Skip to main content

ITS industry in the US has grown to $48 billion and will expand

ITS America has released what it says is the most comprehensive study to date on the scope of the ITS industry in the United States and North America. Researchers found intelligent transportation to be a fast growing sector valued at approximately US$48 billion. Results indicate that cities and states with drastically reduced budgets are turning to technology solutions to maximize existing highway capacity.
April 17, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
"This report validates what we have known for some times - that the transportation technology industry is healthy, growing, and supports high-paying jobs across the country, even in tough economic times" - Scott Belcher, President and CEO, ITS America
RSS560 ITS America has released what it says is the most comprehensive study to date on the scope of the ITS industry in the United States and North America. Researchers found intelligent transportation to be a fast growing sector valued at approximately US$48 billion. Results indicate that cities and states with drastically reduced budgets are turning to technology solutions to maximize existing highway capacity.

The federally commissioned report developed by ITS America and 1712 IHS Global Insight, suggests the ITS technology sector will outpace other industries in job creation and revenue growth through at least 2015. It further indicates that jobs within this sector pay approximately 75 per cent more than the national average wage.

“In the current economic environment, we can’t afford to build our way out of the traffic congestion crisis,” said Scott Belcher, president and CEO of ITS America. “This report validates what we have known for some time – that the transportation technology industry is healthy, growing, and supports high-paying jobs across the country, even in tough economic times. This is a sector where the US is poised to lead the way in innovation.”

Researchers discovered almost 3,000 companies in more than 40,000 locations actively participating in some aspect of the intelligent transportation industry, from small start-ups that promote car-sharing to large corporations that supply state-of-the-art traffic management services to local governments.

Among the key findings in the report:

  • Researchers estimate an end-use ITS market of $48 billion with revenues that exceed those for electronic computers, motion picture and video products, direct mail advertising, or internet advertising.
  • The report model anticipates continuing expansion. From 2009 through 2015, US private sector revenues are expected to climb between $2.7 billion to $4.2 billion each year, with ITS revenue growth exceeding average growth for the US and North America.
  • The report estimates the industry to have 180,000 US end-use private sector jobs, with 445,000 total jobs in the value chain in 2009, corresponding to 0.3 per cent of the 138 million jobs in the US.
  • The 614 US ITS end-use market will add between 3,600 to 6,400 jobs each year through 2015, when private sector end-use market ITS employment is projected to reach more than 205,000.
  • Based on survey responses, average ITS salaries are well above the national average by more than 75 per cent, with the lowest paid earning more than eight per cent above the national average wage. Three occupations (software developer, hardware developer, and other engineering) account for 32 per cent of the ITS jobs.


For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Europe to lead insurance telematics market
    June 14, 2012
    The number of insurance telematics users in Europe will grow from 1.5 million in 2010 to 44 million in 2017, initially driven by the UK and Italy, according to ABI Research. Despite aggressive efforts from Progressive, North America will continue to lag behind the European UBI market, it says. Vice president and practice director Dominique Bonte comments, “While insurance telematics or usage based insurance (UBI) is far from a recent phenomenon, renewed interest in this market has been observed from both es
  • ITS events vital forum for networking, calls to action
    February 6, 2012
    Tom Kern, executive VP of ITS America, on why he believes events like the forthcoming ITS World Congress are so important for the industry
  • ITS events vital forum for networking, calls to action
    January 20, 2012
    Tom Kern, executive VP of ITS America, on why he believes events like the forthcoming ITS World Congress are so important for the industry. This October's World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems is coming home. Home to Orlando, that is. The first America's-based World Congress took place in Orlando in 1996 and now, 15 years later, the sixth Americas World Congress and 18th overall returns just in time to see how far Florida has come in the deployment of ITS technologies helping to make for safe, mob
  • ANPR integrity is as important as capability
    February 1, 2012
    Increasing the capability of automatic number plate recognition should go hand-in-hand with efforts to ensure number plates' integrity, says the ESVA's Viv Nicholas. Before we apply increasingly sophisticated technology to Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), says the European Secure Vehicle Alliance's (ESVA's) executive director Viv Nicholas, there is a lot we can do to make the task of vehicle recognition simpler by addressing issues relating to the number plate itself.