Transportation Planner

Overview and Key Facts

What Do They Do?

A transportation planner could...

Overview Listen to this section

Do you spend time enjoying a city park? The next time you go, take a minute to look around and see how other people arrive at the park. Some people may walk to the park on a maintained pathway. Others may come via the subway, if one is located close by. Still others may be dropped off by car, at a designated curb. A few may even bicycle to the park. But who plans all of these different ways of getting to the park? Well, that would be a transportation planner, who figures out how to get all of these people to the park and how all of these forms of transportation affect the park's environment. The role of transportation planners is to study the use and operation of transportation systems and to gather, compile, and analyze data for proposed transportation projects. Transportation planners keep our cities, states, and nation moving.

Do You Have the Skills and Characteristics of a Transportation Planner?

1. Writing: ? Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
2. Active Listening: ? Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
3. Complex Problem Solving: ? Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
4. Speaking: ? Talking to others to convey information effectively.
5. Reading Comprehension: ? Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

6. Critical Thinking: ? Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
7. Judgment and Decision Making: ? Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
8. Systems Evaluation: ? Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
9. Active Learning: ? Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
10. Coordination: ? Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Core Tasks

Think about if you'd like the typical tasks a Transportation Planner might do:

• Define regional or local transportation planning problems or priorities.
• Participate in public meetings or hearings to explain planning proposals, to gather feedback from those affected by projects, or to achieve consensus on project designs.
• Prepare reports or recommendations on transportation planning.
• Collaborate with engineers to research, analyze, or resolve complex transportation design issues.
• Recommend transportation system improvements or projects, based on economic, population, land-use, or traffic projections.
• Develop computer models to address transportation planning issues.
• Analyze information related to transportation, such as land use policies, environmental impact of projects, or long-range planning needs.
• Design transportation surveys to identify areas of public concern.
• Interpret data from traffic modeling software, geographic information systems, or associated databases.
• Collaborate with other professionals to develop sustainable transportation strategies at the local, regional, or national level.
• Evaluate transportation project needs or costs.
• Analyze information from traffic counting programs.
• Review development plans for transportation system effects, infrastructure requirements, or compliance with applicable transportation regulations.
• Prepare necessary documents to obtain planned project approvals or permits.
• Produce environmental documents, such as environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.
• Prepare or review engineering studies or specifications.
• Develop or test new methods or models of transportation analysis.
• Evaluate transportation-related consequences of federal or state legislative proposals.
• Design new or improved transport infrastructure, such as junction improvements, pedestrian projects, bus facilities, or car parking areas.
• Define or update information such as urban boundaries or classification of roadways.
• Direct urban traffic counting programs.