Administration of Highway and Transportation Agencies. Ensuring Essential Capability for the Future Transportation Agency

The objectives of this research were to (1) describe emerging issues and societal and technological trends likely to influence the ability of DOTs and other government transportation agencies to develop and maintain the essential capabilities they need to fulfill their missions; (2) engage senior agency leadership and others in discussion of the leadership challenges these issues and trends represent; and (3) provide guidance on strategies agencies may pursue—for example through active management of their workforces and knowledge bases—to understand and meet these challenges. The research--bridging knowledge management and workforce development issues--was conducted in several phases. In Phase 1 the research team used a review of literature and interviews with organizational psychology and human resources experts to gain insights on workforce trends, capabilities building, and organization management strategies and then develop an initial capability analysis framework for characterizing and assessing transportation agency capabilities and identifying and evaluating management strategies for developing and maintaining organizational capabilities. The team conducted organizational capabilities workshops in conjunction with the four AASHTO regional meetings in the summer of 2017, to solicit comment on the initial agency capability analysis framework and insights into what characteristics of the project's research products would be most useful to DOTs, considering trends likely to have impact on state transportation agency business activities in the future, current agency organizational capabilities, and management strategies for developing and maintaining organizational capabilities. Phase 2 and 3 commenced in Fall 2018. The products of these phases were (1) guidance on strategies agencies may pursue to develop and maintain the essential capabilities they need to fulfill their missions and (2) initiation of a community of interest, agency professionals engaged in development of the guidance and prepared to disseminate and use the guidance for their agencies' benefit. The products of NCHRP-sponsored work were delivered to AASHTO and made available on that organization's Agency Capability Building Web Portal.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3679

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $575000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 20-24(95)

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Lemer, Andrew

• Performing Organizations:

  Spy Pond Partners, LLC

  Arlington, MA  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Park, Hyun-A

  Harrison, Frances

• Start Date: 20161007
• Expected Completion Date: 20191218
• Actual Completion Date: 20191218
• Source Data: RiP Project 41156

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Knowledge; Management; State departments of transportation; Strategic planning; Technological innovations; Workforce
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01613149
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 20-24(95)
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 14 2016 9:14AM