Executive Decision Making for Transportation Capacity: The Multiagency Context (2014)

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The Second S T R A T E G I C H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2014 www.TRB.org REPORT S2-C22-RW-1 Executive Decision Making for Transportation Capacity The Multiagency Context Cambridge SyStematiCS, inC. with Fred Skaer Consultant and Sharp & Company

Subscriber Categories Administration and Management Highways Planning and Forecasting

SHRP 2 Reports Available by subscription and through the TRB online bookstore: www.TRB.org/bookstore Contact the TRB Business Office: 202-334-3213 More information about SHRP 2: www.TRB.org/SHRP2 SHRP 2 Report S2-C22-RW-1 ISBN: 978-0-309-27293-3 © 2014 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Copyright Information Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copy- right to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. The second Strategic Highway Research Program grants permission to repro- duce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Per- mission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, or FHWA endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing material in this document for educational and not-for-profit purposes will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from SHRP 2. Note: SHRP 2 report numbers convey the program, focus area, project number, and publication format. Report numbers ending in “w” are published as web documents only. Notice The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the second Strategic Highway Research Program, conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. The report was reviewed by the technical committee and accepted for publication according to procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the sponsors of the second Strategic Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report. The Second Strategic Highway Research Program America’s highway system is critical to meeting the mobility and economic needs of local communities, regions, and the nation. Developments in research and technology—such as advanced materials, communications technology, new data collection technologies, and human factors science—offer a new oppor- tunity to improve the safety and reliability of this important national resource. Breakthrough resolution of significant trans- portation problems, however, requires concentrated resources over a short time frame. Reflecting this need, the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has an intense, large-scale focus, integrates multiple fields of research and technology, and is fundamentally different from the broad, mission-oriented, discipline-based research programs that have been the mainstay of the highway research industry for half a century. The need for SHRP 2 was identified in TRB Special Report 260: Strategic Highway Research: Saving Lives, Reducing Conges- tion, Improving Quality of Life, published in 2001 and based on a study sponsored by Congress through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). SHRP 2, modeled after the first Strategic Highway Research Program, is a focused, time- constrained, management-driven program designed to comple- ment existing highway research programs. SHRP 2 focuses on applied research in four areas: Safety, to prevent or reduce the severity of highway crashes by understanding driver behavior; Renewal, to address the aging infrastructure through rapid design and construction methods that cause minimal disruptions and produce lasting facilities; Reliability, to reduce congestion through incident reduction, management, response, and mitigation; and Capacity, to integrate mobility, economic, environmental, and community needs in the planning and designing of new trans- portation capacity. SHRP 2 was authorized in August 2005 as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The program is managed by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) on behalf of the National Research Council (NRC). SHRP 2 is conducted under a memo- randum of understanding among the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Academy of Sciences, parent organization of TRB and NRC. The program provides for competitive, merit-based selection of research contractors; independent research project oversight; and dissemination of research results.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisci- plinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transporta- tion, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration in cooperation with the American Asso- ciation of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It was conducted in the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. The project was managed by Jo Allen Gause, Senior Program Officer for SHRP 2 Capacity. The research described in this report was performed by Cambridge Systematics, Inc., and supported by Fred Skaer, independent consultant, and Sharp & Company. Elizabeth Sanford was the principal investigator. SHRP 2 STAff Ann M. Brach, Director Stephen J. Andrle, Deputy Director Neil J. Pedersen, Deputy Director, Implementation and Communications Cynthia Allen, Editor James Bryant, Senior Program Officer, Renewal Kenneth Campbell, Chief Program Officer, Safety JoAnn Coleman, Senior Program Assistant, Capacity and Reliability Eduardo Cusicanqui, Financial Officer Richard Deering, Special Consultant, Safety Data Phase 1 Planning Walter Diewald, Senior Program Officer, Safety Jerry DiMaggio, Implementation Coordinator Shantia Douglas, Senior Financial Assistant Charles Fay, Senior Program Officer, Safety Carol Ford, Senior Program Assistant, Renewal and Safety Jo Allen Gause, Senior Program Officer, Capacity Rosalind Gomes, Accounting/Financial Assistant James Hedlund, Special Consultant, Safety Coordination Alyssa Hernandez, Reports Coordinator Ralph Hessian, Special Consultant, Capacity and Reliability Andy Horosko, Special Consultant, Safety Field Data Collection William Hyman, Senior Program Officer, Reliability Linda Mason, Communications Officer Reena Mathews, Senior Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability Matthew Miller, Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability Michael Miller, Senior Program Assistant, Capacity and Reliability David Plazak, Senior Program Officer, Capacity Dean Trackman, Managing Editor Connie Woldu, Administrative Coordinator

