2020 Virtual Meeting

The program for the 2020 National Rural ITS Conference was integrated into the Joint ITE International and Southern District Annual Meeting and Exhibit held August 4-18, 2020 in a virtual setting.  This year’s conference covered emerging technologies and trends from across the transportation industry including a focus on transportation equity considerations and exploration of the potential of big data and data analytics. This conference offered insights to help understand the impacts of COVID-19 and how to respond to these changes.

The conference provided participants resources focusing on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) implementation in local communities and the opportunity to hear new and thoughtful perspectives from a wide variety of ITS topics. The conference guidebook provides an overall view of the conference speakers and topics.  Individual session recordings from the conference are available through the links below:

Technical Sessions

Wednesday, August 5, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Best Practices in Special Events and Extreme Weather Event Management
Moderator: Anthony Castellone, P.E., PTOE, Transportation Division Manager, Pennoni Associates

The safety and reliability of the transportation system is affected by a variety of impacts from weather, tourism and special events. Many of these issues affect rural and small communities where the roadway networks are limited or may be compromised, and a mix of ITS applications can improve conditions for the traveling public.

  • Hans Larsen, Director of Public Works, City of Fremont, CA
  • Real-Time Traffic Operations Solutions for Inclement Weather, John Abraham, Director, Macomb County Department of Roads – Traffic Operations Center
  • Matt Glasser, P.E., Assistant State Traffic Engineer, Georgia Department of Transportation

Wednesday, August 5, 1:30–3:00 p.m.

Enhancing Safety of First Responders Through Technology
Moderator: Pat Noyes, Principal, Pat Noyes & Associates

This session focuses on the current work of the Transportation Safety Advancement Group (TSAG) in the areas of real time information sharing and interoperability, the linkage between connected and automated vehicles and emergency response as well as the use of cloud-based virtual coordination to manage incidents.

Wednesday, August 5, 4:00–5:30 p.m.

Innovative Concepts for Managing Trips in Rural and Small Communities
Moderator: Valerie Briggs, Director, Office of Transportation Management, FHWA

This session covers a variety of concepts to improve trip making in rural communities including planning concepts, transit and traffic system design in low density areas, as well as rail grade crossing gate condition information when alternate routes are miles away.

Thursday, August 6, 11:00 a.m. –12:30 p.m.

Creative Management of Work Zones
Moderator: Scott Knebel, Vice President, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly

Work zones are a necessary part of roadway maintenance and construction.  However, simply setting up a work zone isn’t enough – a plan to actively manage operations and safety in the work zone is also needed. This session covers a range of topics to stimulate out of the box thinking on planning for work zones.

Thursday, August 6, 4:00–5:30 p.m.

Informing the Traveler and Their Vehicle
Moderator: Dale Picha, P.E., PTOE, Traffic Operations Manager, Texas Department of Transportation

Drivers need information on the condition of the roadway ahead of them and a variety of systems and communication methods are coming into use. This session provides information on a number of these topics.