What’s New At NOCoE
IN THIS REPORT YOU WILL LEARN:
NOCoE's plans to advance the TSMO workforce.
How NOCoE peer exchanges, webinars, & case studies accelerate the deployment of TSMO practices.
About four TSMO projects chosen as 2022 award winners.
The National Operations Center of Excellence has workforce development as a key strategic goal and has worked towards this effort since 2016. NOCoE has held two summit’s on the topic:
- 2016 Summit which resulted in the development of the TSMO Workforce Guidebook and NOCoE Workforce Portal
- 2021 Summit which resulted in increased efforts to gather best practices around strengthening pipelines and career development and called for an exploration into the connection between academia and TSMO
Additionally, NOCOE held a workforce development peer exchange in 2022 which allowed human resources and TSMO practitioners to share their challenges and successes in advancing the workforce.
Ongoing Work
- NOCoE will continue to collect and share resources focused on advancing the TSMO workforce, including to the continued expansion of the NOCoE Workforce Resource portal and the incorporation of workforce topics into all our technical services.
- NOCoE has also developed a series of case studies and white papers on urgent topics identified during the summits and peer exchange. Below you can find those released and upcoming.
- NOCoE will also focus in on identifying TSMO as a career of choice, including with the new TSMO Moment video series coming in 2023 which will capture the career paths and insights from leaders in the field of TSMO.
Workforce Resources
TSMO Workforce Development Portal
This series of webpages captures the growing number of resources available across the industry, from U.S. DOT and the National Network for the Transportation Workforce to formalized training programs. Additionally, there are number of resources to help TSMO agencies take a broader approach in organizing and developing their TSMO personnel.
Model TSMO Position Descriptions
The research team from the NCHRP Project on TSMO Workforce developed a series of 19 model position descriptions for professional level TSMO-related positions to assist practitioners in recruiting qualified personnel. Several agencies have faced challenges redefining or creating position descriptions for a contemporary TSMO workforce. The scope of the work was limited to positions that require a 4-year college degree and above. There are future opportunities to apply similar methods for assessing needs for other, para-professional positions such as TMC Operators, electrical technicians, and freeway service patrol drivers.
Assessing Pipeline Trends for Target Groups - Military
As the transportation workforce continues to face challenges, in particular with respect to recruitment of TSMO professionals, it is important to examine a diverse range of sources with potential to strengthen the TSMO workforce pipeline. This white paper examines characteristics of military service members, occupational groups, and recruitment and retention practices that provide the greatest opportunity to strengthen the TSMO pipeline.
Attracting Non-Traditional Workers Into the TSMO Workforce
During the 2nd TSMO Workforce Summit, there was interest in exploring how to tap into non-traditional workers to broaden the pool of potential employees. Non-traditional workers are people who may not meet traditional education and experience job requirements education and experience. This White Paper highlights the range of potential non-traditional workers that can be targeted to support TSMO as a short-term job, or even a long-term career.
Workforce Trends and Practices Applicable to TSMO
This memo provides a deeper look at current trends in the workforce and the industries discussed in the workshop white paper that show potential as good models for addressing TSMO workforce needs. Current trends in worker availability, knowledge, skills, and abilities, and shifting employee expectations are changing the way employers need to think about how they structure work, and how they recruit and retain employees.
Defining the TSMO Pipeline
A key challenge in building a robust TSMO workforce is the lack of clearly defined pipeline for recruiting workers. To address limited candidate pools, a more comprehensive approach to raising awareness of TSMO opportunities and recruiting qualified workers that creates new rather than just draws from existing pipelines is needed. This case study addresses best practices for developing the TSMO workforce pipeline.
Developing the Paraprofessional TSMO Workforce
With new technology and data strategies being implemented, new skills across the entire employments spectrum are required. This case study reaffirms the definition of paraprofessionals, highlights ongoing TSMO-related work by other organizations, draws a comparison between the public and private sector TSMO paraprofessional workforce, and attempts to define the current size and forecast future demand.
Best Practices in Workforce Development from Similar Industries
Workforce recruitment and retention challenges exist in TSMO, as they do in many other industries. This case study looks at what can be learned from similar industries to inform practices within TSMO. It also looks at opportunities to enhance inclusivity and diversity in the workforce through recruitment and retention practices.
More Workforce Papers are coming soon!
Example Apprenticeship, Co-Op, and Training Programs to Inform Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Recruitment Activities
Attracting and Retaining Younger Workers in Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO)
Potential Federal Funding Sources for Advancing Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Workforce Development Activities
Innovative Practices in Transportation Organizations to Support Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Workforce Development
Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Training Best Practices
Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Workforce Pipeline - Expanding Opportunities
The National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the U.S. DOT ITS JPO's Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program are hosting a competition for students to work directly with public agencies to solve real-world transportation problems utilizing ITS and TSMO solutions.
