U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Highway Administration

Federal Transit Administration

1

April 2009

Introduction

In 2005, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 

launched a demonstration initiative to encourage regions 

in the U.S. to increase multi-agency collaboration through 

the development and implementation of a regional concept 

for transportation operations (RCTO). An RCTO is a 

management tool that provides a strategic framework 

to guide collaborative efforts to improve transportation 

system performance through management and operations 

The Tucson metropolitan region embarked on developing a regional concept for transportation operations (RCTO) in 2005 as part of a 

Federal Highway Administration demonstration initiative to advance regional collaboration for operations. The RCTO is a management tool 

that operators and planners use to strategically plan for improving operations in their region. Through the development of the RCTO, the 

Pima Association of Governments (PAG) led a group of operations participants in identifying specific objectives and performance measures 

for arterial management, traveler information, and work zone management. These objectives guided Tucson’s selection of management 

and operations strategies and the approaches for implementation. The RCTO group identified specific operations projects to be included in 

the PAG transportation improvement program (TIP) and funded through a half-cent transportation sales tax, which passed in 2006.

Regional Concept for Transportation Operations Fosters 

Planning For Operations in the Tucson Metropolitan Area

Operator-Focused Planning For Operations

strategies. By developing an RCTO, collaborating agencies 

develop operations objectives and strategies to meet those 

objectives, both of which can feed directly into the regional 

transportation plan. The RCTO is an emerging tool that 

came out of a broad-based FHWA and Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) working group in 2000 and 2001 

that was tasked to identify ways to better link transportation 

planning and operations.

Transportation

Systems

Management and

Operations

Regional

Transportation

Planning and

Investment

Decisionmaking

Regional Concept for Transportation Operations

Regional Management and Operations Projects

Regional ITS Architecture

Institutional Arrangements

Funding and Resource Sharing

Congestion Management Process

Performance Measures

Data Sharing

Linkage Opportunities

Transportation Planning Process

Requires Coordination Among

Day-to-Day Operations Managers

Requires Coordination

Among Decisionmakers

Figure 1. The regional concept for transportation operations is one of the many opportunities to link regional transportation planning

and decision making to management and operations.
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Development Process

As one of the first regions in the U.S. to develop an RCTO, 

the path was not always clear and PAG, along with the 

other sites, had to try out development techniques with the 

RCTO participants and make adjustments depending on 

the outcome. Because of the trial nature of the process, the 

development of the RCTO took approximately 2 1⁄2 years. 

The process was divided into two phases: the focus and 

assessment phase and then the action plan phase.

PAG kicked off the RCTO development process by holding 

a workshop with the Tucson area operations stakeholders to 

define the mission and vision for their RCTO effort. This 

helped to get the stakeholders on the same general page 

regarding their purpose, including the final product.

The PAG leader and consultant then assessed the 

current state of operations in the region, operator needs, 

and opportunities to improve regional transportation 

operations. This process consisted of interviewing 

transportation operating and public safety agencies in the 

FHWA awarded grants to develop and implement 

an RCTO over 2 years to three metropolitan regions: 

Portland, Oregon; Tucson, Arizona; and Detroit, 

Michigan. The Tucson area metropolitan planning 

organization, the Pima Association of Governments 

(PAG), embarked on this demonstration project to 

build upon existing collaborative efforts in the region 

and prepare for major reconstruction of Interstate 10, a 

highway that traverses Tucson. The Tucson metropolitan 

region has a population of approximately 1 million and 

is experiencing rapid population growth. There was a 

60 percent increase in population between 1982 and 

2003. Planners and operators in the region acknowledge 

that advancing transportation operations on a regional 

level is needed to keep up with the influx of people 

and vehicles. Ongoing collaboration between operators 

already occurs in the form of the PAG Transportation 

Systems Subcommittee, the group that is responsible 

for the regional intelligent transportation systems (ITS) 

architecture. 

The Tucson area demonstration initiative was led by 

PAG with its member agencies, including the City of 

Tucson, Arizona Department of Transportation (DOT), 

the Pima County Department of Transportation, the 

Pima County Office of Emergency Management, the 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Towns of 

Marana, Oro Valley and Sahuarita, the Pascua Yaqui 

Tribe, and the Tohono O’odham Nation. The individual 

who served as the leader and convener for the RCTO 

was a senior planner from PAG. Through the FHWA 

grant, PAG hired a consultant to assist in facilitating the 

multi-agency meetings, synthesize and document the 

input of the participants, and work one-on-one with 

the RCTO leader to propose elements of the RCTO 

for discussion. PAG formed an RCTO working group 

drawing primarily from members of the Transportation 

Systems Subcommittee to develop the RCTO.

Phase 1: Focus

and Assessment

Establish Operations

Objective and Vision

Identify Existing Practices

Establish Operations Goals

Establish Performance

Measures

Phase 2: Action Plans

Figure 2. Pima Association of Governments’ RCTO

Development Process Overview.

Source: PAG.

Develop Action Plans

•	NecessaryInstitutional

Relationships

•	Resource Required Implement

RCTO Measure Operations 

against Performance
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to narrow the scope of the RCTO to the three areas they 

were most interested in making near-term improvements: 

arterial management, traveler information, and work zone 

management. 

The PAG stakeholders then shifted into specific discussions 

about what actions were needed to achieve the objectives as 

part of the action plan phase. They developed several “action 

plans” that specify the need for action, the institutional 

arrangements, roles and responsibilities, resources required/

estimated costs, and funding mechanism. As part of the action 

plans, stakeholders identified specific operations projects to 

be included in the TIP or compete for sales tax dollars. The 

stakeholder agencies recognized that submitting operations 

projects supported by multiple agencies provided advantages 

to competing for regional funds in the planning process.

Resulting RCTO

The Pima Association of Governments RCTO working group 

fully developed an RCTO for specific aspects of their three 

target areas of operations: arterial management operations, 

traveler information, and work zone management.

Arterial Management Operations

Arterial roads dominate the transportation system in the 

Tucson region. As one of the primary freeways in Tucson 

undergoes reconstruction, the arterial system will become even 

more vital. The operations objectives decided upon by the 

PAG RCTO stakeholders for improving arterial management 

operations include:

1. Provide more predictable travel times and reduce traveler 

delay due to both recurring events and non-recurring 

incidents on Tucson metropolitan arterials by:

•	 improving traffic signal timing, coordination, and

management across all jurisdictional boundaries.

region and documenting the existing policies, procedures, 

and practices in the areas of traffic incident management, 

work zone management, traveler information, freeway 

management, and arterial management. Through this 

inventory, PAG identified potential members of the 

regional operations table and discovered areas of common 

need such as traffic signal retiming and access to realtime traveler information. Additionally, PAG learned 

where multi-agency activities such as traffic incident 

management could be improved and where there were 

opportunities for equipment sharing such as bucket 

trucks and variable message signs. 

During a series of facilitated RCTO working group 

meetings, 17 operations objectives and related 

performance measures were developed for a fairly 

comprehensive set of operations areas including arterial, 

work zone, traffic incident, freeway, transit/multimodal 

management and traveler information. These objectives 

and performance measures would allow the RCTO 

participants to chart their progress in improving regional 

operations. The performance measures selected were a 

combination of outputs and outcomes with an attempt to 

make the measurement process as practical and affordable 

as possible while still being informative. While the RCTO 

working group tried to keep to a 3 to 5 year timeframe 

for the objectives, they realized that some of the objectives 

would require significant resources allocated through 

the region’s TIP process so a number of objectives were 

extended to 5 or 10 years.

During the process of establishing objectives, stakeholder 

enthusiasm and participation began to wane in part 

due to the conceptual nature of the process but also 

because the group now had the daunting task of trying 

to develop and implement strategies to reach 17 different 

objectives in 6 operations areas. Sensing difficulties ahead, 

the RCTO leadership worked with the participants 
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•	 improving traffic incident management.

• 	 improving coordination among traffic, public safety,

and transit agencies.

2.	 Improve traveler safety.

The RCTO stakeholders delved into two specific programs 

or activities that would help them reach their objectives: 

creating a regional traffic signal operations program and 

multi-jurisdictional sharing of traffic management resources 

such as dynamic message signs. 

During the development of the regional signal program 

section of the RCTO, PAG and the RCTO stakeholders 

helped to secure funding for the program from local taxes 

through the Regional Transportation Authority funding 

program for the first 5 years; the RCTO group plans to 

apply for TIP funding following that time. 

Traveler Information

During the development of the PAG ITS Strategic Deployment 

Plan, PAG’s Transportation Systems Subcommittee developed 

a vision for the ideal traveler information system in the Tucson 

metropolitan region. The RCTO was an appropriate and timely 

mechanism for stakeholders to realize this vision in a strategic 

and collaborative manner. The Tucson metropolitan area has 

access to several traveler information resources, including a 

local resource called TransView.org, the statewide Arizona 511 

system, and private companies that relay information through 

the radio and the Internet. During the RCTO development, 

the stakeholders recognized the need to coordinate traveler 

information systems in the region, reduce duplicative efforts, 

and make better use of the existing systems in disseminating 

information. 

Specifically, the Tucson area RCTO working group agreed upon 

the following objectives for traveler information:

1.	 Reduce traveler delay by improving the quality, quantity,

accessibility, and use of multi-modal traveler information

services in the region.

2.	 Improve the data management and storage of traveler

information.

3. Educate roadway users to improve driver habits.

4.	 Provide current and accurate information to Tucson

metropolitan area traveler information services (work zones,

incidents, other closures).

The RCTO indicates specific actions with agency responsibilities 

in reaching these objectives. Activities include improving the 

Tucson area maps in the statewide system and increasing the 

quantity and quality of the work zone information that is input 

into that system. Additionally, they plan to integrate filtered 

computer aided dispatch (CAD) information from public safety 

agencies, import information from Transview into Arizona 

511 using a regional archived data server, and improve the 

availability of transit information. 

Figure 3. Tucson metropolitan area arterial.

Source: PAG
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The action plan for work zone management includes regular 

regional construction coordination meetings between 

representatives of each jurisdiction from the appropriate 

department to provide updates on construction project 

status to other jurisdictions. The RCTO stakeholders have 

identified the need for a full-time staff person to help 

coordinate projects and maintain a geographic information 

system (GIS) database of active, pending, and future 

projects. To improve safety, the RCTO includes plans for 

implementing regular training and certification for the 

Work Zone Safety and Mobility Rule. 

Benefits of the Approach 

The agencies participating in the PAG RCTO have already 

begun to realize benefits associated with developing 

common operations objectives and performance measures 

and implementing a strategic approach for coordinated 

operations. The RCTO has enabled the region to reflect on 

its operational needs and make realistic decisions on what 

they should focus their efforts on to make improvements. 

Since large amounts of capital funds would not be available 

in the short term, the RCTO stakeholders focused 

on efforts that would allow agencies to find solutions 

that are more efficient by combining common needs 

and centralizing services, such as with the traffic signal 

program. Additionally, PAG agencies found ways to get 

more use out of resources such as dynamic message signs 

by sharing. Finally, coordination of existing practices such 

as traveler information and work zone management is 

allowing agencies to provide better service to travelers. By 

developing a written strategy for operations and identifying 

responsibilities and performance measures, the stakeholders 

have a greater chance of maintaining the momentum 

toward achieving their objectives.

Work Zone Management

The RCTO working group found another high priority 

need in work zone management as a result of the initial 

interviews and working group meetings. Construction in 

the Tucson area is performed by individual agencies with 

no formal way to enable agencies to schedule their work in 

ways that minimize the impact on travelers. With the 2006 

passage of a 20-year Regional Transportation Authority 

Plan and 1⁄2 cent excise tax to fund the plan, there will be a 

significant increase in new construction projects throughout 

the region. The Regional Transportation Authority Board 

has made it a policy to:

“(1) encourage construction planning and phasing 

which limits the impacts of construction on parallel 

routes, and (2) encourage planning and phasing 

of safety, intersection, ITS and other program 

improvements so that they may be in place in advance 

of major construction on a nearby parallel corridor 

so as to facilitate traffic flow that may be impacted by 

construction of the corridor.”1

In addition, the RCTO stakeholders have placed a high 

priority on increasing safety within work zones.

Stated objectives within the RCTO for work zone 

management are:

1.	 Improve multi-agency coordination for large-scale work

zones. Reduce the potential for parallel work zones.

2.	 Reduce traveler delay due to work zones.

•	 Improve speed management and travel time

	reliability within work zones.

3.	 Maintain/improve work zone safety.

• 	 Reduce the number of traffic-related incidents

	within work zones.

•	 Minimize impact of work zones on emergency

response routes.

