Operational and Institutional Agreements That Facilitate Regional Traffic Signal Operations (2011)

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51 Regional Traffic Signal Operations Programs (RTSOPs) have been used in various configurations with various goals and objectives in the United States for at least two decades. However, there have been more recent efforts to accelerate the regionalization of traffic signal operations, recognizing the benefits of collaborative planning, implementation, man- agement, operation, and maintenance of our traffic signal systems. These collaborations directly benefit those facilities immediately impacted by more efficient signal timing, but also indirectly benefit the entire transportation network by freeing untapped capacity in the system. Traffic signals can have significant impacts on mobility and those impacts may be negative if these systems are not oper- ated efficiently and maintained periodically. Operating and maintaining traffic signal systems in times of declining fiscal resources can be challenging, but many agencies have rec- ognized the opportunities afforded by leveraging funding and technical expertise with partner agencies in forming RTSOPs. These relationships, extending from the early planning phases through project deployment and on to operations and mainte- nance, can be remarkably flexible and tailored to each region’s needs, political realities, and stakeholder interrelationships. SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNED The following is a summary of lessons learned: • Programs can benefit from having a regional emphasis addressing regional issues, and involving an agency that can provide a regional perspective. Often the agency that can best provide this regional perspective is the metro- politan planning organization (MPO) or county operat- ing agency. • It is useful to articulate a vision and generate support for the program at all levels. Although vision outreach may be directed to technical staff at local partner agencies, it may also involve key political decision makers in the region as well. Having buy-in from all levels—both the technical and governance levels—can help keep the program from being derailed in the development phase. • In addition, a long-term vision for the program is impor- tant, but it is also important to seek opportunities for, and achieve, immediate successes. These short-term successes can help highlight the benefits and generate excitement for the program. • When conveying the benefits of the program to the public, it is important to use a clear, straightforward, and easily understood message. The goal is to provide the public and elected officials with the information they need to formulate their own opinions while avoiding too much technical detail and too many hard-to-understand numbers and figures. • Technical issues are relatively easy to overcome com- pared with institutional issues. Institutional issues are best addressed at the beginning of the process because they will arise later and may impede progress if they have not been addressed. • Local knowledge of traffic operations and signal timing policy is important and needs to be incorporated in the development process. This can be accomplished by uti- lizing local consultants who have the appropriate level of expertise or by developing this expertise in-house. • Local acceptance and ownership in the program is important. Too often, the perception of the local agen- cies is that the state or regional entity is taking over local operations. The goal is for regional entities to work collaboratively and cooperatively to arrive at solutions and program elements that satisfy everyone’s needs. • Local and regional entities can build or leverage trust in one another and develop a common regional vision for how the program might operate. Strong working relationships built upon years of experience help to develop this trust. • It can be helpful for the regional partners and MPO to retain some flexibility in the way that projects are funded. Being able to reallocate unused funds between projects can help accomplish more in a shorter time frame. The region may implement a mechanism that cap- tures unused funds from completed or re-scoped projects to cover unexpected program costs or immediate needs of local entities. CONCLUSIONS AND KEY FINDINGS This synthesis report examined the current practice of how various regions around the United States have created and now operate RTSOPs. Most agencies with operating responsibility for traffic signal systems manage them to some level; how- ever, more agencies are realizing that synergistic impacts on both funding and operations may be realized when working in CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

collaboration with other regional partners. The most success- ful agencies have realized that they have the same challenges as the city, county, and state agency they partner with on a daily basis and that there are benefits to collaboration. An RTSOP can be used as a conduit to improving traffic signal operations on a regional basis by leveraging the abili- ties and strengths of multiple agencies to address the goals and objectives of regional stakeholders and their constituents. RTSOPs have indicated that they have a greater ability to improve safety and improve efficiency than if they work as independent agencies. This result does not come without chal- lenges because regional programs require a more collabora- tive effort; however, as the benefits are realized it becomes easier to influence the public, elected officials, and agency administrators to support the program. RTSOPs appear to not have a single factor that ensures success, and regions with RTSOPs in the United States have varying methods and rationale to achieve their goals; however, it does appear that these collaborative efforts have significant benefits to a wide array of agencies, and they should be encouraged wherever possible through proactive policy and funding opportunities. This review of existing RTSOPs indicates that there are a few common themes to a successful program. These themes include maintaining momentum through good leadership and participation, developing sustainable funding sources, cap- turing benefits, and providing the public with knowledge of the RTSOPs’ activities. Maintaining Momentum The feedback from existing RTSOPs clearly indicates that having a champion and an active set of leaders that empha- size the importance of regional cooperation is one of the most important factors for the success of an RTSOP. There has to be buy-in from the technical staff, from administrators, and from elected officials, but typically it is one or two key indi- viduals who are sold on the concept and continue to promote the benefits at key times. Maintaining momentum often then relies on an organiza- tion or agency, such as the MPO, that can provide a forum for discussion and collaboration. The MPO can often relate on how achieving the goals of an RTSOP contributes to the over- all goals and objectives of the region, and can effectively pro- gram RTSOP activities into the planning process. Through the MPO, a fledgling RTSOP can help members in other agencies to begin to realize the benefits of regional collaboration. Another way to keep momentum in an RTSOP moving for- ward is through a process of goal-setting and self-assessment. If any group or organization does not have a clear set of objectives that have been vetted through goal-setting and a review of needs, they are much less likely to stay active and be motivated to continue. The self-assessment and review 52 process can be used to identify areas of improvement and need while giving some measure of performance. Developing Sustainable Funding Sources One key to the long-term success of RTSOPs is to develop a sustainable funding source for continual improvements. RTSOP traffic signal operation requires dedicated funding. Engineering, management, operations, and maintenance fund- ing are all required on an ongoing basis to provide an efficient traffic signal system. However, state and local funding con- straints in some cases impair the ability of traffic operations to receive enough funding to be delivered with efficiency. The problem is compounded with the difficulty and cost of quan- tifying the benefits of efficiently timed and coordinated sig- nal systems. Cuts in funding are often short-term issues, with very little consideration of the strategic capital investment necessary to improve infrastructure so that cost savings are enabled. Some of the benefits of strategic investment in traf- fic signal operations, particularly on a regional basis, are: • Signal timings can be changed remotely, reducing time (and staff exposure to traffic) in the field. • Communication and closed-circuit television capability to monitor a signal may eliminate or reduce the need to dispatch a technician to address a complaint. • Traffic signal system alarms can be sent instantly to cell phones and through e-mail to reduce trouble call response times. Cost savings associated with fewer trips for trouble calls, fewer employee accidents while working in the right-of-way, and improved efficiency and timeliness in addressing com- plaints are all very good benefits to investments in traffic sig- nal operations. However, individual agency planning and investment would likely be enhanced, with improved chances of funding, if done in collaboration with other regional agen- cies. When agencies combine and work together to influence elected officials and decision makers as to the benefits of operations projects, they can begin to see the benefits of the selection of larger and more significant traffic signal opera- tions projects, as well as ones incorporated into other capital improvement projects. The input from RTSOPs gained as part of this synthesis supports the role of the MPO as a forum for seeking partici- pation from regional stakeholders to build an agreement on a vision for regional traffic signal operations. The MPO’s role in the funding process, in the monitoring and quantification of traffic signal-related performance measures, places it in an optimal position to facilitate an RTSOP. However, the MPO is also an excellent source of input and assistance in develop- ing programs to leverage local funding with state and federal funding for RTSOPs. Applications for state or federal funds may be given emphasis when many agencies collaborate on a common program, vision, and goals. RTSOPs indicated

53 that their partnerships appear to have a higher success rate for federal funding and grants because they are able to emphasize leveraging of local resources for regional benefit. Capturing Performance and Disseminating Benefit Measures RTSOPs may utilize performance measures to measure progress and assess how goals are being met or how a particu- lar strategy is working. Many RTSOPs provide simple perfor- mance measures (number of signals in the program, percentage of signals with communications, or the number retimed in any given reporting period). Some RTSOPs complete before- and-after studies to better quantify some of the more tangible benefits, such as delay savings, travel time reductions, lower emissions, and agency and road user cost savings. Feedback from RTSOPs as part of the surveys indicated that many RTSOPs believe that quantifying benefits is impor- tant, but that benefits are not typically determined to their fullest extent. Evaluations cost money, and there is always a struggle between using that money for deployment and using it to quantify benefits. However, the more successful RTSOPs understand the need and the benefits of having performance metrics for traffic signal operations in the region. Although many of the RTSOPs do define performance metrics, many have issues with evaluating those measures and being pro- active as opposed to being reactive to failures and public comments, and this places them in further peril with respect to securing further funding or responding to grant opportuni- ties in a collaborative manner. There are numerous methods that agencies can employ to measure traffic signal operation performance, including cor- ridor travel time, delay, efficiency, progression, and reliabil- ity. Developing a standard methodology to evaluate traffic signal system performance can help the region determine which corridors are in most need of attention and improve- ment. This enables the collective resources to be best man- aged and allocated to the most critical needs. Public Involvement and Outreach Developing support for the program relies on measuring suc- cess and delivering the benefits in meaningful, yet simple terms. It is important to have a process in place to report to stakeholders (and then the public) initially about the need for an RTSOP and, then once established, about the status of the programs and its benefits. Interviews with the most active and successful RTSOPs appear to emphasize the role of the evaluation of projects and being able to express the benefits of the program in tangible terms (e.g., reduced travel time and user cost, reduced fuel consumption and cost, and lower emissions). Many agencies are also sensitive to public com- ments and may be tempted to change traffic signal timing in response to complaints. However, traffic coordination may be sensitive to these types of “spur or the moment” changes and there may be unintended consequences to changes made without proper consideration. To combat this temptation, several of the RTSOPs and MPOs have created educational brochures and electronic media to provide for community outreach activities and initiatives. To garner support, many RTSOPs remarked that they have fostered champions in local elected officials and adminis- trators through meetings and other communications (published reports and brochures, executive summaries, and presenta- tions). It is often engineers and planners that convey informa- tion about RTSOPs to elected officials and decision makers, and these individuals may not be familiar with the technical aspects of traffic signal operation. It is important that messages are communicated simply and factually, in easily understood terms that will help someone make a decision about whether or not a regional traffic signal program is providing an important and tangible benefit to its citizens. Traffic signal operations benefits can be stated in ways that relate to how people go about their work and pleasure activities, and how operations can be used to save individuals time and money and benefit the environment. FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS Based on the results of the survey and the detailed interviews, the following research needs were identified: • Continue to conduct research relating RTSOP goals and objectives and performance measurement. • Develop methodology to capture air quality and other environmental benefits of RTSOPs through direct field measurements. • Develop guidelines and recommendations on how agen- cies can overcome obstacles encountered during the development of RTSOPs. • Develop methods of obtaining long-term, sustainable funding for RTSOPs. • Conduct additional research and develop guidelines as to what type of facilities would benefit from inclusion in RTSOPs. • Develop staffing and maintenance guidelines for RTSOPs. • Conduct additional research into strategies for mitigat- ing liability issues and concerns associated with devel- oping, operating, and maintaining RTSOPs. • Develop model funding and institutional arrangement agreements for different RTSOP structures.