California & Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems (COATS), Phase 3

The objective of this project is to provide research and support activities to help California and Oregon achieve the COATS vision of promoting bi-state cooperation and communication that will develop, deploy and coordinate cost-effective and environmentally agreeable intelligent transportation systems.

From 1998 until 2001 the California and Oregon Departments of Transportation, with the support of the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University, led the Rural California/Oregon Advanced Transportation Systems (COATS) project. The purpose of the COATS effort was to encourage regional, public and private sector cooperation between California and Oregon organizations to better facilitate the planning and implementation of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in a rural bi-state area extending between Eugene, Oregon and Redding, California. COATS Showcase, built on the foundation of COATS, allowed WTI to engage in a number of research and evaluation activities, which sought to provide information to improve the performance of existing ITS elements and provide data to justify, support, or direct future deployment of ITS in the COATS study area. Phase 3 of this project will help California and Oregon achieve the COATS vision by fostering bi-state cooperation and communication, promoting technology transfer, assisting in ITS planning and architecture development efforts, evaluating ITS projects and systems, and providing assistance to mainstream deployment of field-tested technologies.