Scott Marler (above at right), director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, received a Certificate of Appreciation at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2025 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City for his five years of service as chair of the Strategic Advisory Council for the National Operations Center of Excellence or NOCoE.
[Above photo by AASHTO]
NOCoE is a partnership of AASHTO, the Institute for Transportation Engineers, and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, with support from the Federal Highway Administration. The organization recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its formation in January at the 2025 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
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.
During his tenure as NOCoE’s SAC chair, Marler proved instrumental in disseminating TSMO principles and practices throughout the transportation community and helped shepherd the publication of the first edition of AASHTO’s “Transportation Operations Manual” or TOM in 2023.
The TOM covers 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.
“Scott really helped establish TSMO disciplines as a common practice within the transportation sector,” said Nicholas Ramfos, NOCoE’s director. “His work helped make TSMO a mainstream practice within the industry.”
Ramfos noted that Tracy Larkin Thomason, director of the Nevada Department of Transportation, will be replacing Marler as SAC chair for NOCoE.
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