The WTI Systems Group in Partnership with Caltrans Garner National Recognition with Three High-Profile ITS ProjectsIt’s been a noteworthy year for work done by the Systems Group at Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute in partnership with Caltrans and the Western States Rural Transportation Consortium. In September 2014, the group’s One-Stop-Shop (OSS) project won ITS America’s Best of ITS Award for Best New Innovative Practice – Research Design and Innovation. In November, the OSS was expanded to provide near real-time road and weather information in 11 states including all of the Rocky Mountain States. Usage of the system dramatically increased over the winter, particularly during bad weather. In March 2015, the group facilitated yet another
successful Professional Capacity Building (PCB) for Communications course. Twelve ITS engineers participated in the weeklongTelecom Wireless Fundamentals course. This is the fourth such course offered as part of this project, which seeks industry recognized leaders in their field as instructors. The project steering committee has implemented a rigorous review process to ensure that the participating engineers and technicians receive the best courses possible, making attendance well worth their time. In June, the group conducted the 10th annual Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementers Forum. The Forum is an engineering practitioner’s conference with the goal of providing a forum for high-quality exchange of technical information that can help to support better ITS deployment in rural areas. Presentations typically range in length from one to two hours each, and the audience is expected to ask questions during the presentations. Trust and transparency are key tenets of the Forum. Participants not only expect to hear what worked, but also what didn’t work and why. This year there were 39 participants from eight western states: California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.For more information, see the links in the article above and visit:http://www.westernstates.org/