WASHINGTON, June 1, 2009 - The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) today honored the organizations and agencies that demonstrated the most innovative and effective uses of advanced technologies in surface transportation. The awards were presented this morning before more than 1,000 of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) leaders during the opening session of ITS America's 2009 Annual Meeting & Exposition at the Gaylord National Hotel & Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.

Four programs received awards in a nationwide evaluation sponsored by ITS America.

"These awards recognize the individuals, the real heroes of ITS, who perform the research, build the systems and who now operate and manage these programs as part of the world's finest transportation network," said ITS America President and CEO Scott F. Belcher.

In the "Best New Practices" category, the public agency winner was the Mississippi Department of Transportation's Traffic Engineering Division for its project "Saving Lives Through Innovative Partnerships - the msTraffic/MED-COM Project." The private sector company winner was Kapsch TrafficCom won top honors in the "Best New Practices" category for its Smart Road Technologies for Safety and Mobility Travelers" project.

In the "Best New Innovative Products or Services" category the public agency winner was the Florida Department of Transportation for its Office of Motor Carrier Compliance and FreightDesk Technologies for its Truck Control System in Aqaba, Jordan.

Awards were also presented to four of ITS America's state chapters. The "Outstanding State Chapter" award was presented to ITS New York. ITS Florida received a certificate of excellence for outreach and advocacy, ITS Virginia was awarded a certificate of excellence for organizational and professional development, and ITS Georgia received a certificate of excellence for emerging practices and deployments.

For more information on the winning practices, products and services, go to http://www.itsa.org/amawards.html.

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