Transportation Management Center Concepts of Operations

Every action impacts the time and effort required by the operator to perform afunction and the quality and consistency of that performance. Human factorsdecisions are major determinants of the resources necessary to carry out thefunctions established for the concept of operations, and in how the concept ofoperations describes the way the functions are carried out.Interested readers are referred to the advanced traffic management systemshuman factors guide prepared by Georgia Tech Research Institute for FHWA(see References section) for more details in the area of human factors.Control ArchitectureDevice Access by AgenciesThe concept of operations reflects several elements of control architecture andhow they are carried out. A primary level of control architecture is not onlywhat agency is responsible for each action, but also how agencies share accessto common resources, and what agencies can perform critical actions undernonstandard circumstances (such as emergency operations or shortage ofessential staff).Traditional jurisdictional lines of authority have for some time complicateddecisions on sharing access to transportation management resources. In manycases, for example, the city along whose highways variable message signs werepositioned, could not access them since the operational responsibility andcapital ownership rested with the relevant state agency. A similar and commoncomplication was that an agency managing one roadway would be unable toview video images from cameras placed by another agency on nearby alternateroutes, thus denying both agencies a full understanding of the situation.Technological barriers have also driven some multiagency concepts of operationsto reduced efficiency, due to incompatibility of software, data transmissionprotocols, or video images. With the progress toward completion of ITSstandards, and increased application of efficient commercial standards, many ofthese barriers can be overcome.The concept of operations for freeway management in Maryland includes aStatewide Operations Center and regional “satellite” centers. The satellitecenters are located at Maryland State Patrol barracks around the state. Thesecenters perform local traffic management during one or two shifts per day, withcontrol reverting to the Statewide center when the satellite center is offline. TheStatewide center also assumes control if a satellite center goes offline because ofa weather-related or other local emergencySeveral TMCs have developed very mutually beneficial concepts of operationsfor late evening shifts. Typically, workloads decrease during late night periods,and full staffing of each position by its responsible agency would be wasteful.Thus, often agencies will pool resources, leaving fewer operators responsible forthe full range of operations during these low activity periods.4-8