This will be the competition's sixth year. The 2018 - 2022 tournaments featured extremely competitive teams with innovative solutions.
Student teams will assemble to work with a State or local DOT, MPO, or transit agency to define a transportation problem. After submitting an initial contest application identifying the team and the problem, students will work with academic advisors to learn about potential ITS and TSMO solutions via online training programs outlined below. Teams will then utilize their experience, education, and new coursework to develop a solution or suite of solutions to directly address the originally defined problem. Students will submit their solutions via a proposal. Finalist teams will develop a presentation and then participate in a live event at the ITE Annual Meeting in Portland, OR from August 13 - August 16, 2023. Teams will give a presentation in front of a panel of judges made up of leaders in the ITS and TSMO community. One team will then be selected as the 2023 Transportation Technology Tournament Winner.
For more information and to learn about previous teams and their projects, visit our Transportation Technology Tournament portal.
2022 TTT Finalists
Florida International University
Using Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Strategy to Mitigate Congestion Along I-95 (with Florida DOT)
University of Michigan
Corktown Last-mile Transit Challenge (Michigan DOT)
2022 Winner: Florida International University
2022 Teams With Judges
Impact on Our Industry
The Transportation Technology Tournament introduces future TSMO leaders to the challenges of solving real-world transportation problems by teaching them teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills. But also, the solutions these teams develop influence agencies in how they think about applying TSMO strategies to solve their transportation system needs.
Webinars on Emerging TSMO Practices
NOCoE held 40 webinars in 2022, continuing to maintain a busy monthly webinar schedule to accommodate the increased demand for online training and knowledge transfer needs. NOCoE webinars are often developed by key partners, such as the Federal Highway Administration, and are conducted by industry leaders and NOCoE staff. Webinar series, such as Talking TIM and Adventures in Crowdsourcing, have delivered high quality TSMO knowledge every month.
Webinars recordings are made available for free and serve as trainings and workforce development for many organizations.
All NOCoE webinars are free, and recordings are available on the NOCoE website and NOCoE YouTube Channel.
Talking TIM: March 2023
The Talking TIM webinar series, brought to you by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Operations, provides a forum where TIM champions with any level of experience can exchange information about current practices, programs, and technologies.
Crowdsourced Data to Advance Transportation Operations
The Adventures in Crowdsourcing webinar series presented its 22nd and final webinar on Tuesday, Apr 13th, 2023. The webinar featured rapid-fire information from up to 10 State or local agencies, each highlighting their use of various crowdsourced data to advance transportation operations.
Cooperative Driving Automation for Port Operations
The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory (STOL), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office and the Maritime Administration, has been conducting research on connected and automated vehicles to develop open-source software for various cooperative driving automation (CDA) applications.
Road Weather Spotlight: Winter Maintenance Training Programs
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) is pleased to present the Road Weather Spotlight, a monthly webinar series discussing the challenges of various road weather events, lessons learned, and practical solutions.
Using Operations Data to Support Mainstreaming TSMO - Raj Ponnaluri, Florida DOT
This webinar is part of an FHWA Office of Operations project to support mainstreaming Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) in transportation agencies.
Analytics Tools to Improve Operational Planning
This webinar featured two agencies and their use of analytics tools to process vehicle probe data for operational use and to better plan for operations.
NOCoE Offers Free PDH Credits
NOCoE’s free webinars are now also available for professional development hour credits (PDHs). Each month, NOCoE provides a PDH tracking sheet to assist webinar attendees with keeping track of their professional development activities. The PDH credits are available for those attendees who register and attend the live webinar.
Impact on Our Industry
NOCoE webinars continue to reach 1000s of TSMO practitioners each year and are a primary force for transferring knowledge around emerging TSMO practices to accelerate deployment.
NOCoE Workforce Peer Exchange - Key Learnings
NOCoE held a virtual Peer Exchange on Workforce Development in May 2022. The Peer Exchange followed the Center’s second Workforce Development Summit that took place in September 2021. Over seventy human resource and TSMO participants provided a rich array of best practices and challenges around the four topics of recruitment, retention, training, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Read or watch the key learnings from the Workforce Peer Exchange
NOCoE ICM Peer Exchange Summary
NOCoE’s Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) Peer Exchange was intended to host both practitioners experienced in developing and implementing ICM deployments as well as practitioners looking to develop new ICM sites.
NOCoE Road Weather Management Peer Exchange 2022 Summary
The report provides:
- An overview of the plenary sessions
- Notes on breakout conversations
- Survey results on the inaugural agile peer exchange
- Next steps
NOCoE Cost/Benefit Peer Exchange Summary
NOCoE’s Agency Perspectives on Cost / Benefit Methods and TSMO virtual peer exchange hosted transportation agency professionals with experience in developing, implementing, and justifying to decision-makers cost / benefit and/or return on investment analysis for TSMO projects and programs to support policy makers and agency leadership.
