One-Stop-Shop Traveler Information Web Application Expands To Cover 17 States Ahead Of Holiday Travel

As holiday travel ramps up and winter storms begin sweeping across the West, the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) for Rural Traveler Information is announcing significant expansion. The web application designed by Montana Tech Professor Dr. Doug Galarus with partners California Department of Transportation and Western States Rural Transportation Consortium, provides real-time data to help drivers navigate in the following states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas were recently added in preparation for the holiday season.

“As holiday travel approaches and weather changes are imminent, I encourage travelers in Montana and across the entire western United States to use the One-Stop-Shop to get seamless updates on current and forecast road-weather conditions,” Galarus said.

The One-Stop-Shop was originally developed by Galarus’ former team at the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University and has been funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Western States Rural Transportation Consortium. In 2014, the project won an international award from the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. The project is now in a maintenance phase at Montana Tech, and Galarus has incorporated it into his classroom work and undergraduate research assistants assist with the maintenance of OSS.

"For over a decade now OSS has been a critical tool providing seamless traveler information to motorists, especially freight operators, traveling throughout the Western US improving the safety and efficiency of our regional transportation networks,” Caltrans Chief of ITS Engineering and Support Jeremiah Pearce said.

OSS brings together real-time road, weather, and incident information from transportation departments across the western United States. The system, available at oss.weathershare.org, provides camera feeds, road conditions, alerts, and weather data on a single, user-friendly map.

“Overseeing OSS gives me insight into its design, but it’s my firsthand experience as a frequent interstate RV traveler that truly affirms the value of this tool,” Rural ITS and Special Projects Research Branch Chief for Caltrans Andre Chavez said.“I rely on OSS to plan my routes both ahead of time and in real time—maximizing access to DOT rest stops and avoiding non-recurring RV challenges like wildfires, high wind zones, closures, and construction projects. It has consistently proven to be accurate, reliable, and indispensable on every road trip my family and I have taken.”

This season, OSS is expanding its reach just in time for the year’s busiest travel period. Through a new partnership with the Northwest Passage Transportation Pooled Fund (https://nwpassage.info/gallery/), OSS now includes data from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, adding critical visibility for travelers navigating I-94 and I-90 through the northern tier. The team recently integrated Iowa and Nebraska, which completed coverage of the entire Interstate 80 corridor from San Francisco through Iowa.

“We now cover pretty much all the states in the Western U.S. and then some,” Galarus said.

For years, OSS has been a go-to resource for drivers braving winter weather in California’s Donner and Siskiyou Passes. Traffic can surge to 1,000–2,000 simultaneous users during storms and heavy travel periods. During severe weather events, OSS may log up to 30,000 user sessions per day, as travelers seek a reliable source of real-time information.

With integrated feeds from Caltrans, Oregon DOT, Nevada DOT, Washington State DOT, and many other transportation partners, as well as the National Weather Service, OSS offers a near-seamless view of cross-state travel conditions — something Galarus says is especially valuable during the holidays, when millions of drivers cross state lines and weather systems.

“While Washington State DOT has long been a partner and beneficiary of the OSS, we are excited to see the continued growth of this valuable tool now linking up our partner states that represent the Northwest Passage pooled fund study along the I-90 corridor and beyond,” said Tony Leingang, program administrator of Intelligent Transportation Systems for Washington State DOT.

The project has spanned more than 15 years and engaged hundreds of students across multiple universities. At Montana Tech alone, Galarus estimates that roughly a dozen students have worked on OSS and related projects through research positions, with more than 100 contributing through coursework or senior design projects. The work offers undergraduates hands-on experience with software engineering, computer science, data science, and real-world problem solving.

“Students get the opportunity to work on something people actually use — often thousands of people a day,” Galarus said. “It’s a level of responsibility and impact that’s hard to replicate in a classroom. One of the most important things I tell my students is to “walk in the shoes” of the users of the software they are developing. I live in Elk Park, which is the coldest place in the Continental US at least once every year. While walking in that kind-of cold is dangerous, driving is a necessity. Interstate 15 borders my property, and my daily commute includes I-15 and I-90. I know first-hand why the One-Stop-Shop is valuable tool for safe driving in winter and year-round!”

To view the system, visit oss.weathershare.org.