A traffic operations practitioner specialist (TOPS) is a certification sponsored by the Transportation Professional Certification Board, Inc., and promulgated by the Institute of Transportation Engineers

Institute of Transportation Engineers

The Institute of Transportation Engineers or ITE is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting mobility and safety needs. ITE was founded in 1930 as the Institute of Traffic Engineers and its first president was Ernest P...

. Prior to taking the required exam, an individual must have at least five years of related working experience

Traffic engineering (transportation)

For the engineering of communications and computer networks, see Teletraffic engineering.Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods on roadways...

, though academic experience may be substituted for this requirement. Additionally, as the certification is not intended for professionals, licensed professional engineer

Professional Engineer

Regulation of the engineering profession is established by various jurisdictions of the world to protect the safety, well-being and other interests of the general public, and to define the licensure process through which an engineer becomes authorized to provide professional services to the...

s are not permitted to be a certified TOPS.

Exam topics

The 100-question certification examination currently includes the following topics:

• Traffic characteristics
• Data collection and analysis tools
• Field studies
• Site impact studies
• Documentation, reporting and presentation

  Traffic operations studies

• Road user characteristics

Traffic devices

• Fundamentals of traffic control devices
• Traffic signs
• Pavement markings and delineation
• Traffic signals
• Temporary traffic control devices
• Intelligent transportation systems
• Operation and maintenance of devices

Elements of design

• Functional classification of roads
• Vehicle operating characteristics
• Horizontal alignment
• Vertical alignment
• Sight distance
• Cross section elements
• Intersection design
• Freeway and grade-separated intersection design

Traffic safety

• Interrelationship of drivers, non-motorized users, roadways and vehicle
• Safety data analysis
• Safety countermeasures
• Safety hardware
• Safety reviews and audits

Incident management

• Incident detection
• Planning, response and recovery
• Traveler advisory techniques
• Corridor management

Transportation management

• Signal operations
• Parking
• Traffic calming and speed management
• Multimodal systems
• Accessibility guidelines
• Managed lanes
• Transportation demand management

See also

• Traffic engineering
  Traffic engineering (transportation)
  For the engineering of communications and computer networks, see Teletraffic engineering.Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods on roadways...
  
  
• Traffic signal operations specialist
  Traffic Signal Operations Specialist
  A traffic signal operations specialist is a certification sponsored by the Transportation Professional Certification Board, Inc., and promulgated by the Institute of Transportation Engineers...
  
  
• Professional transportation planner
  Professional Transportation Planner
  A professional transportation planner is a personal certification recognized within the USA, sponsored by the Transportation Professional Certification Board, Inc. and promulgated by the Institute of Transportation Engineers...