Western States Forum 2019: Image Gallery
Yreka is in rural northern California in Caltrans District 2, just south of the Oregon border and Siskiyou Pass. The area provides an appropriate setting for in-depth dialogue about rural ITS system design and implementation.
Photo By: Leann Koon
This year’s Forum saw record participation with 53 participants from diverse backgrounds: eight states (CA, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WI), seven state DOTs, the City of Portland (OR), Civil Science, three universities, and eight of the twelve Caltrans Districts as well as Caltrans Headquarters and DRISI. This photo shows this year’s Forum participants as they listen to a technical presentation.
Photo By: Doug Galarus
The Western States Forum is organized and facilitated by a Steering Committee. This Committee chooses abstracts, reviews presentations, and plans the logistics associated with the event. Steering Committee members are pictured here as they welcome participants and start the 2019 Western States Forum. Left to right: Doug Galarus, Western Transportation Institute and Utah State University; Leann Koon, Western Transportation Institute; and Jeremiah Pearce, Caltrans District 2. Not pictured, Sean Campbell, Caltrans Division of Research, Innovation, and System Information (DRISI).
Photo By: Jeff Worthington
Washington is the lead state for the Western States Rural Transportation Consortium which supports the Forum. Ron Vessey has been the WSDOT lead contact for several years. He’s pictured here (left) with Steering Committee members Jeremiah Pearce (center) and Doug Galarus (right) as they get ready to kick off the Forum.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Transportation electrical engineer Andres Chavez from Caltrans District 3 started the Forum’s technical agenda by discussing how District 3’s travel time data sources have moved from loops, to Bluetooth, to Waze and HERE data. He presented pros and cons for the various sources and technical details on how the data was acquired and utilized. Here he’s showing the audience some of the equipment they tested.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Robert Dowell and Troy Torgersen from Utah DOT teamed with Tyler Turner from Civil Science to discuss UDOT Region Four’s three Rural Intersection Conflict Warning Systems (RICWS) they helped design and implement. While Troy (right) waits for his turn to speak, Robert (left) reviews the system sites and how/why the locations were chosen.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Robert Dowell and Troy Torgersen from Utah DOT teamed with Tyler Turner from Civil Science to discuss UDOT Region Four’s three Rural Intersection Conflict Warning Systems (RICWS) they helped design and implement. Here Tyler is discussing the different approaches that could be used to establish warrants for the systems.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Robert Dowell and Troy Torgersen from Utah DOT teamed with Tyler Turner from Civil Science to discuss UDOT Region Four’s three Rural Intersection Conflict Warning Systems (RICWS) they helped design and implement. Troy went through the technical specifications for each of the systems along with installation and operational details.
Photo By: Doug Galarus
Caltrans Division of Research, Innovation, and System Information (DRISI) Project Manager Melissa Clark describes the problem the Caltrans Responder System was designed to address.
Photo By: Leann Koon
University of California – Davis researcher Stephen Donecker explains the hardware design for the in-vehicle Responder unit.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Jim Whalen, IT Manager for Nevada DOT, introduces their presentation on NDOT’s ITS Network for the Future.
Photo By: Doug Galarus
Gary Molnar, ITS Network and Systems Supervisor for Nevada DOT, discusses the requirements for NDOT’s new ITS Network.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Mark Aragon was also part of the Nevada DOT’s presentation on their new ITS Network. He’s pictured here (left) discussing the network with Dean Campbell (right) from Caltrans District 3 during one of the extended breaks between presentations.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Utah DOT’s Fiber Optics Manager Lynne Yocom shared UDOT’s strategies for installing and accessing fiber optic systems in rural areas. Here she’s discussing and showing the fiber installation in the Cottonwood Canyons.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Oregon DOT’s Julie Kentosh (right) and Doug Spencer (left) teamed up to present ODOT’s work with connected vehicle applications and the pilot project deployed in Salem, Oregon.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Ken Burt, a signal operations engineer in Washington State DOT’s Olympic Region, reviewed the region’s experience with Miovision equipment and the AASHTO SPaT Challenge. He’s shown here giving a brief demonstration of some of the beneficial outcomes from the project and answering questions from the audience.
Photo By: Doug Galarus
Upon suggestion from a regular Forum attendee, Michael Adams, the Road Weather Program Manager from the Wisconsin DOT presented the Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS). Michael started with an overview of the MDSS system, what it is, and what it is used for, along with some history of how the system was first developed and has since evolved (shown here).
Photo By: Leann Koon
One of the more unique aspects of the Forum is that questions and discussion are encouraged throughout the presentation, not just at the end. Here, speaker Andres Chavez is engaging the audience with discussion over travel time prediction tools.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Brian Pecus, Chief ITS and TMS Asset Manager from Caltrans District 11, engages with speaker Troy Torgersen from Utah DOT on some project details.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Numerous hands are raised to ask questions and discuss with Julie and Doug about Oregon DOT’s connected vehicle work with the In-Car Reference App and the MaxView Connected Vehicle application.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Melissa Clark (center), Caltrans DRISI transportation engineer electrical, raises her hand to discuss RICWS project details with Utah DOT’s speakers.
