Organizational Design

After completion and approval of the System Requirements, the systems engineering process moves into the design and development phase:

As the project timeline illustrates, however, many of the tasks in building the I-210 Pilot proceed in parallel rather than in a linear way, and ongoing work in several project areas has contributed to the design and development effort.

Organizational Design

When considering the design of the ICM system, it is important to remember that "the system" is the totality of mechanisms and processes, both human and technological, needed for it to operate successfully:

Organizational design focuses on the human dimension: the agencies and people involved with the ICM system—who they are, what they do, and how they interact with other parts of the system and with each other to effectively manage the corridor.

Corridor-centric organization

A fundamental challenge, as well as the essential strength, of Integrated Corridor Management is the need to think of transportation management in multi-modal, multi-jurisdictional, corridor-wide terms. For agencies at all levels, this can represent a significant cultural shift and a departure from standard practice.

As leader of the state's ICM effort, Caltrans has addressed this challenge in several ways:

  • Reorganization—Caltrans has implemented a reorganization plan to advance corridor management both for the I-210 Pilot and for future deployments across California. This includes establishing Corridor Managers to oversee corridor operations, coordinate with partner agencies, promote collaborative planning, advance corridor-centric solutions, and more.
  • Organizational infrastructure—As part of the reorganization, Caltrans has worked to put organizational structures, business processes, skills, and training in place to support a holistic, culture-focused solution to corridor management.
  • TSM&O—These organizational changes coincide with  Caltrans' moving toward a Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSM&O) approach to meeting the transportation needs of the state.

More details can be found on the Caltrans Commitment page

Institutional requirements

A substantial portion of the System Requirements addresses the institutional support and participation needed for the ICM system. The requirements identify the stakeholder agencies, staff roles that must be filled to successfully operate and maintain the system, categories of institutional requirements that must be met, and specific needs of the I-210 Pilot. A snapshot of the institutional requirements can be found in the Requirements Summary, with full details in the System Requirements document.

Job descriptions, duties, tasks

Drawing on the System Requirements, the project team was able to create job descriptions for the roles needed to plan and implement the I-210 Pilot. The descriptions list the duties and tasks for the following roles:

  • Corridor Champions
  • Corridor Manager
  • Corridor Technical Manager
  • Corridor Data Analyst
  • Traffic Engineers
  • Data Analysts
  • Software Engineers
  • Electrical Engineers
  • Database Administrators
  • Stakeholders
  • Maintenance Staff
  • IT Support
  • IT Security
  • Traffic Management Center (TMC) Operators
  • Traffic Control System (TCS) Operators
  • Transit Field Supervisors
  • Public Information Officers
  • First Responders                             
  • Outreach and Communications Manager

For each role, the responsibilities are grouped by requirement type (Institutional Support, Strategic Response Planning, Data Management, etc.). The intent is to provide a way to:

  • see exactly what personnel are needed and which organization(s) will supply them
  • understand the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required for each job
  • trace the job functions directly to the System Requirements

Stakeholders decide how these roles will be filled at their particular agencies. Not every agency will have every role, and specific job titles may vary from agency to agency.

Ongoing outreach and engagement

Among the many variables inherent in planning, designing, developing, deploying, operating, and maintaining an ICM system, an essential constant is the collaborative engagement of project stakeholders. For this reason, outreach and communication efforts continue throughout the life of the project—through meetings, agreements between agencies, outreach to existing and new stakeholders, coordination of numerous aspects of the project, and more—as shown in the project timeline:


As the I-210 Pilot's design and development phase unfolds, for example, stakeholders are involved in such activities as:

  • equipment installation
  • communications upgrades
  • data quality improvements
  • model reviews
  • response plan development
  • software installation
  • Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reviews
  • roles and responsibilities specification

Ongoing outreach and engagement are vital for accomplishing these tasks and for the overall success of the Pilot—to ensure that participants remain informed, involved, and committed to keeping  the project  on track and moving in the right direction.