PR Tradeshow Vibes®: ITS World Congress 2025

ITS America Events and ITS America
Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: Nearly 6,000 from 61 countries

During the week ITS America hosted the 31st Intelligent Transport System (ITS) World Congress. Atlanta treated the global ITS community to the real-world technologies reshaping connected transportation. Since the first event was held in Paris in 1994, the sector has advanced significantly. However, today it feels as if it’s at a crossroads, with unprecedented opportunities for stakeholders to collaborate and create solutions that will define the next era of transportation.

ITS World Congress is unique in that it rotates between Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific regions, accommodating sponsors and showcasing local solutions to challenges in diverse cities and regions. While attendance may have been on par with the last ITS Americas event in Los Angeles (2022 saw more than 6,000 attendees from 64 countries and 2025 nearly 6,000 from 61 countries), this year’s show has been touted as unprecedented, likely reflecting the almost 800 speakers and size of the demonstrations across the four days.

Those in attendance included policy makers, influencers, DoD, DoT, data platform providers, Tier-1 operators, local agencies, the research community, standards bodies, the trade press and analysts. Demonstrations included multiple on-street tech showcases as well as the largest cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) deployment on public infrastructure in the United States operating in real conditions in downtown Atlanta and covering 1,200 signalized intersections.

Laura Chace, President and CEO, ITS America, said, “This year’s theme highlights that innovation in transportation isn’t abstract—it delivers the essentials that keep our country moving: smart signals that prevent crashes, buses that arrive on time, and goods that reach your door faster. The technologies showcased at ITS World Congress 2025 will be pivotal in saving lives, strengthening transportation systems, and improving mobility and access.”

The premium entrance rate likely reflects the breadth and scope of demonstrations and the opportunities for exposure. Attendees could experience technologies in action in a city that is investing more than $168 billion in safer roads, public transportation, and active mobility.

The value of this event lies not just in the technology on display but in the diversity of its audience. For the many different companies in this space, few forums can deliver this breadth of exposure. This is an industry that will need an ecosystem of partnerships, leveraging both global and local expertise from service and equipment providers, RF specialists, systems integrators, and more.

From a PR standpoint, this offers heady opportunities for those who know both the wireless and automotive industries (like Calysto). Done well, with a crafted PR strategy, the thoughtful positioning of leaders on panels, and some well-researched journalist briefings, company messages will resonate way beyond the event. In 2026 it moves to Gangneung, Korea, in 2027 to Birmingham, UK, and in 2028, it returns to the United States, to Detroit, the birthplace of American automotive manufacturing.

Look out for future editions of PR Vibes, where we’ll be exploring the exciting connected transportation space in more detail.