1

 Pima Association of Governments, Regional Concept for Transportation Operations Final Report, July 5, 2007.
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Challenges and Lessons 

Learned

Obtaining Support from Decisionmakers Including 

Agency Leadership

The objectives of the RCTO and action plans originated 

among mid-level operators within most agencies 

participating in developing the PAG RCTO. While these 

individuals were adept at identifying crucial needs and 

strategies to address these needs, agency commitment of 

staff, funding, or equipment had to come from the upper 

levels of agencies or departments. Gathering the necessary 

commitment is still a work in progress in Tucson, but there 

were a couple of strategies that the RCTO group used 

to gather support from agency leadership. The primary 

champion of the RCTO, a senior planner at PAG, made 

use of a monthly breakfast meeting between regional 

leaders to brief the leaders on ideas arising from the RCTO 

working group, such as the traffic signal program. The 

second technique that the RCTO working group used was 

to have the agency representative in the working group 

advocate for the RCTO objectives and action plans to their 

management.

Defining Performance Measures that are both Reasonable to 

Measure and Provide Adequate Information

The PAG RCTO working group struggled to commit to 

performance measures that were outcome-oriented because 

of the effort required to obtain and analyze the necessary 

data. Participating agencies did not feel that they could 

commit to the resources that would be required for some of 

the performance measures. As a result, the RCTO working 

group maintained the performance orientation, but 

developed a mix of outcome and output-style performance 

measures that did not require a major investment in new 

data collection. This is what was determined to be realistic 

for the region at that time.

Late in the demonstration project, regional operations 

and emergency service stakeholders chose to apply the 

RCTO approach to preparing and organizing for incident 

management within a 5-mile I-10 construction project 

through the urban core. Stakeholders identified goals and 

objectives related to incident management activities during 

the construction and identified many actions and needs 

as a result of examining this operations issue more closely. 

Much of the benefit of this examination came from a 

tabletop workshop exercise that was organized among key 

agencies. The workshop resulted in open dialogue among 

key agencies involved in traffic incident management 

activities and has led to a greater understanding of the plan 

of action for the multiple agencies involved in incident 

management for the I-10 corridor and the construction 

zone. The dialogue led to significant clarification of agency 

roles and responsibilities and helped improve relationships, 

especially between the transportation and emergency 

service communities. The workshop resulted in participants 

identifying a desire to establish a regional traffic incident 

management program that includes regular exercises such as 

the one conducted. 

Initial key achievements:

•	 PAG has secured funding for regional traffic signal

program. 

• 	 Multi-jurisdictional coordination of work zones is

already beginning to take place through meetings 

between construction representatives from multiple 

agencies.

• 	 PAG has now been identified as an effective regional

table for operations collaboration and is now being 

used to help coordinate and improve traffic incident 

management for the I-10 reconstruction project.

•	 ADOT and local agencies in Tucson have already

been able to work through roadblocks to sharing and 

coordinating traveler information.
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References

Pima Association of Governments, Regional Concept for

Transportation Operations Final Report, July 5, 2007. 

FHWA, Telephone and In-Person Interviews with Paul 

Casertano, Pima Associations of Governments, 2005 - 2008.

Obtaining Funding through the Transportation Improvement 

Program for the Near Future

The PAG stakeholders recognized that there were some 

operations activities specified in the RCTO that would 

need funding through the TIP. Because TIP funding was 

not immediately available and had to be applied for years 

in advance, the PAG stakeholders had to extend the overall 

timeframe for reaching some of the objectives to 5 to 10 

years. The stakeholders were successful in accessing funding 

for regional projects supported by multiple jurisdictions. 

Regional support was important in helping operations 

compete with infrastructure projects for TIP funding.

Moving Forward

The implementation of the PAG RCTO is moving forward 

with the PAG Transportation Systems Subcommittee and 

the RTA Safety Working Group as the primary forums 

for coordination. In the area of traveler information, 

ADOT and City of Tucson staff have committed to make 

modifications to their respective systems in order to be 

consistent with the regional vision for traveler information. 

Improvements are being made to the City of Tucson’s 

TransView.org website so local agencies can enter in their 

upcoming construction projects and have them displayed on 

a common map. The PAG stakeholders see the RCTO as a 

template to be used for other operations areas in the future, 

such as traffic incident management. PAG embarked on a 

major update to their congestion management process in 

2008. The agency looks to the RCTO to provide substantial 

input on management and operations strategies, objectives, 

and performance measures.

FHWA-HOP-09-048