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Transportation Planners

Prepare studies for proposed transportation projects. Gather, compile, and analyze data. Study the use and operation of transportation systems. Develop transportation models or simulations.
  • Summary

  • Details

  • Work Activities

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

    Skills

    • Equipment Maintenance
      • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
    • Persuasion
      • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
    • Critical Thinking
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
    • Active Learning
      • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
    • Repairing
      • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
    • Systems Analysis
      • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
    • Mathematics
      • Using math to solve problems.
    • Installation
      • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
    • Operation and Control
      • Using equipment or systems.
    • Social Perceptiveness
      • Understanding people's reactions.
    • Learning Strategies
      • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
    • Technology Design
      • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
    • Science
      • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
    • Active Listening
      • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
    • Management of Financial Resources
      • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
    • Operations Monitoring
      • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
    • Monitoring
      • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
    • Instructing
      • Teaching people how to do something.
    • Complex Problem Solving
      • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
    • Quality Control Analysis
      • Testing how well a product or service works.
    • Troubleshooting
      • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
    • Management of Material Resources
      • Managing equipment and materials.
    • Reading Comprehension
      • Reading work-related information.
    • Operations Analysis
      • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
    • Equipment Selection
      • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
    • Management of Personnel Resources
      • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
    • Time Management
      • Managing your time and the time of other people.
    • Systems Evaluation
      • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
    • Negotiation
      • Bringing people together to solve differences.
    • Writing
      • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
    • Judgment and Decision Making
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
    • Coordination
      • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
    • Programming
      • Writing computer programs.
    • Speaking
      • Talking to others.
    • Service Orientation
      • Looking for ways to help people.

    Abilities

    • Sound Localization
      • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
    • Far Vision
      • Seeing details that are far away.
    • Originality
      • Creating new and original ideas.
    • Glare Sensitivity
      • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
    • Visual Color Discrimination
      • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
    • Static Strength
      • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
    • Speech Clarity
      • Speaking clearly.
    • Extent Flexibility
      • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Mathematical Reasoning
      • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
    • Gross Body Coordination
      • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
    • Memorization
      • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
    • Oral Expression
      • Communicating by speaking.
    • Written Expression
      • Communicating by writing.
    • Explosive Strength
      • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
    • Manual Dexterity
      • Holding or moving items with your hands.
    • Visualization
      • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
    • Selective Attention
      • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
    • Information Ordering
      • Ordering or arranging things.
    • Near Vision
      • Seeing details up close.
    • Speech Recognition
      • Recognizing spoken words.
    • Response Orientation
      • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
    • Wrist-Finger Speed
      • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
    • Speed of Closure
      • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
    • Dynamic Strength
      • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
    • Inductive Reasoning
      • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
    • Stamina
      • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
    • Perceptual Speed
      • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
    • Reaction Time
      • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
    • Finger Dexterity
      • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
    • Control Precision
      • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
    • Depth Perception
      • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
    • Oral Comprehension
      • Listening and understanding what people say.
    • Number Facility
      • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
    • Time Sharing
      • Doing two or more things at the same time.
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
      • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
    • Speed of Limb Movement
      • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
    • Peripheral Vision
      • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
    • Fluency of Ideas
      • Coming up with lots of ideas.
    • Deductive Reasoning
      • Using rules to solve problems.
    • Gross Body Equilibrium
      • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
    • Rate Control
      • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
    • Written Comprehension
      • Reading and understanding what is written.
    • Hearing Sensitivity
      • Telling the difference between sounds.
    • Auditory Attention
      • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
    • Problem Sensitivity
      • Noticing when problems happen.
    • Trunk Strength
      • Using your lower back and stomach.
    • Flexibility of Closure
      • Seeing hidden patterns.
    • Multilimb Coordination
      • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
    • Night Vision
      • Seeing at night or under low light.
    • Category Flexibility
      • Grouping things in different ways.
    • Dynamic Flexibility
      • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Spatial Orientation
      • Knowing where things are around you.

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
      • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
    • Physics
      • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
    • Production and Processing
      • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
    • Building and Construction
      • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
    • Transportation
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
    • Administration and Management
      • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
    • Administrative
      • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
    • Medicine and Dentistry
      • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
    • Fine Arts
      • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
    • Therapy and Counseling
      • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
    • Telecommunications
      • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
    • Biology
      • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
    • Education and Training
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    • Sales and Marketing
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
    • Geography
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
    • Psychology
      • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
    • Computers and Electronics
      • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
    • Design
      • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
    • Mechanical
      • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
    • Engineering and Technology
      • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
    • Food Production
      • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
    • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
    • Mathematics
      • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
    • Philosophy and Theology
      • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
    • Foreign Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
    • Law and Government
      • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
    • Communications and Media
      • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
    • Economics and Accounting
      • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
    • English Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
    • Chemistry
      • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
    • Personnel and Human Resources
      • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
    • Public Safety and Security
      • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
    • History and Archeology
      • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    Education

    Education
    Bachelor's degree
    Work Experience
    No work experience
    Training
    No on-the-job training

    Pay

    Washington Annual Salary
    107100/yr
    Washington Hourly Wage
    51.49/hr

    Washington Employment Trends

    Currently Employed
    1,560
    Yearly Projected Openings
    180

    Personality

    Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out. They do well at jobs that need:
    • Integrity
    • Cooperation
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Initiative

    Tools

    • Desktop computers
    • Digital image printers
    • Laser fax machine
    • Notebook computers
    • Personal computers
    • Photocopiers
    • Special purpose telephones

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Desktop publishing software
    • Development environment software
    • Document management software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Geographic information system
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Industrial control software
    • Internet browser software
    • Map creation software
    • Mobile location based services software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software