DKS Associates
DKS Associates is an employee-owned transportation engineering and planning consulting firm serving state, local, and transit agencies across the western United States through eight offices, with expertise in traffic engineering, intelligent transportation systems, transit signal priority, and fleet electrification.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1995
- HeadquartersOakland, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What DKS Associates does
DKS Associates is an employee-owned transportation engineering and planning consulting firm headquartered in Oakland, California, with eight offices across California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, and Idaho. Founded in 1995, the firm serves public-sector transportation agencies—including state departments of transportation (DOTs), city and county governments, transit authorities, and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs)—across the western United States. DKS plans, designs, and operates transportation systems, with project work secured through competitive government procurement such as RFPs and qualifications-based selection.
The firm's core offerings span transportation planning, traffic engineering design, operations technology, transit services, active transportation, transportation safety analysis, tolling, electromobility, and IIJA funding advisory. Notable technology assets include Fleet ETA, a web-based fleet electrification transition planning tool offered in subscription tiers; Arterial Insights, a traffic corridor performance measurement platform co-developed with Moonshadow Mobile; and Next Gen Transit Signal Priority, an AI-driven system that uses cellular tracking to adapt signal phasing for buses. DKS also deploys Active Traffic Management Systems integrating variable speed limit signs, lane-use control, and dynamic messaging for freeway management, and is leading an ODOT program to produce multimodal GIS transportation inventories covering approximately 17,000 miles of road across 48 cities and 11 counties using AI/ML image analysis from Vexcel and Ecopia.
DKS generates revenue primarily through professional services on a project-based model, with engagements ranging from short-term studies to multi-year infrastructure programs and benefit-to-cost ratios on documented projects between 9:1 and 50:1. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; contracts are awarded through direct consulting engagements and competitive public-sector procurement, and the firm has built a customer base spanning state DOTs (ODOT, WSDOT, Caltrans, FDOT, ITD), cities (Seattle, Portland, Salem, South San Francisco), transit authorities (TriMet, King County Metro, VTA), and regional authorities.
DKS Associates firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- DKS Associates
- Legal name
- DKS Associates
- Website
- https://dksassociates.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1995
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- DKS Associates is an employee-owned transportation engineering and planning consulting firm serving state, local, and transit agencies across the western United States through eight offices, with expertise in traffic engineering, intelligent transportation systems, transit signal priority, and fleet electrification.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
DKS Associates industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Transportation Engineering Consulting
- NAICS
- Engineering Services (54133)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering Services (8711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- DevOps Consulting & Transformation (BPAEAKAA)
Keywords
Where DKS Associates is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oakland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices8 records
Markets served
DKS Associates business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Transportation Consulting Services: DKS generates revenue through professional consulting services including transportation planning, traffic engineering design, operations technology, transit services, active transportation design, transportation safety analysis, tolling services, electromobility planning, climate services, and IIJA funding advisory. Revenue is project-based, secured through competitive government procurement processes and ongoing agency contracts. Engagements range from short-term studies to multi-year infrastructure projects.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
DKS Associates product offering
Product offeringCore offering
DKS Associates is an employee-owned transportation engineering and planning consulting firm that helps public-sector clients plan, design, build, manage, and operate transportation systems. Its core offerings span transportation planning and analysis, engineering design, operations technology (ITS/ATMS), transit services, active transportation, transportation safety analysis, tolling, electromobility/fleet electrification planning, climate services, and IIJA funding advisory, delivered through project-based consulting engagements with government agencies and supplemented by the Fleet ETA software tool.
Product overview
DKS Associates is a transportation consulting firm offering professional services rather than a unified software platform. The company provides Fleet ETA as its primary software product—a web-based fleet electrification planning tool with subscription tiers (Free, Basic, Standard, Premium). Secondary products include Arterial Insights (traffic corridor performance tool developed with Moonshadow Mobile), and Six Mile Engineering (acquired Idaho-based consulting practice). Service offerings span transportation planning, design, operations technology, transit services, active transportation, transportation safety, electromobility, tolling, climate services, IIJA funding support, and public engagement across multiple U.S. states.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Fleet ETA: A web-based fleet transition planning tool that helps fleet managers transition to electric vehicles while minimizing costs, maintaining regulation compliance (like CARB's ACF), and optimizing charger installations.
Products and services
- Fleet ETA
Quantifiable outcome
- 50:1 benefit-to-cost ratio for FDOT District 4 traffic signal timing ($17.5M savings over 3 years)
- +9 more outcomes
Companies that use DKS Associates
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
DKS Associates technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability6 records
Feature5 records
DKS Associates partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- Six Mile EngineeringflagshipDKS acquired Six Mile Engineering, an Idaho-based provider of transportation and traffic engineering consulting services. The acquisition expands DKS's service offerings, extends geographic reach into Idaho, and provides Six Mile Engineering's clients with expanded capabilities. Six Mile Engineering's team and leadership joined DKS following the acquisition.
