Institutional Arrangements for Freight Transportation Systems (2009)

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57 5.1 Getting Started Forty guidelines have been developed to support the devel- opment and ongoing operations of institutional arrange- ments. These guidelines are designed and organized to develop a strong program foundation. For many institutional arrange- ments, this foundation will provide the platform from which its primary mission or purpose can be accomplished. For others, it provides the platform from which more specific activities can be undertaken, such as programming and im- plementation activities. To use these guidelines effectively, a self-evaluation should be undertaken by the initial set of stakeholders. Many of the requirements for completing the self-evaluation will necessitate an initial review and use of the guidelines. The self-evaluation should be designed to lay the groundwork for institutional arrangement development. Actions include the following: • Identify a leader/champion. As with any new initiative, the successful creation of a new institutional arrangement will require a leader or champion to step forward and take ownership of initial organizational activities. In some in- stances, this may be the result of a legislative mandate or policy board action. However, in many instances, it is the result of interest by technical staff within public and private organizations. This person or organization must initiate discussions. • Identify potential stakeholders. Identifying and soliciting key stakeholders is essential. Based on the perceived issue or challenge, an initial set of stakeholders should be iden- tified and recruited to participate in initial discussions on need, purpose, and so forth. • Facilitate an open forum. The stakeholders should be in- vited to a workshop to discuss the need for an institutional arrangement and what it would accomplish and to identify key opportunities and challenges. – Identify the need for an institutional arrangement. Stake- holders should be engaged in a general discussion about the need for an institutional arrangement. This would entail a review of current conditions and identification of a specific element that an institutional arrangement could address. Based on this, an initial need statement should be developed. Although this need probably will evolve over time, this will help focus the group on one or more motivating factors for an institutional arrangement. – Identify preliminary opportunities and challenges. Stakeholders should be engaged in a discussion to iden- tify key opportunities that the institutional arrangement can accomplish as well as key challenges that could limit the success of the institutional arrangement. This will provide an initial description of the environment in which the institutional arrangement will be created. – Define a draft purpose for the institutional arrange- ment. Based on the need, opportunities, and challenges, the stakeholders should review the feasibility of devel- oping a successful institutional arrangement. Based on the above considerations, a draft purpose should be de- fined. Again, this will be a draft or initial statement. It will form stakeholder input into an approach for what the institutional arrangement hopes to accomplish. • Develop an action plan. Once the group has reached a pre- liminary agreement on the need and purpose of an institu- tional arrangement, an action plan should be developed to detailing the short-term activities that will be necessary to initiate the formal development of the institutional arrange- ment. Ideally, the action plan would be developed by a small group of stakeholder “leaders” following the forum. As part of this process, the full range of guidelines and case studies provided in this document should be reviewed and evaluated for applicability. 5.2 Effective Use of Guidelines As illustrated in this report, numerous freight institutional arrangements are in place today providing specific func- tionality for a defined group of stakeholders. Institutional C H A P T E R 5 Application of Guidelines

58 arrangements have been developed for all kinds of reasons and in all kinds of forums, depending on the characteristics of their members. Some arrangements have been more suc- cessful than others; some have served specific purposes and then ceased to exist while others have evolved and taken on new challenges. Effective institutional arrangements can en- hance the freight transportation system, ensuring that stake- holders are involved in the policy, planning, programming, and operations activities. This is critical to the success of the freight transportation system—at the local, regional, state, and national levels—because freight mobility cuts across all modes of transportation, affects communities and the envi- ronment, and spans jurisdictional boundaries, creating an environment that is not well managed by one geographically specific public agency. The research completed for this project focused almost ex- clusively on the successes and failures of institutional arrange- ments implemented in the United States. The guidelines pre- sented herein are designed to facilitate the development and implementation of an institutional arrangement. These guide- lines are not intended to provide step-by-step instructions on how to develop a successful institutional arrangement, but to identify key activities that should be considered and used to develop a customized approach. The guidelines are intended to apply to existing institutional arrangements as well as new institutional arrangements that may emerge in the future. Continued globalization of the econ- omy, current economic hardships, limited funding, shifts in transportation program priorities, climate change—these fac- tors and more will continue to strain and affect freight trans- portation and the institutional arrangements created to sup- port freight transportation. The changes necessary to deal with these challenges in large part relate to specific program ele- ments (e.g., statutory requirements, program funding eligibil- ity requirements, multi-jurisdictional regions, effective use of performance measures, and overall Federal leadership). Most existing or new institutional arrangements will deal with these changes the same way they or their predecessors have in the past—through effective collaboration, coordination, commu- nication, consensus building, and stakeholder involvement; strong leadership (champions); effective use of public-private partnerships; and efficient project implementation programs. An approach based on these general principles and guidelines ensures that the resulting institutional arrangement is based on a customized and agreed-on mission. 5.3 Conclusions This report is a resource to help groups of stakeholders eval- uate how potential development of an institutional arrange- ment can help them achieve a common goal. The guidelines provide specific recommendations based on existing institu- tional arrangements and are designed to address various functions, geographic boundaries, and legal structures. In ad- dition, these guidelines are designed to be useful for future in- stitutional arrangement needs as well as those in place today. Key success factors, challenges, and lessons learned have been summarized to support successful use of the guidelines. In many instances, such factors affected the development of the guidelines.