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Rural TSMO

Blake Hansen, Olsson

ITS Arizona 2025

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Challenges of Rural Transportation

19% of US Population
97% Land Area
70% Roadway Miles
47% Transportation Fatalities

Miles and Miles
Weather Impacts
Low Traffic Volumes
Terrain
Vehicle Mix

Emergency �Response Times
Alternate Routes
Transit

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TSMO

Transportation Systems Management and Operations

Institutional Integration

Technical Integration

Operational Integration

Business

Processes

Performance

Measurement

Culture

Organization &

Staffing

Systems &

Technology

Collaboration

Road Weather Management

Special Event

Management

Traffic Incident

Management

Freight

Management

Work Zone

Management

Ramp

Management

Transportation

Demand

Management

Traffic Signal

Coordination

Traveler

Information

Connected & Automated

Vehicles

ITS

Devices

Integrated

Corridor

Management

Traffic

Management

Centers

Active

Transportation

Multimodal

Operations

Data Collection & Analysis

Transit

Management

Communications

Infrastructure

Traffic

Detection

ITS

Architecture

TSMO

Program Plan

Transportation

Management

Plan

Congestion

Management

Central

Systems

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Bridging the Gap in Rural Transportation

Rural organizations—including tribes, small cities, and transit agencies—often operate with limited staff, funding, and technical capacity.

SO many of them. Hundreds of tribal organizations

DOTs can step in to help with technical assistance, leadership, and ongoing support.

Examples with Texas DOT and MoDOT – both highly “decentralized” DOT structure. Urban districts are lending support to rural ones.

DOTs also help organize regional TSMO coalitions to tackle shared challenges like Traffic Incident Management (TIM), work zone coordination, and emergency response.

Nebraska DOT’s approach to helping small transit agencies modernize dispatch systems is a great example: they prequalified vendors, reviewed contracts, and provided tech support.

Over half of 75 agencies moved from paper to modern systems.

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NMDOT Rural ITS Toolbox

Identification of Problem

List of applicable ITS Systems for problem

User chooses a system or systems to explore
Reviews tech sheet
Verifies it’s the right ITS system for need and location

Identify contributing factors of the challenge

Toolbox guides through device requirements to gather information

User submits all information to the ITS Bureau

Information is reviewed by ITS Bureau

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NM �Example Tech Sheets

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TSMO in Rural Communities

Interagency Coordination
Multimodal / Active transportation
Traffic signals (and associated ITS)
Special events
Law enforcement interaction
Weather management
Railroads
Workforce
Leveraging university expertise

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10/9/2025

The Promise of Technology for

Rural Transportation

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Resources

Rural Safety Center

https://ruralsafetycenter.org/

Rural ITS Toolkit

https://ruralsafetycenter.org/resources/rural-its-toolkit/

RuralTransportation.org

Rural and Small Metropolitan ITS Case Studies
https://ruraltransportation.org/rural-its-case-studies/

ITS4US

https://www.its.dot.gov/its4us/index.htm

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Connect with Olsson!

Blake Hansen, PE, PTOE, PMP�913.486.0972

bghansen@olsson.com

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CCTV Camera
Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO)
Driver alert roadway signage
Dust storm system
Dynamic message sign (DMS)
Game Systems
Mobile & environmental sensors on DOT fleet

NMDOT’s

ITS Services

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Road weather information system (RWIS)
Smart work zones
Vehicle detection system (VDS)
Variable speed limit system (VSL)
Wrong way detection (WWD)

NMDOT’s ITS Services (cont.)