Transportation System Management and Operations - TSMO

Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) is a philosophy that considers existing levels of safety and mobility across all our modes as an asset, one to be intentionally preserved, maintained and managed. While safety and mobility are not new goals to transportation agencies, historically identified deficiencies in these areas were addressed by major capital projects (e.g., adding a lane, building an interchange). However, for many reasons, including increasing travel demand, limited funding, physical constraints, and changing public opinion, expanding roadways is not as an immediate solution today as it once was.

TSMO seeks to operate the existing transportation system as safely and efficiently as possible, often maintaining or even regaining previous capacity levels and improving safety performance levels. Implementation of TSMO focuses on cost-effective, near-term solutions that are multimodal, cross-jurisdictional, and applicable on all roadway types. The TSMO video talks about how WSDOT is implementing these project development strategies throughout the agency.

The TSMO website is an educational tool to help transportation professionals learn about concepts in planning, engineering, operations aimed at getting the most out of the transportation facilities we already have.

TSMO plan (summer 2021) - TSMO planning is more than creating and advancing a 'list of projects.' The implementation of a TSMO plan will result in a safer and more efficient transportation system. Moreover, it will aim to answer the question: " how do we plan, fund, and operate our facilities from an integrated multimodal, multijurisdictional perspective:" The plan considers the agency through cross-cutting lenses, such as culture, business processes, organization and workforce, performance measurements, technology, and collaboration.