Laurie Matkowski attended the Operations Academy Senior Management Program in 2012, when she was the Manager of Transportation Operations Management for the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in Philadelphia, a metropolitan planning organization (MPO). She had started there as a traffic engineer, planning, timing, and developing signal plans and timing permits.
She already had experience with transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) in her role in the MPO and found herself sharing her insights about working within the TSMO mindset with her cohort at the Operations Academy. Most people working in operations in agencies had not collaborated with an MPO, but she remembered that talking about what she knew and hearing from her colleagues in operations had been an especially useful part of the Operations Academy.
“Public sector agencies should have a foundation in TSMO. An actual project using federal funding ended up coming out of those discussions, and that was valuable,” she said. “But the most important thing I got from my time there was getting the network. The folks I was there with at the time, I still count on them. There’s a kinship that we have. We all know what we’ve been taught, and we immediately know what we’re talking about. There is an instant commonality between us.”
Even though the Operations Academy curriculum evolves along with the changes in the transportation industry, Laurie’s connection to others in her cohort and to other Operations Academy alumni through the ListServe helps keep her connected and current.
These days, Laurie is Vice President and Director of Planning at Gennett Fleming TranSystems. Even though 14 years have passed since her attendance at the Operations Academy, she still uses what she learned on a regular basis.
“I spoke at a Regional Operations Leadership Forum, which is a little like the Operations Academy, and I brought my experience to that,” she said. “Having been through the Operations Academy gives me a lot of confidence to speak in front of people. It is extremely important the public sector and the private sector learn about these things. Public sector agencies should have a foundation in TSMO, and if I speak at any conference, I reference the Operations Academy and how the connections and networking are so critical. It is very encouraging for any new person working in TSMO in the public sector.”
Being in the Operations Academy always comes up in conversations she has at conferences, and she always brings it up as part of her experience.
“Going to the Operations Academy elevates your understanding, and being an alumnus adds a note of credibility to your experience,” she said. “We hold ourselves to a higher standard, because we know better, and we can’t do anything less.”
