Implementing the Agency Capability Building Framework to Activate Organizational Change (2025)
Chapter: Summary
Summary
In today’s rapidly evolving environment, state transportation agencies frequently encounter challenges that necessitate specific organizational capabilities. Trends such as workforce changes, new and evolving technologies, shifting agency roles and areas of focus, legislative and regulatory changes, and changes in public expectations all impact an agency’s ability to carry out its mission and meet the needs of the traveling public. To fill these resource needs, agencies need new organizational, workforce, information, data, and knowledge management strategies to collaborate more closely with public and private sector stakeholders.
In 2019, NCHRP Project 20-24(95), “Ensuring Essential Capability for the Future Transportation Agency,” developed the Agency Capability Building (ACB) Portal and digital guidebook, which are available online at https://www.agencycapability.com/ and https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP_20-24(95)_Final_Documents.pdf. The guidebook presents a framework, supporting tools, and resources for building transportation agency capabilities. The framework encompasses the trends (also referred to as change forces) and the organizational needs that reflect the capabilities required to respond to these trends. It outlines specific strategies that can be employed to address these needs by building and enhancing capabilities. The project addresses the current and likely future changes in the DOT (department of transportation) landscape, responding to the strategies transportation agencies should employ to build and maintain their essential organizational capabilities to deliver value. It is designed to address various situations and provide role-specific tools and resources for executives, core agency leaders, and senior practitioners interested in making their agency more resilient and adaptable to change.
This NCHRP Project 20-44(40), “Implementing the Agency Capability Building Framework to Activate Organizational Change,” is intended to “[F]acilitate the use of the ACB by transportation agencies.” The research approach includes validating the persistence of the framework, disseminating information about the value and content of the previous project, and supporting transportation agencies’ use of the ACB guidance delivered through the ACB Portal and online guidebook by continuing to enhance the resource base.
State DOTs and other transportation agencies need a resource like the portal now more than ever. Consistently throughout the project, during individual interviews, AASHTO and TRB committee outreach, and as part of the recent peer exchanges, transportation executives and senior practitioners expressed that this resource is the right tool at the right time for providing a repository of shared practices to help agencies adapt to an ever-changing transportation landscape.
This implementation project incorporated various communication and outreach efforts, including promotional materials, a Community of Practice (COP), presentations at AASHTO and TRB committee and subcommittee meetings and other events, sharing noteworthy video examples and deep dive cases studies of agencies using various strategies documented in the ACB resource base to develop capabilities, and peer learning via virtual peer exchanges and a capstone workshop.
This report summarizes the activities completed as part of NCHRP Project 20-44(40), documenting the activities, participants, data collected, and lessons learned from the research effort. It is organized by major activities, focusing on the purpose, methodology, deliverables, findings, and results. Associated linked resources and appendices are included, representing the key products of the research.