Impact on Our Industry
NOCoE held six peer exchanges in 2022, in both virtual and in-person formats to allow for a wide range of attendees who could both share and receive knowledge. Attendees in this year's peer exchanges included human resources professionals, TSMO practitioners, local and regional agency representatives, younger TSMO professionals, and members of the Federal Highway Administration.
NOCoE peer exchange reports will continue to inform NOCoE and its partners on potential areas of resource development going forward.
The NOCoE TSMO Awards celebrate the TSMO strategies and tools that leverage existing infrastructure to increase safety and reliability.
Each year, NOCoE awards winners in four award categories. For 2023, the categories are:
- Best TSMO Project
- Agency Improvement
- TSMO and Safety
- Emerging Practices and Technologies
A TSMO Award Overall Winner is then chosen from the four category winners.
Each year NOCoE also awards a TSMO Champion, an individual who has made significant contributions to advancing TSMO both inside their organization and within the industry at-large.
Winners are celebrated at the 2023 CTSO Annual Meeting and their work is featured via NOCoE's partners and other industry leaders.
Many award submissions are also turned into NOCoE Case Studies, which form a library of TSMO strategies, tactics, and best practices that can be shared with other TSMO practitioners and organizations.
Sign-ups for the 2023 TSMO Awards will be open until June 2. Learn more at: transportationops.org/tsmoaward
NOCoE Case Studies capture the strategies and practices currently being deployed to advance the TSMO industry and enable TSMO practitioners to save lives, time, and money.
Case studies are developed in partnership with the authoring organization or individual to succinctly transfer knowledge for the effective use by others in the industry. Many of the case studies come from TSMO Award Submissions.
TSMO Champion
Jennifer Portanova
State Traffic Systems Operations Engineer
Transportation Mobility and Safety Division
North Carolina DOT
Overall Winner
Best TSMO Project
Agency Improvement
Manatee County for their "Expansion of TSMO Capabilities to Enhance Multimodal Safety Operation"
Digital Infrastructure
Florida DOT for their "Motor Carrier Size and Weight Freight Operations Exchange"
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for TSMO
Emergency Response Day returned to ITS World Congress this year on Tuesday, September 20. On a crucial mission to increase the personal safety of responders and motorists while restoring mobility for an emergency, commercial, and personal traffic, this year’s Emergency Response Day focused on emerging technology-based problems and solutions responders will face in evolving smart city infrastructure environment.
Educational programming on Emergency Response Day 2022 included:
• Session I - ER Day Welcome
• Session II – The Critical Role of Technology in Managing Traffic Incidents
• Session III - Traffic Incident Management Workshop “Development and Implementation of a Comprehensive National Traffic Incident Management Training Program – a United States Success Story”
Demonstrations during Emergency Response Day 2022 included:
• Axon Demonstration: Tethered Drone Scene Monitoring
• City of Los Angeles Fire Department: Electric Fire Engine
• Ten West Towing, Inc.: Heavy Wrecker
• HAAS Alert: Connected Vehicle Alerts
• CalTrans District 2: Responder System
• J-Tech LaneBlade®: Debris Clearance System
• LA Metropolitan Transportation Authority: Freeway Service Patrol Vehicle
• pi-lit®: Sequential Electronic Flares
• 360ns Network Solutions: 360 Remote CCTV
• GEWI: Data harmonization of device and incident data
Learn more in our recent newsletter post.
Crash Responder Safety Week
Crash Responder Safety Week (CRSW), formerly known as NTIRAW, is a chance for all traffic incident response communities to make a difference individually and jointly. Teach your community and the motoring public about our shared responsibility for safe roadway incident clearance – whether a crash, stalled vehicle, debris on road, or something else.
Collaborate with your leadership, public information officers, and fellow responders to amplify the visibility and message of this important week. Use the CRSW calendar and tools to align messaging with others across our nation: bitly.com/CRSW2021
Whether or not your organization participates, you can be a CRSW champion. Take the free National Traffic Incident Management Responder Training, and encourage your fellow responders to do the same. It may save your life. Visit: bitly.com/TIMtrain
NOCoE Partnership Renewed
The National Operations Center of Excellence is pleased to announce that its founding partners have signed a new memorandum of understanding or MoU to support NOCoE.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) renewed their support for NOCoE during a ceremony at AASHTO’s 2022 spring meeting in New Orleans.
“It is very encouraging to see how far we have come along together in advancing the National Operations Center of Excellence and its services to the TSMO community,” noted Jim Tymon, Executive Director of AASHTO, at the signing ceremony. “This was only possible through our mutual collaboration and partnerships.”
NOCOE EXISTS BECAUSE OF:
