Skip to main content

US MAP-21 legislation reignites detection sensor market

The latest study by IHS Research estimates detection sensor revenues declined by 4.3 percent in 2011 to US$102.2 million. However, recent events suggest demand for detection sensors, which are used to help optimise traffic flows and reduce roadway congestion, is likely to improve over the near term. The main cause for optimism is the recent and unexpected passage of the MAP-21 act by the US congress. MAP-21 legislation will set aside US$105 billion for improvements to America’s surface transportation infras
November 2, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The latest study by 6822 IHS Research estimates detection sensor revenues declined by 4.3 percent in 2011 to US$102.2 million.

However, recent events suggest demand for detection sensors, which are used to help optimise traffic flows and reduce roadway congestion, is likely to improve over the near term.

The main cause for optimism is the recent and unexpected passage of the MAP-21 act by the US congress. MAP-21 legislation will set aside US$105 billion for improvements to America’s surface transportation infrastructure.
 
“The new funding will impact the detection sensor market in a number of ways,” remarks Michael Arluck, report author and analyst at IHS. “Highways and roads will form a significant component of the program. As such, there is likely to be additional demand for detection sensor products on the back of these transportation projects.”
 
Arluck continues: “Another positive sign for the industry has been the recent rise in ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) consulting work. Such a trend is often a good leading indicator for future demand, perhaps 18-24 months out, of detection sensor products.”

In the light of these and other factors, IHS has forecast a gradual improvement in the US market for detection sensors, with revenues returning to positive growth in 2012 and growing by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3 percent to $149.4 million in 2017.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Sprawl spreads the costs and confines the benefits
    June 8, 2015
    A new report says car-centric planning leads to inefficient cities and divided communities as lead author Todd Litman explains. Between 1950 and 2050 the human population will have approximately quadrupled and shifted from 80% rural to nearly 80% urban; by the middle of this century the United Nations predicts an additional 2.2 billion urban residents in developing countries than there are today. How these cities grow has huge economic, social and environmental impacts and implementing proper policies can c
  • Funding shortfall for US Interstate upgrades
    May 11, 2012
    Andrew Bardin Williams investigates tolling on the federal Interstate system as maintenance and upgrade requirements increasingly outpace funding The I-95 corridor through North Carolina is one of the most heavy trafficked interstates in the US, seeing upwards of 46,000 vehicles per day in some stretches-and North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (NCDOT) estimates this number will to rise to 98,000 vehicles per day by 2040. Along with the rest of the federal interstate system, the North Carolina str
  • Road user charging potential solution to transportation problems
    December 14, 2012
    A number of new and highly significant open road tolling schemes have just been launched or are soon to ‘go live’. Systems of road user charging are flexing their muscles as the means to solve politically sensitive transportation problems, reports Jon Masters. Gothenburg, January 2013, will be the time and place for the launch of the next city congestion charging scheme in Europe. In a separate development, Los Angeles County’s tolled Metro ExpressLanes began operating in November 2012 – the latest in a ser
  • ITS America Annual Meeting - setting the scene
    May 1, 2012
    Gloria J. Jeff, District of Columbia Department of Transportation, and one of the co-chairs of the 2012 Annual Meeting Organizing Committee, sets the scene on what will be this year’s most important event for the ITS industry.