Who better to provide insight into the latest RM3P developments than the Program Principal herself? Cathy McGhee, chair of the RM3P Executive Committee and recently named Chief Deputy Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation, took time to clue us in on current RM3P happenings, particularly activities concerning cooperative agreements.
RM3P: Cathy, congratulations on your recent appointment as VDOT’s Chief Deputy Commissioner! As the RM3P initiative moves closer to implementation, how will RM3P contribute to Virginia and the RM3P region’s vision and plans for the future?
Cathy McGhee (CM): VDOT has made a real commitment to Operations, particularly in the last year or so, recognizing that we need to put Operations on par with Construction and Maintenance in terms of what the Department really focuses on. RM3P is a great example of just why that’s so important. It really does give us the opportunity to manage our transportation assets across an entire region, across modes, and across jurisdictions. Making sure that all of the transportation stakeholders in the region are working together to improve safety and mobility is crucial. It’s such a great opportunity to highlight what true Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) strategies can bring to a region. The other thing I’d like to point out is that RM3P really is giving travelers an opportunity to be part of the solution, particularly through the Dynamic Incentivization piece. People will be able to see how their own behaviors can impact travel across the region, and I think that’s really exciting.
RM3P: Recently, the RM3P team has been hard at work defining cooperative agreements among partnering agencies. What are cooperative agreements and how do they support RM3P’s mission?
CM: A key component of RM3P is this multi-jurisdictional cooperation, and we know that doesn’t just happen. Unless we really document what everyone’s responsibilities are and what the benefits are that everyone will see coming out of RM3P, it’s much harder to actually implement. Cooperative agreements are our way of documenting what each partner will contribute to RM3P and what they’ll be getting back in exchange for their contribution.
With RM3P, a big part of that is data. Without data from all of the jurisdictional and transit partners, the decisions that will be made through the Decision Support System (DSS), or the incentives that will be offered through Dynamic Incentivization, just won’t work. These cooperative agreements are really important to make sure everyone’s on the same page about expectations. I think these agreements are the linchpin as we move from program development into deployment.
RM3P: Can you give an example of how cooperative agreements apply to one of the RM3P program elements – for example, the Artificial Intelligence-Based Decision Support System?
CM: The intent of the DSS is to help develop response plans to help us figure out, given a certain set of circumstances with the transportation network, how we should respond to best enhance mobility throughout the region. That’s going to require actions to be taken by our partners across the RM3P region. We need those partners to say, “Yes, I’ve bought in. I believe that the DSS, and therefore the response plans that are developed, are in the best interest of the region as a whole, and I’ll do my part to deploy my piece of the response plan.” It only takes one partner to say, “No, I don’t think so,” for things to not quite work as well. The cooperative agreements that lay out those roles and responsibilities will be really important.
RM3P: What purpose does the Cooperative Agreements Ad-Hoc Committee serve?
CM: This group is not only looking for ways to make sure we have the necessary structure in place, but also that we don’t get caught up in ourselves. It’s easy to get a little too bureaucratic sometimes, particularly when we’re talking about multi-jurisdictional agreements. The Ad-Hoc Committee is making sure that the cooperative agreements include everything they need to include, without being too rigid or too formal. That’s a tough task, but I know these folks are up to it.
RM3P: Cooperative agreements also help define some finer details around contracting and purchasing. Can you elaborate?
CM: As we’re going through the procurement process across the program elements, we’re having conversations about how we can make our procurement vehicles available to our jurisdictional partners who might want to extend the capabilities beyond what we’re doing as a part of RM3P. We’ve been able to do this in the Commuter Parking Information System. We have a series of parking lots for which we will be procuring data on parking availability, and our jurisdictional partners will also have the ability to use that contract vehicle to bring in other parking lots that aren’t a part of the base RM3P deployment. We think that will be really beneficial in extending the overall information availability across the region and also help extend the capabilities of RM3P over time.
RM3P: Any final thoughts?
CM: Some days it feels like it has taken us forever to get to this point, but things are moving fast in the development of the Data-Exchange Platform and with procurement on the other program elements. (Read an update on procurement.) RM3P is a great example of where we’re headed, as an agency and as a transportation industry, particularly here in Virginia. It’s going to be important as we move into the future to make data available to those making decisions about managing the system, as well as to the traveling public. I’m looking forward to seeing RM3P roll out and to the evaluation that will help us determine where we go next with strategies like this.