Metropolitan Orlando is a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for three counties in Florida. When Lara Bouck attended the Operations Academy (OA) Senior Management Program at the University of Maryland in 2021, she was among only a few other transportation industry professionals from an MPO in her cohort. At the time, she was Senior Transportation Engineer and Project Manager—Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO), and her experience was not on the operations side of her agency.
Unlike most other transportation agencies, Metropolitan Orlando does not own or maintain any infrastructure. They run completely on federal funds, which meant that her perspective on transportation challenges was different from most others who also work for other entities in the TSMO space.
“What I got from my experience was a broader understanding of what our folks at local and state agencies are dealing with,” Lara said. “I got three things from my time at the Operations Academy that I continue to reflect upon, and one was that perspective I gained from listening to others talk about the way they looked for solutions to their problems.”
Metropolitan Orlando had already institutionalized the concept of funding TSMO projects before Lara went to the Operations Academy, but many participants she met were still trying to convince their leadership that making certain TSMO-related investments were worth it. That’s when she attended a communications session that resonated with her.
“That session was about how to frame ideas, how to focus on outcomes, how to effectively tailor my proposal to my particular audience, and how to adjust my talking points accordingly,” she said. “We must be able to describe why something is important and how it impacts how we spend our dollars. Communication is everything, because we are talking to people who are going to be making our future funding decisions.”
Passing along knowledge to partners on all levels, including those partners who are in operations, is a critical part of her job. This ensures that stakeholders understand all the elements of the proposals, so they can go to their local councils and ask for funding with the tools they need to explain why it’s needed and how it will improve the community.
Another important benefit she received was a session about data visualization. She learned about several excellent, useful tools and uses that information to use dense data sets to communicate ideas more clearly.
“We have spent years doing studies and environmental analyses around a project before going into design, and there is always a piece that says ‘TSMO is an option here’ but it was almost like a throwaway,” she said. “So, I dove into my role and said TSMO is something we should be talking about much more. This is how to add capacity cost-effectively. These are all pieces of knowledge I brought back with me from the Operations Academy to my agency.”
The Operations Academy changed how she participates in her organization. She was invited to the table in a different way, it changed her leadership’s perspective about how she should be participating, and it prepared her for her current role in leadership.
“My Operations Academy experience definitely changed how I interacted, which allowed me to be considered for the role I now have, which is Manager of Project Development for Metropolitan Orlando,” she said. “I know I’m better equipped to do my job because of the experience I had that prepared me and gave me the network I need to support me through the challenges.”