Photo By: Doug Galarus
Justin Belk (center), an Integrated Corridor Operations Engineer for Washington State DOT, raises his hand to ask speaker Andres Chavez a question as Andres passes around some equipment.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Presentations at the Western States Forum are detailed and last between one and two hours, allowing speakers the opportunity to really delve into the technical details of a project. This year’s Forum agenda included eight technical presentations and demonstrations with 14 speakers representing six different states. In the photo below, Forum participants are listening to Nevada DOT’s technical presentation and following along in their notebooks.
Photo By: Leann Koon
After the Utah DOT presentation on the rural intersection conflict warning systems, Phil Braun (center) from the Idaho Transportation Department quizzed speakers Robert Dowell (left) and Tyler Turner (right) on the system layout and design.
Photo By: Leann Koon
After his technical presentation, Troy Torgersen (left) networks with fellow Utah DOT representative James Dziatlik (right).
Photo By: Leann Koon
Jeff Worthington (right) from Caltrans District 2 talks with UC Davis researcher Stephen Donecker (left) about District 2’s RWIS RPU redesign in front of the demonstration unit display.
Photo By: Leann Koon
July Dizon from Washington State DOT networks with Michael Lee from Caltrans District 4 during an extended break between technical presentations.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Doug Spencer (Oregon DOT, back left) networks with Lynne Yocom (Utah DOT, back center) before Thursday’s technical presentations. Art Robles (right), Caltrans District 2, prepares for the day’s presentations by looking through his notebook, while Michael Lee (Caltrans District 4, front) reviews the participant list.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Phil Braun (Idaho, left), James Dziatlik (Utah, center), and Bradley Cameron (Utah, right) network during the Tuesday evening reception and social. In the photo’s background, Keith Koeppen from Caltrans District 2 talks with participants about some of the equipment they brought to demonstrate.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Networking sessions, breaks, and meals provided good opportunities for the Forum attendees to meet and discuss Rural ITS technology implementations. Here, different groups visit during the Tuesday evening reception and meal.
Photo By: Leann Koon
To maintain the rural perspective and continue to foster transparency and trust with an informal atmosphere, the Wednesday evening dinner and networking session were held at Upper Greenhorn Park in Yreka.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Consortium member state Nevada was represented by left to right: Jon Dickinson, Mark Aragon, Israel Lopez, Jim Whalen, and Gary Molnar. Picture taken during Wednesday evening’s networking session and BBQ at Upper Greenhorn Park in Yreka.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Terry Thompson (center) from Caltrans Headquarters looks at some of the equipment that Andres Chavez passed around during his presentation.
Photo By: Leann Koon
During a break, Jeff Worthington (front, center) looks at equipment speaker Andres Chavez brought to show the group. Several others are shown networking in the photo’s background.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Having equipment on display for demonstration during networking sessions and presentations was an asset to the Forum and its participants. In this photo, Justin Belk from Washington State DOT photographs equipment set up by Caltrans.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Each participant receives a personalized notebook which contains copies of the presentations to use during the technical program. To facilitate networking and sharing of ideas and experiences after the Forum is completed, the notebooks also contain contact information for each of the Forum participants.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Each attendee was given a certificate of participation and recognized for the number of years they had attended the Forum. The goal of presenting certificates to all attendees was to recognize attendance and the effort required to attend. The goal was also to distinguish those who have attended the Forum in multiple years and encourage those who were participating for the first time to attend again in the future.
Steering Committee member Jeremiah Pearce is shown here giving first time attendee Melissa Clark her certificate. Of the 53 participants this year, just under half participated in the Forum for the first time; 29 have attended more than one Forum. Fourteen (14) of this year’s participants have attended seven of the 14 Forums, 4 have been to 12 events, 1 has been to 13 Forums, and 1 has been to all 14 Forums.
Photo By: Jeff Worthington
Marlene Woodard, a Redding based event planner, has helped with all 14 of the Western States Forums and is a critical member of the Forum Steering Committee. Thank you, Marlene, for your organization and skill in bringing together all of the event logistics, helping to establish the desired atmosphere, and continuing to make the Forum a success.
Photo By: Doug Galarus
Chuck Price from Caltrans District 2 was the audio technician this year. Thanks, Chuck, for keeping the sound system optimally adjusted during the presentations! Here he’s being recognized for his assistance.
Photo By: Leann Koon
Caltrans District 2 Office of ITS Engineering and Support has been the host for all 14 Forums. Retired Office Chief Ian Turnbull was one of the founders of the Forum and current Chief Jeremiah Pearce is now on the Steering Committee. District 2 has had a speaker for most of the events. They bring equipment to demonstrate, instigate and facilitate quality dialogue during the technical program, network, and help to set up and clean up the event. The group is a leader in rural ITS implementation within the state as well as regionally and nationally. Shown here during a lunch meal is clockwise around the table: Lonnie Hobbs, Kenneth Shipley, Chaylen Scrivner, Mike Beyer, and Keith Koeppen, networking with Caltrans District 3’s Dean Campbell
Photo By: Doug Galarus
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