Enhancing collaboration and performance on capital tolling programs

Leveraging a program management approach offers toll agencies opportunities to foster collaboration, streamline procurement and successfully deliver impactful capital programs

By Jennifer Harris and Johnny Morcos | HNTB

Toll agencies are planning and delivering large, interconnected capital programs to meet the mobility needs of the communities they serve. These efforts often span disciplines and involve multiple contracts, requiring effective coordination and alignment across the program.

Many toll agencies are embracing a program management approach – an integrated framework that brings consistency, flexibility and strategic alignment to efficiently and cost-effectively deliver capital programs.

By coordinating multiple projects under a program management structure, agencies can:

• Foster real-time collaboration across internal teams and external partners
• Increase transparency and enable shared decision-making through integrated digital tools
• Streamline procurement through consistent, program-wide strategies

Fostering real-time collaboration

A program management approach can help unify teams around shared goals and promote seamless communication across disciplines, departments and delivery phases.

Key practices such as structured kickoff workshops, RACI matrices (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed), and clearly defined governance protocols create clarity from the start. Properly leveraged program management tools and techniques help define expectations, reduce ambiguity and build trust among project stakeholders. Regular coordination meetings, shared dashboards and issue-resolution protocols further support a culture of transparency, ensuring that decisions are made with timely, consistent input from across the program.

By building in consistency around collaboration, program management teams can formalize a more agile and connected approach to delivery. Teams are then better positioned to anticipate challenges, align decisions and maintain momentum across every phase of the tolling program. Faster project delivery can lead to faster revenue service.

Empowering decisions with integrated technology

A program management approach also can facilitate the integration of digital tools across all levels of tolling program delivery, ensuring that data flows seamlessly between projects, contracts and decision-makers. Rather than deploying technologies in isolation, a program management team can help to establish a coordinated digital strategy that supports real-time collaboration, visibility and accountability.

This level of integration is increasingly important as tolling programs grow in size and complexity. With multiple projects advancing in parallel, agencies can leverage consistent and reliable information to manage risk, monitor performance and allocate resources effectively. Program managers help play a central role in aligning tools and data standards across delivery teams, ensuring that engineers, planners, financial analysts and leadership work from a shared, up-to-date source of truth.

Implementation often includes GIS-based platforms for key project activities, centralized dashboards that synthesize schedule and cost data, and embedded business intelligence analysts who tailor these tools to agency priorities. By structuring technology around the program, not just individual tasks, agencies gain an enterprise-wide view of delivery progress and can act on insights proactively rather than reactively.

Streamline procurement through standardized models and strategies

Within a program management approach, agencies have the opportunity to standardize procurement processes across projects, increasing consistency in contract execution. Standardized contract templates, evaluation criteria and scopes of work can help agencies maintain quality while accelerating delivery timelines.

This consistency is particularly important in tolling programs where multiple procurements may be advancing at once across planning, design, construction and systems integration. A program management approach can ensure that procurement efforts are aligned with agency goals, tailored to the needs of each contract and informed by market conditions. The result is a streamlined, coordinated process that supports timely execution, reinforces accountability and helps deliver projects that contribute to a cohesive, agency-wide vision.

Key considerations for implementing a program management approach

A few foundational considerations can help ensure successful tolling program delivery:

• Clarify the program structure and responsibilities: Clearly defining how program management fits into the broader agency organization is essential. Establishing roles early, whether related to procurement, contract oversight, stakeholder engagement or data analytics, prevents duplication of effort and promotes efficient collaboration across internal and external teams.
• Ensure integration with agency systems and workflows: Program management is most effective when it’s aligned with the tools and systems already in use, such as permitting platforms, financial reporting tools or GIS databases. Whether through colocation or strong virtual collaboration, integrating teams into a shared ecosystem accelerates coordination.
• Establish shared performance metrics: Agencies can strengthen transparency and strategic alignment by defining a clear set of key performance indicators at the outset, such as schedule adherence, small and local business participation, digital tool adoption or cost control. These metrics help track progress, support continuous improvement and align delivery decisions with broader agency goals.

A robust framework for capital project delivery

The capacity to orchestrate coordination across disciplines, projects and shifting priorities is essential for the success of tolling agencies. Program management provides a comprehensive framework that fosters real-time collaboration, unified procurement strategies and the seamless integration of advanced digital tools. By embracing these strategies, agencies are empowered to anticipate challenges, respond with agility and deliver expansive, multi-year capital programs with confidence and precision.