Abstract
Initial deployments of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) have focused on urban environments that are plagued by recurrent congestion. ITS may also offer significant benefits to rural areas, which may be characterized by non-recurrent congestion due to weather, incidents, or other events. The purpose of the Rural California/Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems (COATS) project was to coordinate ITS planning and deployment across a rural, bi-state area in the western United States. This paper describes the COATS project with an emphasis on the resulting ITS Strategic Deployment Plan, some of its unique aspects, and next steps toward achieving the promise of ITS in this rural region.