Stacey McKinley - ITS Heartland Conference 2026

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In April, Senior Information Systems Technologist Stacey McKinley attended the ITS Heartland Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, along with teammates Kelly Alvarez, Dwayne Brown, Mary Bundridge and Amy Holt-Weaver. 

“The ITS Heartland Conference is a big regional meetup for people in the Transportation Technology Industry within our 5-state ITSH coalition which includes, MO, KS, IA, OK and NE. It’s an opportunity for DOT’s, engineers, planners, technology vendors, consultants and public agencies to talk about how existing and new technologies can improve our roadways, traffic flow, safety and transportation systems,” McKinley said.

Among the many conversations and demonstrations at the conference, one technology in particular caught McKinley’s attention.

“The coolest thing I saw was the demo of the Lidar detectors. There is a detector placed at opposite sides of an intersection and without the use of a camera it detects and tracks vehicles, people, cyclists etc.,” said McKinley. “They work in more adverse weather and lighting conditions and can control the signals based on what is going on in real time.”

There was also technology presented at the conference that challenged McKinley’s thinking, such as ways to address areas of wrong way driving onto interstates and roadways using HERE data.

Beyond the innovations on display, McKinley emphasized that the human connections made at the conference were just as important.

“Learning about new technologies and how we might be able to utilize them to improve some aspect of our transportation system here in the KC District across Missouri was an awesome aspect of the conference,” she said.

 “However, the networking that happens is a much-valued thing as well. Meeting our current or future vendors in person creates a more personal business partnership and makes a big impact on the working relationship.”

She added that collaboration across agencies also makes a difference.

“Sharing ideas with other DOTs leads to faster problem-solving and creative solutions and innovations.”




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