AASHTO Journal - NOCoE Hosting TSMO Guidebook Webinars

The National Operations Center of Excellence or NOCoE plans to host several webinars to highlight the value of the Transportation Operations Manual or TOM.

[Above image by AASHTO]

NOCoE is a partnership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Institute for Transportation Engineers, and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, with support from the Federal Highway Administration.

The unique mix of state, local, academic, and private sector representation is a key feature of NOCoE and ensures its ability to provide knowledge resources that effectively advance all aspects of Transportation Systems Management and Operations or TSMO.

Published in June 2023, the TOM serves as a resource for transportation agencies to develop and sustain the operational capabilities and strategies needed to preserve and optimize transportation system performance.

The TOM touches on all levels of TSMO efforts – strategic, programmatic, and tactical – and expands current TSMO practice through a more cohesive approach that helps agencies and their partners gain familiarity with generally accepted operational improvements, as well as develop appropriate future applications.

The purpose of NOCoE’s webinars are to demonstrate how state departments of transportation are using the TOM in their everyday TSMO activities as well as showcase certain chapters from the new manual.

NOCoE held its first TOM webinar on March 7, with the second on March 28; entitled “Emerging TSMO Trends & Practices.” The third webinar, to be held April 18, is entitled “Accessing TOM Support Resources.”

Concurrent with the new webinars, NOCoE recently named Nick Ramfos as its new director.

For the past 27 years, Ramfos served as the director of transportation operations programs for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; the Metropolitan Planning Organization or MPO for Washington, D.C.

Ramfos managed the MPO’s regional programs, such as “Commuter Connections,” which assists commuters with mobility options; the region’s Section 5310 “Enhanced Mobility” program that assists the disabled, senior citizens, and low-income residents with mobility; and helped create and stand up the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.

As the new NOCoE director, Ramfos’ primary responsibility will be to provide centralized TSMO-focused services to the transportation industry through workforce development, advancing the deployment of technology and practices, and the mainstreaming of TSMO across the industry via its technical service program or TSP.