F O R EWO R D Jo Allen Gause, SHRP 2 Senior Program Officer, Capacity Transportation for Communities—Advancing Projects through Partnerships (TCAPP) is a web-based resource that provides agencies and practitioners with guidance on reaching col- laborative decisions as they work through the transportation planning, programming, and permitting processes. TCAPP is designed for practitioners, but to succeed in practice, it will need support from upper-level managers and CEOs within transportation and environmen- tal resource agencies. Based on extensive market research, this report presents strategies for communicating the value of TCAPP to the target audience. This report sets out marketing principles, potential marketing strategies, and key messages that can serve as foundational research for subsequent outreach efforts and implementation of TCAPP. The audience for TCAPP includes any agency that has involvement in a transporta- tion capacity project, on any level. This is a vast and diverse audience, encompassing numerous federal agencies, tribal entities, state governments, metropolitan areas, and nongovernmen- tal agencies. While the agencies’ missions are distinct, they are often overlapping, and they approach issues relevant to transportation in different ways. The first step in the research was to document and synthesize the leadership context and structure of these agencies. The research included an effort to illuminate the issues various audiences of TCAPP face, how collaboration and TCAPP can play a role, and the best way to disseminate informa- tion about TCAPP and its benefits. The first phase was a facilitated charrette-style meeting with industry leaders. In the second phase, the research team, led by Elizabeth Sanford of Cambridge Systematics, expanded on the preliminary findings from the charrette through interviews with decision makers across agencies, positions, and geographic regions. Based on the results of the market research, the research team developed messages and potential strategies that effectively convey the value of TCAPP to decision makers in transportation agencies as well as executives of resource agencies who review and often approve or reject alternatives for transportation capacity projects.

C O N T E N T S 1 Executive Summary 1 The Audience 2 Research Findings 2 Marketing Principles, Strategies, Messages, and Media 4 CHAPTER 1 Project Background 4 Purpose of the Project 4 Organization of the Project 5 CHAPTER 2 The Product 5 SHRP 2 Capacity Program 5 TCAPP Objectives 5 Summary of Key Features 8 TCAPP and SHRP 2 C22 9 CHAPTER 3 The Audience 9 The Context for Collaboration 12 Federal Agencies 19 Tribal Entities 19 State Government 20 Governors 20 Legislatures 20 State Transportation Commissions 21 State Transportation Executives 22 State Environmental, Resource, and Planning Agency Executives 22 State-Chartered Turnpike and Toll Authorities 23 Government in Metropolitan Areas 23 Nongovernmental Organizations 24 Conclusion 25 CHAPTER 4 Market Research Findings 25 Methodology 28 Decision Makers and Collaboration 29 Decision Making by Agency 30 Decision Makers and Messaging 32 CHAPTER 5 Marketing Principles, Strategies, Messages, and Media 32 Introduction 32 Marketing Principles 32 Potential Marketing Strategies 35 Key Messages: Mapping Benefits to Decision-Maker Audiences 35 Preferred Media for Communicating the Messages

37 CHAPTER 6 Conclusions 37 Merge SHRP 2 C22 Research Findings with Related Efforts 37 Use SHRP 2 C22 Research Findings in Marketing Materials 38 Quickly Implement Messaging into Early TCAPP Marketing 39 References 40 Appendix A. Market Research