Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementers Forum

The Western States Forum is an annual event where implementers of ITS technologies have the opportunity to share technical information on best practices and field deployment experiences with fellow professionals from across the western United States. It can best be described as 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. It is a forum for dynamic discussion of practical and technical issues associated with rural ITS, to promote transferability of solutions and knowledge across the ITS community. Five to six highly interactive technical presentations, ranging in length from 1 to 2 hours each, in-depth equipment demonstrations, and numerous opportunities for networking with peers, are all part of the agenda.

Who should attend?

ITS technology practitioners at the state and local level:

  • Field engineers and maintenance staff
  • Systems integration/networking engineers
  • Wireless/communications technicians

Announcements

Thank you to all the participants and speakers who helped make the 20th Annual Western States Forum a huge success!  Please visit the 2025 Past Forum page to review the agenda, technical presentations, and images from the event. Image Gallery coming soon!

In recognition of the 20th Anniversary of the Western States Forum, a Founders Panel was part of the technical agenda at the 2025 Forum. Sean Campbell and Ian Turnbull, two of the Forum's founders, discussed the who, what, where, when and why of this unique event. The panel was moderated by Steering Committee Member Doug Galarus.

Check back later this year for information about the 21st Western States Forum in 2026!

Steering Committee members Doug Galarus and Jeremiah Pearce presented The Western States Rural Transportation Technology Implementers Forum – Going on 20 Years of Technical Content, Transparency and Trust during the Rural ITS Town Hall session at the 2024 National Rural ITS Conference and ITE Annual Meeting in Philadelphia (July 2024).

The Western States Forum won the 2012 Best of Rural ITS Award for Best New Innovative Product, Service or Application (pdf)! The award was announced during a special presentation of the opening session of the 2012 National Rural ITS Conference held in Biloxi, Mississippi, September 16th-19th.

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