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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 1 - Introduction." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Institutional Architectures to Improve Systems Operations and Management. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14512.
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Page 17

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Focus on Reliability and Nonrecurring Congestion There are two types of highway congestion, each with its own characteristic causes: recurring congestion (RC) and non- recurring congestion (NRC). RC happens with regular and predictable occurrences related to capacity shortfalls such as regular peak delays. NRC is caused by unpredictable events such as accidents and bad weather conditions or occasional occurrences such as special events. The delay, disruption, and accident impacts caused by NRC—and the resultant lack of service reliability—are increasingly understood as the major service concern to trav- elers and shippers who place a high value on reliability and predictability. This project targets the efforts of transporta- tion and partner agencies to manage NRC and minimize its effects on travel. The scope of work for this project targets five conventional SO&M strategy applications related to NRC: crash- and breakdown-related incident management, road weather management (snow and ice), construction work zone traffic management, special events planning/management, and active traffic management. While the focus of this project is on NRC, the institutional issues addressed for NRC substantially incorporate those that deal with recurring congestion (RC), such as signalization, ramp metering, and lane management. Therefore, within the context of this report, the term “congestion management” refers to the organized efforts to reduce both types of congestion. Target Audience and Utilization The research for this report focused on state DOTs. State DOTs own almost all the interstates (and other freeways and expressways) and 70% of the principal arterials. These are the high-volume, interregional facilities with limited redundancy, where interruptions of service can have major consequences. To date, state DOTs have also been the principal actor in statewide and regional SO&M activities. Neverthe- less, other transportation agencies have an increasing level of involvement—including larger local governments with sig- nificant regional arterial ownership, as well as metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and public safety entities that play key roles, often in partnerships with state DOTs. Therefore, the term “transportation agency” has been used throughout, except when referring specifically to state DOT experience. The key target audience of the guidance is senior manage- ment, including senior managers, program managers, and unit-level managers, in both central and regional offices of state DOTs. Organization of the Report Eight chapters follow this introductory chapter. Chapter 2 provides the framework for this research, states the basic hypothesis, and details the methodology followed. Chapter 3, Theory on Process-Related Organizations and Change Man- agement, reviews the relevant contributions made in the fields of organizational development and change management. Chapter 4 describes the interview and survey process used to develop the hypothesis. Chapters 5–6 present the findings from the survey that indicate the processes that require institutional support and that identify the key institutional features sup- portive of effective processes and programs. Chapter 7, The Institutional Capability Maturity Model as the Structure for Guidance, presents the structure for a stepwise approach for institutional maturity improvement. Chapter 8 identifies alternative scenarios of overall institutional change. Finally, Chapter 9 describes alternative models in lieu of incremental change. In addition, the appendices provide detailed guidance on strategies and tactics. C H A P T E R 1 Introduction 17

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TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-L06-RR-1: Institutional Architectures to Improve Systems Operations and Management examines a large number of topics concerning organizational and institutional approaches that might help transportation agencies enhance highway operations and travel time reliability.

The same project that produced SHRP 2 Report S2-L06-RR-1 also produced SHRP 2 Report S2-L06-RR-2: Guide to Improving Capability for Systems Operations and Management.

An e-book version of this report is available for purchase at Google, iTunes, and Amazon.

An article on SHRP 2 Report S2-L06-RR-1 was published in the January-February 2013 issue of the TR News.

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