WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 - Congressional leaders were urged today to invest in intelligent transportation systems (ITS) as they consider additional job creation measures because ITS projects will immediately create new private sector and small business jobs, and will stimulate job creation across multiple sectors, according to federal and international researchers.

Details of the immediate impact of ITS investment on the U.S. economy were outlined in a letter sent today from Scott Belcher, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Congressional leaders.

"As you work to craft a jobs package that will quickly create jobs and improve economic growth, we urge you to invest in the modernization of our nation's aging infrastructure through Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and other transportation projects that will enhance multimodal system performance and improve safety, mobility, efficiency, and the environment," Belcher stated in his letter to the Congressional leaders.

To read Belcher's entire letter to Pelosi click here.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), an average of 50 percent of ITS project spending goes directly to wages and salaries, a far greater return on investment than other comparable projects. In addition, ITS technologies can be deployed quickly because they require minimal new construction or rights-of-way. Examples include traffic and freight management systems, intelligent intersections with transit signal prioritization and emergency vehicle preemption, smart transit systems, open road tolling systems, weigh-in-motion truck inspections, ramp metering, incident management programs, and real-time traffic, transit and parking information.

According to a newly-released GAO study on traffic information, an investment of $1.2 billion in a real-time transportation system information program alone would generate $30.2 billion in environmental, mobility, and safety benefits to the public.

"The Federal Highway Administration projects that the field of ITS could create almost 600,000 new jobs over the next 20 years. With a federal commitment to ITS deployment, these figures could be significantly higher. In the United Kingdom, an investment of 15 billion British pounds (approximately $25 billion) in information and communications technology (ITS, smart grid and broadband) is estimated to create or retain 700,000 jobs, of which 360,000 are small business jobs," Belcher said in his letter.

Belcher added that researchers from the London School of Economics and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation have found that investment in ITS creates a 'network effect' throughout the economy and directly benefits economic growth by stimulating high-tech job creation across multiple sectors, including green jobs, high-tech, automotive, information technology, consumer electronics, and related industries; and provides a foundation for long-term benefits, including government cost savings, economy-wide productivity, and an improved quality of life.

"The international commitment to ITS is growing among leading industrialized nations. China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Great Britain, and other nations today view their ITS industry as a key industrial base, and one capable of generating considerable economic growth," Belcher said.

"With unemployment rates reaching alarming levels and traffic congestion stifling our economic competitiveness, it's time for the U.S. to make a similar commitment to ITS. This will play a major role in helping American workers retain existing jobs while providing new jobs for the unemployed. It will also provide lasting benefits by increasing safety, reducing congestion and emissions, improving system performance and creating more livable, sustainable communities."

Most important of all, a federal investment in ITS will save lives. An estimated 31 percent of the nearly 40,000 fatal traffic accidents each year could be prevented or have their impact reduced through ITS technologies like lane departure warnings, blind spot detection and other collision avoidance systems, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Congress could speed the deployment of these life-saving technologies across the passenger and commercial vehicle fleets by funding a Smart Cities and Communities pilot program that would provide real-world testing of the next generation of advanced safety and traffic information systems.

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) represents several hundred member organizations including public agencies, private industry leaders, and academic institutions involved in the research, development, and deployment of intelligent transportation systems that improve safety, increase mobility, and sustain the environment. http://www.itsa.org

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Contact:

Steve Hansen

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