Intelligent transportation systems vary in technologies applied, from basic management systems such as car navigation, traffic signal control systems, container management systems, variable message signs, automatic number plate recognition or speed cameras to monitoring applications such as security CCTV systems, and then to more advanced applications which integrate live data and feedback from a number of other sources, such as parking guidance and information systems, weather information, bridge de-icing systems, and the like. Additionally, predictive techniques are being developed, to allow advanced modeling and comparison with historical baseline data. Some of the constituent technologies typically implemented in ITS are described in the following sections.

Traffic flow measurement and automatic incident detection using video cameras is another form of vehicle detection. Since video detection systems such as those used in automatic number plate recognition do not involve installing any components directly into the road surface or roadbed, this type of system is known as a "non-intrusive" method of traffic detection. Video from black-and-white or color cameras is fed into processors that analyze the changing characteristics of the video image as vehicles pass.