Integration of the Intelligent Transportation System Industry Chain: Opportunities and Challenges

At ITSMRS 2025, Ma Bin addressed opportunities and challenges in integrating intelligent transportation systems, emphasizing innovation, policy support, and SUCDRI‘s solutions to fragmentation and data silos.

Editor's Note: At the main forum of the 14th Intelligent Transportation Market Annual Conference (ITSMRS 2025), held in Suzhou on March 5, 2025, Ma Bin, Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Intelligent Transportation Industry Alliance and Dean of the Smart City Institute at Shanghai Urban Construction Design & Research Institute Group (SUCDRI) under Tunnel Incorporated, delivered a keynote report titled Integration of the Intelligent Transportation System Industry Chain: Opportunities and Challenges. Intelligent transportation is embracing unprecedented development opportunities. Driven by national strategies such as "Transportation Powerhouse," "New Infrastructure," and "Digital Transformation," the industry is witnessing rapid growth and increasingly mature technological frameworks. However, challenges such as fragmented standards, data silos, and high collaboration costs persist. Breaking down barriers, achieving cross-industry integration, and fostering high-quality industrial development have become critical priorities. Ma Bin analyzed the opportunities, challenges, and integration pathways for the intelligent transportation system industry chain, while sharing SUCDRI's practical experiences.

01 Industry Status and Development

With the steady advancement of national strategies like "Transportation Powerhouse," "New Infrastructure," and "Digital Transformation," China's intelligent transportation sector has seized unprecedented opportunities, attracting surging market attention. China has achieved world-leading status in intelligent transportation system technologies, securing a position in the global first tier—a milestone worth celebrating. However, the journey is fraught with challenges. Let us first dissect the structure of the intelligent transportation industry chain. It spans critical areas such as infrastructure (chips, cloud services, electromechanical equipment, gateways, communications, energy), perception layers, service layers, and integrated applications. Emerging sectors like AI services, high-precision mapping and positioning, digital twins, mobility services, and data value-added are increasingly becoming vital components.

Yet, the industry chain faces pressing issues: excessive fragmentation, dispersed technical standards, and severe data silos, which inflate collaboration costs and hinder data sharing. These obstacles constrain sustainable development. Integration of the industry chain is imperative to dismantle technical and data barriers, optimize resource allocation, foster cross-sector collaboration, and propel the intelligent transportation ecosystem forward, thereby bolstering the "Transportation Powerhouse" vision.

02 Opportunities: Breakthroughs in Industry Chain Integration

Let us explore potential breakthroughs. First, two EPC projects led by SUCDRI:

Shanghai Intelligent Operation and Maintenance & Renovation Project for Traffic Signal Facilities (2022): As China's largest signal control system project, it upgraded 2,398 signal controllers and 2,863 intersections at a total investment of nearly ¥400 million. Leveraging Shanghai's digital operation platform for traffic signals, the project enables lifecycle monitoring, smart maintenance oversight, and big data analytics, providing scientific guidance for signal facility upgrades based on economic lifespan assessments.

Shanghai Integrated Pole Consolidation Project (2018–2024): Spanning six years with a total investment of ¥9.76 billion and covering 862 km citywide, this initiative enhances urban management precision, aesthetics, and operational safety. Taking the 2024 Jing'an District project (22 km, ¥200 million) as an example, it consolidates surveillance equipment, traffic lights, signage, and street nameplates onto multifunctional poles while reserving capacity for 5G and future devices. Integrated power boxes streamline energy supply, reducing street poles by over 60%, improving urban landscapes, and simplifying operations.

Technological Innovation: Achievements like China's first "Smart Full Mobility Chain" autonomous driving test zone, the Yangpu Bridge digital twin pilot (enabling precise bridge monitoring), and the "Lingang-Shengsi" low-altitude passenger route (pioneering air mobility applications) are accelerating technological progress and unlocking integration opportunities.

Market Demand Restructuring: Rising urbanization has intensified challenges such as traffic congestion, parking shortages, and service quality gaps, shifting governance toward multi-stakeholder participation and invigorating market vitality. Growing public acceptance of autonomous driving and digital mobility has spurred demand for refined, customized services. Emerging models like Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), data monetization, and "transportation + finance" products are injecting dynamism into the market.

Policy and Capital Synergy: National policies supporting digital upgrades of transportation infrastructure and piloting "Vehicle-Road-Cloud Integration" for intelligent connected vehicles provide top-level guidance. Capital inflows into autonomous driving, vehicle-road coordination, and low-altitude sectors, coupled with AI's expanding role, are accelerating innovation. Meanwhile, Chinese firms are expanding globally, participating in international projects, and gaining influence in standard-setting, enhancing the industry's global competitiveness.

03 Challenges: Barriers to Industry Chain Integration

Core Pain Points: Fragmented corporate strategies, inconsistent technical standards, and surging cross-regional collaboration costs—evidenced by disparities in subsidies (e.g., 30% gap between Yangtze River Delta and central-western regions), license issuance speeds (Beijing vs. central provinces), and data openness (eastern vs. western cities)—have fragmented markets.

Project Execution: Divergent goals among governments, enterprises, and technologists, coupled with clashes between long-term planning and short-term KPIs, often skew projects toward superficial "demonstration effects." According to 2022 Ministry of Transport data, 42% of intelligent transportation projects face delays due to multi-department coordination, rapid tech evolution outpacing timelines, and complex compliance with 12 evaluation metrics. Replicating model projects remains challenging.

Stakeholder Conflicts: Competing interests among consultancies, manufacturers, integrators, internet firms, and regulators—exemplified by data ownership disputes in autonomous testing zones—highlight cross-sector coordination hurdles. Unclear accountability boundaries and a lack of unified coordination mechanisms further complicate governance.

Business Models: High upfront costs (infrastructure, R&D, equipment) and persistent post-launch expenses (maintenance, talent) strain finances. Reliance on government funding or subsidies limits sustainability. Emerging sectors lack mature models, necessitating diversified revenue streams to enhance commercial viability.

SUCDRI's Response: Tunnel Incorporated's "Five-Chain Integration" framework—spanning industry, innovation, digital, finance, and service chains—delivers end-to-end solutions (planning, investment, design, construction, operation). SUCDRI, active in intelligent transportation since 1985, has pioneered innovations like BIM+GIS data management systems and smart highway operation platforms, boosting efficiency, reducing accidents, and cutting maintenance costs.

04 Conclusion

As the vanguard of the industry chain, the design and consulting sector senses the warming tides of change: 2025 will mark the dawn of a new era for intelligent transportation. With policies like Vehicle-Road-Cloud Integration, infrastructure digitalization, and smart traffic management gaining momentum, we stand at the forefront of this revolution. Let us harness innovation and collaboration to navigate toward a new blue ocean of intelligent transportation and co-create a brighter future for smart mobility!

Pic:pixabay