What data should local jurisdictions, transit agencies and others provide to RM3P? What should they expect in return? How can these groups benefit each other? Those are some of the core questions being hammered out by RM3P’s Cooperative Agreements Ad-Hoc Committee.
The cooperative agreements process entails setting expectations among public-sector stakeholders around data-sharing and incident/congestion response practices. It defines the framework governing the relationships and interactions among the public-sector partners, including mechanisms for agency feedback. (Read more on cooperative agreements, in RM3P Program Principal Cathy McGhee’s own words.)
The Ad-Hoc Committee is still developing the details and terms of the cooperative agreements. These agreements are expected to provide guidance on roles and responsibilities for all parties involved, the categories of data to be shared, RM3P team access to commuter lots, response plans generated by the Artificial Intelligence-Based Decision Support System (AI-DSS), terms and conditions for adding commuter lots to the parking initiative, and other program element-specific details. The Committee will also specify the protocols for communications between the partners on developing and updating response plans, activating response plans, and furnishing response plan after-action feedback.
For now, cooperative agreements are being applied only to the AI-DSS and the Commuter Parking Information System (CPIS). This is because the Data-Exchange Platform (DEP), which is building on the existing Regional Integrated Transportation Information System (RITIS) platform, already has relationships in place with data providers. Similarly, the Dynamic Incentivization (DI) component of RM3P will utilize existing governance structures, such as the Northern Virginia (NoVA) Travel Demand Management (TDM) Committee, for outreach partnership.
The Committee includes representatives from VDOT’s Central Office, VDOT’s Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg Districts, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), and the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA). In recent months, the Committee has held learning sessions with stakeholders involved in operations, incident management, and parking from local jurisdictions and transit agencies.
The Committee looks forward to continuing these conversations with stakeholders as they work together to identify strategies to optimize the performance and efficacy of RM3P.