- Vexcel Data ProgramcoreVexcel captures high-resolution aerial imagery (3-inch per pixel resolution) using advanced aerial camera systems deployed in specialized aircraft. DKS uses this imagery as the foundation for comprehensive multimodal transportation system data inventories across Oregon municipalities, enabling detailed analysis of roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, and ADA compliance.
- EcopiacoreEcopia uses advanced AI-powered image analysis (machine learning) to convert Vexcel's high-resolution aerial imagery into high-precision GIS data layers. DKS leverages Ecopia's deep learning models as part of its ODOT-funded multimodal transportation data inventory project covering 48 cities and 11 counties.
- Moonshadow MobilecoreDKS and Moonshadow Mobile jointly developed Arterial Insights, an online tool that measures the performance of traffic corridors and signalized intersections. The partnership combined DKS's transportation engineering expertise with Moonshadow's data visualization platform. The firms also co-hosted a webinar on connected vehicle data procurement and use.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
DKS Associates competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Stantec: International engineering, architecture, and environmental services firm with a North American transportation practice. Competes with DKS on multimodal planning, traffic engineering, and transportation safety engagements.
- WSP USA: Global engineering professional services firm with a large transportation practice serving state DOTs, transit agencies, and cities. Competes with DKS on larger corridor, ATMS, and multimodal planning projects but operates at significantly greater scale.
- HDR: Large multi-discipline engineering firm with a substantial transportation practice covering planning, design, and operations technology for DOTs, transit agencies, and municipalities. Overlaps with DKS on traffic engineering, ATMS, and corridor studies.
- AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with a major transportation practice providing planning, engineering, and program management to public-sector clients. Competes for the same DOT, MPO, and transit authority engagements as DKS.
- Jacobs: Global professional services firm with deep transportation credentials including tolling, transit, and active traffic management. Competes with DKS on larger state DOT and federal contracts and has acquired multiple regional transportation firms.
- Mott MacDonald: Global engineering consultancy with a strong North American transportation practice covering transit, highways, and smart mobility. Competes with DKS on complex transit signal priority, corridor management, and active transportation projects.
Direct peers
- Kimley-Horn: Large, employee-owned transportation and civil engineering consulting firm serving state DOTs, cities, and transit agencies nationwide. Highly comparable to DKS in terms of private ownership structure, transportation planning and design services, and public-sector client base.
- Fehr & Peers: Employee-owned transportation planning and traffic engineering consultancy with strong West Coast presence. Directly comparable in service mix (multimodal planning, traffic operations, safety) and similar public-sector focus on cities and DOTs.
- Michael Baker International: Mid-to-large engineering and consulting firm focused on transportation, infrastructure, and federal services. Highly comparable to DKS in serving state DOTs, transit authorities, and cities with planning, design, and operations technology services.
- T.Y. Lin International: Engineering and infrastructure consulting firm with a significant transportation practice serving public-sector clients across the U.S. Comparable in scale and service mix, with overlapping expertise in corridor planning, traffic engineering, and transit projects.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
DKS Associates social profiles
Digital presenceDKS Associates financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
DKS Associates leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
DKS Associates subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
DKS Associates funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
DKS Associates M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about DKS Associates
What does DKS Associates do?
DKS Associates is an employee-owned transportation engineering and planning consulting firm that helps public-sector clients plan, design, build, manage, and operate transportation systems. Its core offerings span transportation planning and analysis, engineering design, operations technology (ITS/ATMS), transit services, active transportation, transportation safety analysis, tolling, electromobility/fleet electrification planning, climate services, and IIJA funding advisory, delivered through project-based consulting engagements with government agencies and supplemented by the Fleet ETA software tool.
When was DKS Associates founded?
DKS Associates was founded in 1995. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is DKS Associates based?
DKS Associates is headquartered in Oakland, United States, in the North America region.
How does DKS Associates make money?
One revenue line is on record: transportation Consulting Services.
Who are DKS Associates's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Stantec, WSP USA, HDR, AECOM, Jacobs and Mott MacDonald. Direct peers are Kimley-Horn, Fehr & Peers, Michael Baker International and T.Y. Lin International.
Does DKS Associates have an API?
No public API is recorded for DKS Associates.
What industry is DKS Associates in?
DKS Associates's product category is Transportation Engineering Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAKAA, DevOps Consulting & Transformation. Its NAICS code is 54133 and its SIC code is 8711.