TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

The transportation industry is rapidly evolving due to the widespread 

adoption of advanced technology and a new emphasis on 

management and operations. It needs a skilled workforce that can 

support quickly emerging demands. The industry depends on human 

resource (HR) practitioners to integrate the new job classifications, 

recruitment approaches, skill sets, and career paths that are needed to 

lead transportation agencies into the future.

TSMO focuses on managing and operating the transportation 

system by applying innovative and cutting-edge techniques and 

technologies. As a result, the TSMO practitioner workforce of the 

future should have a broad skillset that allows individuals to work in 

areas such as systems engineering, data management, cybersecurity, 

software development, and emergency response. By integrating 

the skills and abilities required to staff a successful TSMO program 

into their hiring and staff development activities, HR departments 

contribute to the mission of advancing the capability of the agency. 

Today, many agencies struggle to recruit and retain staff with the 

needed skillsets for TSMO. Traditional job classifications often do not fit 

many of the TSMO needs, and limited career paths make it difficult to 

attract and retain talented staff. Nationally, work is underway to support 

TSMO hiring and workforce development, helping HR departments 

integrate TSMO needs into their activities. Efforts to develop a TSMO 

workforce involve working with colleges and universities to include 

TSMO curricula for both undergraduate and graduate coursework 

across a range of departments; defining TSMO-related knowledge, 

skills, and abilities (KSAs) and position descriptions for different job 

types; recruiting and retaining key TSMO staff; and contributing to 

employee career development. 

A research project from the National Cooperative Highway Research 

Program will provide key workforce development information and 

produce resources and guidance for departments of transportation 

(DOTs) and other agencies on the development of TSMO capabilities in 

four specific areas:1

 Position descriptions for staff.

 KSA statements for TSMO positions.

 TSMO personnel recruitment strategies.

 TSMO professional development and retention strategies.

These products are expected to be available by 2019.

1 NCHRP 20-07/Task 408, Transportation System Management and Operations (TSMO) 

Workforce: Skills, Positions, Recruitment, Retention, and Career Development. Description at 

http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4326.

HUMAN RESOURCES

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, design, safety, 

environment, planning, maintenance, 

and construction.

Enhancing Transportation:

Connecting TSMO anD 

HuMAN RESOURCES

Photo Source: Getty Images
2

ENHANCING TRANSPORTATION: CONNECTING TSMO AND HUMAN RESOURCES

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Joseph Gregory, Federal Highway Administration 

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

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has also advanced workforce development efforts by establishing a sample 

university curriculum and holding forums that expand opportunities for transportation practitioners to gain expertise and 

exchange ideas on strategies and technologies for enhancing transportation systems operations.2 FHWA has also developed 

and promoted the use of capability maturity frameworks, which help agencies identify their current TSMO capabilities and 

guide them in taking steps to increase their TSMO capabilities.3 Table 1 describes the workforce development actions from the 

frameworks and the issues these actions address. 

FHWA-HOP-18-093

December 2018

How Has This Worked in 

Practice?

 The Oregon DOT recognized the value (to both the

department and the employee) and efficiency of crosstraining employees in different areas. For example,

maintenance workers are cross-trained as incident

response personnel since they may be the first to

arrive on the scene of an incident.4

 Operations managers at the Ohio DOT have worked

with the HR department to revise job descriptions

and restructure positions for the transportation

management center staff and ITS technology

jobs. They identified a TSMO coordinator in each

district in the State and give them newly assigned

responsibilities. As part of Ohio DOT’s Early Action

Implementation Plan for TSMO, they have planned out

steps for establishing TSMO-oriented career paths and

retention and succession plans.5

Where can I learn more? 

 National Operations Center of Excellence, TSMO

Workforce Development website. Available at:

https://transportationops.org/workforce.

 USDOT ITS Joint Program Office, ITS Professional

Capacity Building Program website. Available at:

https://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/.

 Consortium for Innovative Transportation

Education (CITE) website. Available at: http://www.

citeconsortium.org/.

 2 National Operations Center of Excellence, Regional Operations Forums 

website. Available at: https://transportationops.org/resources/regionaloperations-forums. 

 3 Federal Highway Administration, Business Process Frameworks for 

Transportation Operations website, 2018. Available at https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/

tsmoframeworktool/index.htm.

4 US Domestic Scan Program, Leading Management Practices for Developing 

a Cross-Trained Workforce, 2016. Available at http://www.domesticscan.

org/13-01-leading-management-practices-for-developing-a-cross-trainedworkforce.

 5 Ohio DOT, ODOT Transportation Systems Management and Operations Plan 

Early Action Implementation Plan, Updated December 2017. Available at: 

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Operations/Traffic-Management/Documents/Early_Action_Implementation_Plan_2018_0117.pdf. 

Workforce 

Development ActionCreating a clearly defined process for career advancement.

Issue Addressed

There are limited career options for TSMO staff since it is 

not a well-known program, like design or construction.

Funding and encouraging staff to attend technical training 

programs and professional conferences as part of staff 

development.

The standard civil engineering curriculum may not fully 

prepare the employee to work in TSMO.

Creating mentoring programs and succession planning to 

ensure that TSMO institutional knowledge is maintained 

during personnel transitions. 

Public agencies experience frequent turnover due to 

retirements and staff moving to the private sector.

Table 1. Workforce development actions and the issues they address.

Organizations such as FHWA’s National Highway Institute, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent 

Transportation System (ITS) Joint Program Office, and the Consortium for ITS Training and Education have also developed 

training resources for TSMO practitioners.