Skip to main content

Transportation 2.0: Detroit shows way forward

OEMs, suppliers, and technology firms are in a race to modernise our current transportation systems. These changes will bring about adaptations in how people fundamentally interact with transportation and how they provide and receive goods and services. What new business models will emerge from these changes? What challenges? Will modalities be combined? These are the overarching questions that are vital to prepare markets, governments, and researchers for the future. Delegates at the ITS America Annual Me
May 25, 2018 Read time: 3 mins
© F11photo | Dreamstime.com
OEMs, suppliers, and technology firms are in a race to modernise our current transportation systems. These changes will bring about adaptations in how people fundamentally interact with transportation and how they provide and receive goods and services. What new business models will emerge from these changes? What challenges? Will modalities be combined? These are the overarching questions that are vital to prepare markets, governments, and researchers for the future.  Delegates at the ITS America Annual Meeting Detroit have a unique opportunity to hear about, and understand, the overarching questions facing us.


Connectivity, Autonomy and the Future of Transportation and Transport

AI, Machine Learning, and Autonomy are spreading through multiple modes of transportation and transport, and the use of these technologies will grow in ubiquity. As these technologies become standard, we will see multiple changes in the combining and expansion of modes and it will change the nature of how we interact with goods and services. How will markets change? How will the workforce adapt? How will cities and states manage the data generated? What type of productivity growth will this create? How will commercial fleets change? What opportunities and challenges does the future hold? What is the next generation of autonomy and what is beyond autonomy?

Electrification and Infrastructure

As we move to a new transportation network with increasingly electrified vehicles using more sustainable energy sources, investment in intelligent infrastructure becomes a critical need.  How do we build and maintain the core infrastructure? How does electrification change freight? What are the next steps in creating a majority electric fleet? What is next?

Regulatory and Financial Challenges Related to Deployment of ITS Technologies

ITS technologies hold incredible potential to make communities more safe, accessible, equitable, sustainable, and economically vibrant. Unfortunately, building and deploying ITS technologies will not be easy. Before technologies are deployed on a large scale, regulatory and funding consideration will need to be addressed.  How can cities, states, and technology companies work together to find solutions that will ultimately bring ITS technologies to communities large and small across the country?

Cybersecurity and Privacy Opportunities and Challenges

Cybersecurity and privacy are both key components of an intelligent transportation system.  How should the industry move forward in seeking out a universal framework?  What are the greatest challenges presented by cybersecurity?  What opportunities are created for new emergent firms focused on cyber security in the ITS space? What is the future of cybersecurity as edge and quantum computing come on line?

Transportation Systems Operations

Emerging technology is all essentially geared to the same goal: addressing practical challenges in the day-to-day operation of our transportation facilities. Whereas connected and automated vehicle systems showcase the future of transportation systems operations, proven intelligent transportation systems and traffic management technologies continue to offer the potential to improve the operations and safety of the transportation network.

The Impacts & Opportunities of Big Data

As the availability of operational data grows, the transportation community faces challenges associated with how to manage, store and analyse all of this data. These challenges, and associated opportunities, will be exacerbated by the deployment of connected vehicles. It is important to learn from other sectors dealing with this influx of data in order to address challenges and optimise benefits.

Related Content

  • Demand-responsive transport keeps things flexible
    July 20, 2023
    Mobility needs change: Elena Ziller of OpenMove explains why demand-responsive transport is emerging as a hot mobility trend – and why it’s not without challenges
  • UX: No-one gets left behind
    March 24, 2025
    As transportation agencies prepare for a digital evolution, they need to be thinking about more than just transport to make sure users can all be on the journey too, suggests RideFlag Technologies…
  • ITS applications a key part of US national strategy
    July 18, 2012
    The US Department of Transportation's ITS Joint Program Office has issued a Request for Information for its next five-year plan, which will emphasis the transformative potential of wireless connectivity. Shelley Row, ITS JPO Director, writes. During his confirmation hearing in January, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood emphasised that the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) will remain committed to improving the safety of the country's transportation system under his leadership, and will engage in
  • One eye on the future
    December 12, 2013
    Mobileye’s Itay Gat discusses the evolution of monocular solutions for assisted and autonomous driving with Jason Barnes. Founded in 1999, Israeli company Mobileye manufactures and supplies advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) based on its EyeQ family of systems-on-chips for image processing for solutions such as lane sensing, traffic sign recognition, vehicle and pedestrian detection. Its products are used by both the OEM and aftermarket sectors. The company’s visual interpretation algorithms drive