APTA'S CONFERENCE SERIES ON TSM: OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Although Transportation Systems Management (TSM) has evolved in many directions and exhibits a great variety from city to city and region to region, it is a healthy vital process in many communities. Many factors account for this evolution and for its success or failure. Goal conflicts and frustration of the local TSM process result from the fundamentally different perspectives on TSM taken by various federal agencies. The need for effective leadership of TSM programming and implementation may be thwarted by basic institutional or poitical factors, or by the mounting paperwork which divert the attention of regional planning agencies. The linkage originally envisioned between TSM as a planning process and the transportation improvement program as a program document may also be weakened by the emphasis on federally funded procedures projects and the dichotomy betwen UMTA and FHWA procedures. TSM reflects the variety of strategies and tactical approaches that have created not one but many TSM processes.