The building of transportation power nation is a pioneering field in the building of modern economic system, and intelligent transportation is an important aspect. Technology innovation and policy innovation are two main routines in realizing intelligent transportation. By analyzing patent data of transportation management technology from 1999 to 2018, it is found that in the recent 20 years, the technology innovation level in China has improved a lot, and patent activity and advantages have been greatly improved. The diffusion ability of patent in transportation management still has issues and need to be improved. From the perspective of patent maintenance, the influence of transportation management technology innovation is still lagged behind Japan and US. With those findings, relative suggestions are put forward to provide support for the building of transportation power nation.