As the ITS industry shifts toward outcome-based procurement and more integrated, collaborative operations, agencies are rethinking how they manage traffic, tolling, and roadway technology. To discuss what this means for agencies and for Q-Free, we spoke with Mark Lewis, SVP of Sales and Marketing Operations, about key market trends, customer challenges, and where transportation is headed next.

To get us started Mark, could you tell us a little about your role at Q-Free and the work you focus on?
As the SVP of Sales and Marketing Operations, I oversee the teams that connect our solutions with customer needs. My goal is to ensure that what we deliver truly addresses the challenges our customers face and that we are seen as a reliable partner — not just a provider. By bringing together marketing, technical sales, and business development, we make sure our market-facing teams are aligned, share insights, and have a clear understanding of our customers and the market. This helps us keep our dialogue and messaging consistent, focused, and outcome-driven.

Ultimately, my job is to translate market needs into clear priorities and ensure customers experience the value of those outcomes every day — whether that’s improving traffic flow, enhancing safety, or boosting operational efficiency.

You seem to be involved in a lot of different areas. If you had to pick, what projects get you most excited?
I really enjoy projects where we bring together different areas of expertise to create smarter, integrated systems. A great example of this has been our recent success in bringing traffic management solutions to our tolling clients. This year we won three separate contracts with toll road operators to deploy our Kinetic® Mobility ATMS platform. These projects help toll operators manage their roadways more efficiently, respond to incidents more effectively, and ultimately improve the customer experience for drivers.

When teams across domains work together, the results can be significantly better for both operators and the public. That’s the kind of work that keeps me motivated every day.

What challenges are you helping your customers solve?
A lot of what we do is about helping customers break down silos. Traffic management teams, freeway operators, and IT departments often work separately, which can make day-to-day operations less efficient. By helping integrate their systems, we enable better results — smoother traffic, safer roads, and more efficient operations overall.

We also guide customers through the shift to performance-based contracts. Supporting this shift allows organizations to innovate more freely and achieve better outcomes — and that’s one of the most rewarding parts of my work.

How does Q-Free make sure the market and customers understand your work?
The ITS industry is growing fast, thanks to initiatives like smart cities, connected vehicles, and traffic safety programs—but it’s still a specialized field. People in the traditional ecosystem know us well, but the sector has historically been highly technical and inward facing. Today, we’re placing much more emphasis on outcomes, not only the technology behind them.

For example, open-architecture traffic management systems that bring together signal and freeway operations, or secure, scalable tolling platforms that make operations simpler and more reliable. By highlighting the practical benefits, we help customers understand not just what the technology is, but how it improves operations and enhances the experience for the public.

As we expand into adjacent areas like distance-based road user charging and fleet management, we’re also making sure our work resonates beyond our traditional audiences. That includes decision makers in emerging sectors where our solutions are becoming increasingly relevant. Our marketing and sales teams work hand in hand with partners across our industry eco-system in order to stay aligned from concept to pilot to rollout, always focusing on showing the real benefits we deliver to customers and communities.

What industry trends are you seeing right now?
I’ve mentioned outcomes several times already because we’re seeing a clear shift toward performance- or outcome-based contracts. Historically, contracts were structured around highly detailed requirements dictating exactly how systems must be deployed. While those still exist, many customers struggle with that model, getting caught up in the details and losing sight of the bigger picture. More and more, contracts now set minimal specifications and focus on the outcomes the customer wants to achieve.

This shifts the emphasis from the ”how” to the ”why,” enabling us to deliver solutions that are both more cost-effective and operationally efficient — though it also requires more flexible organizational setups.

At Q-Free, we have always been an end-to-end provider, thinking holistically about our offerings, and we continue to push further in this direction.

Cybersecurity is also a major trend. Transportation systems are critical national infrastructure, so protecting them has never been more important. Our Dynamic™ Signals software is a good example. It improves traffic signal operations while embedding robust cybersecurity protections, giving customers confidence in both safety and performance.

Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of Q-Free?
It’s no surprise that I‘m excited about expanding our platform-based solutions and emphasizing outcomes. Whether it’s tolling, traffic management, or road user charging, our platforms are designed to deliver measurable results.

By 2030, my goal is for Q-Free to be widely recognized as a global leader in outcome-focused solutions, trusted by IT, operations, and city management teams around the world. I want our customers to see Q-Free as a partner that not only delivers technology but also helps them achieve their goals efficiently and safely — because that’s what we’ve been doing since our foundation in 1984.

And what makes you proud to be part of Q-Free?
Without a doubt, it’s the people. Across all regions and teams, there’s a shared dedication to quality, innovation, and helping customers succeed. Even in challenging projects, our teams go above and beyond to deliver exceptional results.

I believe a big part of this comes from our combination of strong local presence and global reach. From tackling projects in the harshest climates of small Norwegian towns to supporting large-scale infrastructure deployments across Europe and the U.S., we learn from experiences around the world — and bring those insights back to benefit our local customers.

We’re small enough to stay close to each customer, yet large enough to think globally. That blend of skill, creativity, and commitment is what sets us apart — and what makes it easy to be proud of what we do.