collaborative and systematic consideration of management and operations during transportation project design and development. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-13-013, February 2013).
  • Integrating Demand Management into the Transportation Planning Process: A Desk Reference (HTML, PDF 31MB) - The document has been developed to serve as a desk reference on integrating demand management into the transportation planning process. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-12-035, August 2012).
  • The Regional Concept for Transportation Operations: A Practitioner's Guide (HTML, PDF 2.4MB) - This practitioner’s guide is a collection of the observed successes and lessons learned from four metropolitan regions as they developed Regional Concepts for Transportation Operations. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-11-032, July 2011).
  • The Role of Transportation Systems Management & Operations in Supporting Livability and Sustainability: A Primer (HTML, PDF 5.7MB) - This primer describes the role of transportation systems management and operations (M&O) in advancing livability and sustainability. The document highlights the connections between M&O and livability and sustainability objectives and the importance of a balanced, comprehensive approach to M&O in order to support those objectives. (Publication Number: FHWA-HOP-12-004, January 2012).