Skip to main content

Transportation survey – industry on the move

US technology company AirSage has conducted what it says is the first in an annual look at the transportation industry and the professionals in it – with some interesting findings. Just released as an eBook, the AirSage Annual Transportation Industry Survey: an Industry on the Move, provides an insight into how US-based transportation planners and traffic engineers peers view the industry, their organisations, private versus government jobs, gender and age issues and more. Conducted During May and June 2013
August 19, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
US technology company 6178 AirSage has conducted what it says is the first in an annual look at the transportation industry and the professionals in it – with some interesting findings.

Just released as an eBook, the AirSage Annual Transportation Industry Survey: an Industry on the Move, provides an insight into how US-based transportation planners and traffic engineers peers view the industry, their organisations, private versus government jobs, gender and age issues and more.

Conducted During May and June 2013, the company questioned 126 respondents on a variety of issues from how practitioners keep up with industry trends/news to how they use social media, from what motivates them to go to work to where they see the industry should go versus where it will go, and more. Among the transportation planners surveyed, the study found:

•    21 per cent of respondents ages 18 to 28 cited working with different generations as a top concern
•    86 per cent prefer to get their news the old fashioned way (trade associations and newsletters, networking at smaller or local events, and traditional news sources such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, etc.) and only 16 per cent use social media as a primary news source
•    28 per cent  of planners polled were female and 43 per cent of them say there are a number of quiet/hidden challenges for women
•    65.4 per cent of those under 29 and 26.7 per cent of 29-35 year-olds were strongly in favour of new technology, while 81.4 per cent of over 57 year-olds were highly sceptical of it

AirSage says peer-to-peer perspectives, like those captured in this survey, provide a valuable lens through which transportation planners can evaluate their careers, their industry and multi-discipline projects.

“As a technology company that provides data to the transportation industry, we want to understand what professionals in every segment of the transportation industry are thinking, so we can improve our products and services,” said Cy Smith, CEO and Founder of AirSage. “And, we have a social responsibility to provide insights, particularly technology-driven insights, to the industry. The result is the First Annual Transportation Industry Survey.”

Other findings featured in the eBook include: perspectives on government entities versus private corporations; views on technology and how innovative the industry is; insights into how transportation planners view budget challenges and bureaucracy; and the future of housing, infrastructure, transportation planning and urban/suburban sprawl.

“Today’s professionals must keep current in new and emerging technologies to recommend the most cost-effective, site-specific solutions,” said Thomas W Brahms, executive director and CEO, 5667 Institute of Transportation Engineers. “In addition, we need to encourage new partnerships between the public and private sectors to develop collaborative solutions for transportation needs at all stages: planning, design, implementation and maintenance.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Airborne traffic monitoring - the future?
    March 1, 2013
    A new frontier in the quest to monitor road traffic is opening up… but using airborne drones to reduce the jams comes with some thorny issues. Chris Tindall reports. Imagine if you could rely on a system that provided all the data you needed to regulate traffic flow, route vehicles and respond swiftly to emergencies for a fraction of the cost of piloting a helicopter. That system exists, but as engineers and traffic managers start to explore the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – more commonly k
  • New report identifies 21 actions to help states address pedestrian safety
    August 12, 2015
    A new report released today by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) examines the current pedestrian safety data and research and outlines 21 steps states can take to address pedestrian safety. According to the most recent data, pedestrian deaths remain stubbornly high and have increased 15 per cent since 2009. The most recent full year of data indicates that 4,735 pedestrians died in 2013, which translates to one pedestrian in the US killed every two hours. The report, Everyone Walks Understan
  • Transit’s Covid clean-up operation
    August 24, 2021
    The onset of Covid-19 saw ridership on public transport slump drastically. How will the organisations that provide these essential services persuade customers back on board?
  • Florida’s Altamonte Springs uses Uber pilot program with Uber to expand transportation coverage
    April 5, 2017
    To Uber or Not to Uber, that is the question cities must answer as they consider the pros and cons of inviting private transportation service providers to fill transportation gaps. Back in 1999, Frank Martz, city manager of Altamonte Springs, Florida, had an idea to expand transportation services to areas not covered by the local bus company.