Past Western States Forums
The first Western States Forum was held in 2006. Each year since then, the Forum has been distinguished by informative, in-depth technical presentations given by rural ITS practitioners. Presenters have delved into how solutions were developed, focusing on applications that have been deployed in the field and are being used in live traffic situations. Success stories have been shared along with failures and problems so participants learned about what does and doesn’t work and why. The extended length of the presentations (60-120 minutes) and the informal atmosphere have allowed frank discussion of equipment functionality, vendor claims, system performance, and other key information that practitioners need to know for successful rural ITS projects.
In 2008, the Forum was expanded to include live demonstrations of rural ITS technologies and “hands-on” question and
answer periods. Participants brought actual ITS equipment and performed informal “show and tell” sessions during the breaks. In
addition to a live demonstration of ITS communication technologies, short briefings on specific Rural ITS research projects and
product development were also conducted on the second morning of the Forum. Some of these presentations were given by student
assistants and others who will be the next generation of ITS engineers and integrators.
Due to the favorable response, demonstrations were formally solicited through the Call for Abstracts and became an integral part of the Forum agenda starting in 2009. As important elements of the annual event, demonstrations by practitioners from the western states region have highlighted a variety of ITS technologies.
The WSRTTIF has become the premiere venue for disseminating hands-on, nuts and bolts Rural ITS information to engineers, technicians, designers, and maintainers in the West. Over the past nineteen Forums, participants have come from fourteen states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) plus Washington D.C., the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), ten state DOTs, thirteen universities, multiple municipal transportation departments, the Idaho National Laboratory, the Southwest Research Institute, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Water Resources, all twelve Caltrans districts, and multiple offices and divisions within Caltrans. Check out the links below to see what topics have been discussed at previous Forums.
2024 Forum, June 18th-20th, Yreka, California
2023 Forum, June 13th-15th, Yreka, California
2022 Forum, June 14th-16th, Yreka, California
2021 Forum, October 5th-7th, Yreka, California
2020 Forum, Canceled
2019 Forum, June 18th–20th, Yreka, California
2018 Forum, June 19th–21st, Yreka, California
2017 Forum, June 20th–22nd, Yreka, California
2016 Forum, June 21st–23rd, Yreka, California
2015 Forum, June 16th–18th, Yreka, California
2014 Forum, June 17th–19th, Yreka, California
2013 Forum, June 18th–20th, Yreka, California
2012 Forum, June 12th–14th, Yreka, California
2011 Forum, June 14th–16th, Yreka, California
2010 Forum, June 15th–17th, Yreka, California
2009 Forum, June 16th–18th, Mount Shasta, California
2008 Forum, June 3rd–5th, Mount Shasta, California
2007 Forum, June 20th–22nd, Mount Shasta, California
2006 Forum, June 6th–8th, Mount Shasta, California