The US is losing out to Japan, South Korea and Singapore in deploying intelligent transportation systems (ITS) onto roads, a new study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has shown.

The country lags behind these world leaders in aggregate ITS deployment, in particular the provision of real-time traffic information by governmental transportation agencies, progress on vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle integration and adoption of computerised traffic signals.

The three leading nations have used ITS well to link vehicles, passengers, and devices together including in providing real-time information to drivers about routes and schedules as well as delays due to congestion, accidents, weather conditions or road repair.

The report, Explaining International IT Application Leadership: Intelligent Transportation Systems, finds that US’s ITS deployment varies immensely by state and region and, unlike Japan’s Smartway, is not connected into a nationally integrated ITS system.

ITIF has now suggested that the government, among other measures, should raise the annual ITS funding by $2.5bn to $3bn, develop a national real-time traffic information system by 2014 as well as support studies for a mileage-based user fee system by 2020.