TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

As our existing transportation infrastructure ages and demand for travel 

and moving goods increases, more major rehabilitation and new capacity 

projects are required. This means that there are more work zones that 

trigger network disruptions and unexpected travel delays. These delays 

reduce the reliability of travel and can have a major impact on 

emergency responders and freight mobility. 

TSMO is integral to effective work zone management. For 

example, TSMO strategies can encourage travelers to 

use alternate routes during construction, enhancing the 

safety and efficiency of construction crews by reducing 

the number of vehicles traveling through an active 

work zone. More specifically, TSMO strategies can:

 Provide road users with more “up front” information

about planned work that will reduce capacity while offering mobility 

alternativesto help drivers avoid delays due to work zones(e.g., 

alternate routes, modes, or travel times).

 Improve traffic flow through work zones by using dynamic traffic

management technologies and providing real-time data and traveler

information to transportation agencies and system users.

 Assist construction crews, heavy equipment operators, and delivery

vehiclesto enter and exit construction sites safely and efficiently.

Construction staff also need to consider TSMO both when a project 

includes the installation of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) or 

when ITS is already installed and needs to be kept operational during 

construction. 

TSMO can increase the available capacity of transportation facilities 

though better management of demand and flow disruptions. This 

can delay the need to construct new lanes or roadways. While these 

decisions are generally made during planning, construction personnel 

should be aware of this important connection to TSMO.

Traveler Information and Public

Information Campaigns

Encountering an active work zone with no prior warning about travel 

delays is a major cause of driver frustration. Timely and accurate traveler 

information is a core function of TSMO programs. Information campaigns 

include notifying and engaging those who might be affected by route 

diversions, such as business districts and nearby neighborhoods. 

Transportation management centers (TMC) send lane closure information 

Enhancing Transportation:

connecti ng tsmo 

and CONS TRUC TION

WHAT IS TSMO?

Transportation systems management 

and operations (TSMO) is the use of 

strategies, technologies, mobility services, 

and programs to optimize the safety, 

mobility, and reliability of the existing 

and planned transportation system. 

A significant cause of congestion and 

unreliable travel is non-recurring events, 

such as crashes, and transportation 

network disruptions, such as bad 

weather, and special events. TSMO 

enables agencies to target the underlying 

operational causes of congestion and 

unreliable travel through innovative 

solutions that typically cost less and 

are quicker to implement than adding 

capacity. TSMO expands the range of 

mobility choices available to system 

users, including shared mobility and nonmotorized options. 

This Fact Sheet is part of a series that 

explains how TSMO relates to other 

State and local transportation agency 

functions and offices. Other Fact 

Sheets focus on how TSMO relates 

to: asset management, performance 

management, maintenance, design, 

environment, planning, human 

resources, and safety.

CONSTRUCTION

Source: Getty Images

Source: Getty Images
ENHANCING TRANSPORTATION: CONNECTING TMSO AND CONSTRUCTION

through multiple channels to warn travelers ahead of time 

and provide routing guidance to travelers prior to and 

during construction activities. 

Managing Work Zones for 

Safety, Mobilit y, and Efficiency

TSMO offers several important benefits to construction 

departments in State and local transportation agencies and 

to contractors working in work zones:

 TSMO strategies support accelerated construction

methods that reduce construction time. For example,

full closures (in one or both directions) can lead to more

efficient project delivery while minimizing extended

disruptions to the public. TSMO analytical tools can help 

assess the feasibility of full closure and evaluate

alternate routing.

 TMCs can remotely monitor construction activity

and travel mobility through multiple work zones

simultaneously. This allows TMC operators to quickly and

efficiently identify and address incidents or other issues.

 Arterial work zones can benefit from adjusted signal

timing during construction to reduce impacts to

automobiles, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

 Traffic incident management (TIM) strategies can provide

benefits during construction through expanded motorist

assistance patrols, pre-positioned tow and recovery

vehicles, and rapid response to incidents near or in the

work zone. TIM works to safely and quickly clear incidents

and return traffic to its normal flow, reducing congestion

and the risks of secondary incidents.

 Strategies such asspeed monitoring, speed control, and

traveler information in a work zone can improve driver

awareness, increasing worker safety.

 TSMO strategies can increase mobility and safety by

detecting current traffic conditions and dynamically

adjusting to them using real-time traffic control methods

such as queue warning systems, dynamic lane merge

systems, variable speed limits, lane control signs, and

real-time traveler information systems, which have

proven highly effective in work zones.1

ITS Systems in Construction

ITS are part of many TSMO strategies. Construction 

projects often include building and deploying ITS 

infrastructure, which presents a unique set of challenges 

to the construction crews that integrate power and 

communications into the facility and connect ITS field 

components to a TMC or other facilities. These systems 

require extensive testing, and the equipment must 

be field-hardened for weather and maintenance and 

protected from theft, vandalism, and misuse. Installation 

crews will need specialized knowledge of TSMO strategies 

to ensure that they understand the importance of this 

equipment for managing traffic on new or improved 

facilities and the potential for disruption if devices fail or 

are misused. Some equipment may be used for managing 

reversible lanes, variable speed limits, dynamic message 

signs, and ramp meters, which can directly affect the 

mobility and safety of travelers.

How Has This Worked in Practice?

 The Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) used

an end-of-queue warning system that reduced crashes

up to 45 percent on a construction project to widen 96

miles of an interstate highway.2

 The Minnesota DOT successfully used dynamic late

merge systems to help minimize the queue length in

traffic work zones.3

 The Transportation Operations Coordinating

Committee (TRANSCOM) is a coalition of 16

transportation and public safety agencies in the New

York/New Jersey/Connecticut region that was founded

in 1986 to facilitate coordination of construction

projects on a regional basis. TRANSCOM has expanded

its role and now its 24/7 operations information

center collects and disseminates real-time incident,

construction, and special event information to member

and non-member agencies.4 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Joseph Gregory, Federal Highway Administration

(202) 366-0610 | Joseph.Gregory@dot.gov

FHWA-HOP-18-092

December 2018

1 Federal Highway Administration, Active Transportation and Demand Management (ATDM) Program Brief: ATDM and Work Zones, FHWA-HOP-16-015, 2016. Available at: https://ops.

fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop16015/index.htm.

2 Innovative End-of-queue Warning System Reduces Crashes up to 45 %, ARTBA, 2015. Available at https://www.workzonesafety.org/files/documents/training/courses_programs/

rsa_program/RSP_Guidance_Documents_Download/RSP_EndOfQueueWarning_Guidance_Download.pdf.

3 Evaluation of 2004 Dynamic Late Merge System for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2004. Available at: www.dot.state.mn.us/

trafficeng/workzone/doc/2004DLMS-Evaluation.pdf.

4 Federal Highway Administration, Transportation Systems Management and Operations in Action, 2017, FHWA-HOP-17-025. Available at: https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop17025/.