Transportation Engineer Develop plans for surface transportation projects, according to established engineering standards and state or federal construction policy. Prepare designs, specifications, or estimates for transportation facilities. Plan modifications of existing streets, highways, or freeways to improve traffic flow.
Transportation Engineer is Also Know as
In different settings, Transportation Engineer is titled as
- Engineer
- Project Engineer
- Rail Engineer
- Roadway Designer
- Roadway Engineer
- State Roadway Design Engineer
- Traffic Engineer
- Traffic Operations Engineer
- Transportation Engineer
Education and Training of Transportation Engineer
Transportation Engineer is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Transportation Engineer
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Education Required for Transportation Engineer
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Degrees Related to Transportation Engineer
- Bachelor in Civil Engineering, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Civil Engineering, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Civil Engineering, General
- Bachelor in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
- Associate Degree Courses in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
- Masters Degree Courses in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
- Bachelor in Structural Engineering
- Associate Degree Courses in Structural Engineering
- Masters Degree Courses in Structural Engineering
- Bachelor in Transportation and Highway Engineering
- Associate Degree Courses in Transportation and Highway Engineering
- Masters Degree Courses in Transportation and Highway Engineering
- Bachelor in Water Resources Engineering
- Associate Degree Courses in Water Resources Engineering
- Masters Degree Courses in Water Resources Engineering
- Bachelor in Civil Engineering, Other
- Associate Degree Courses in Civil Engineering, Other
- Masters Degree Courses in Civil Engineering, Other
Training Required for Transportation Engineer
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Transportation Engineer in different industries are
- Civil Engineers
- Transportation Planners
- Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
- Traffic Technicians
- Construction Managers
- Highway Maintenance Workers
- Construction and Building Inspectors
- Water/Wastewater Engineers
- Environmental Engineers
- Industrial Engineers
- Logistics Engineers
- Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers
- Aerospace Engineers
- Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
- Architectural and Civil Drafters
- Facilities Managers
- Project Management Specialists
- Architectural and Engineering Managers
- Wind Energy Engineers
- Solar Energy Installation Managers
What Do Transportation Engineer do?
- Present data, maps, or other information at construction-related public hearings or meetings.
- Review development plans to determine potential traffic impact.
- Prepare administrative, technical, or statistical reports on traffic-operation matters, such as accidents, safety measures, or pedestrian volume or practices.
- Evaluate transportation systems or traffic control devices or lighting systems to determine need for modification or expansion.
- Evaluate traffic control devices or lighting systems to determine need for modification or expansion.
- Develop or assist in the development of transportation-related computer software or computer processes.
- Prepare project budgets, schedules, or specifications for labor or materials.
- Prepare final project layout drawings that include details such as stress calculations.
- Plan alteration or modification of existing transportation structures to improve safety or function.
- Participate in contract bidding, negotiation, or administration.
- Model transportation scenarios to evaluate the impacts of activities such as new development or to identify possible solutions to transportation problems.
- Investigate traffic problems and recommend methods to improve traffic flow or safety.
- Investigate or test specific construction project materials to determine compliance to specifications or standards.
- Inspect completed transportation projects to ensure safety or compliance with applicable standards or regulations.
- Direct the surveying, staking, or laying-out of construction projects.
- Estimate transportation project costs.
- Confer with contractors, utility companies, or government agencies to discuss plans, specifications, or work schedules.
- Check construction plans, design calculations, or cost estimations to ensure completeness, accuracy, or conformity to engineering standards or practices.
- Analyze environmental impact statements for transportation projects.
- Supervise the maintenance or repair of transportation systems or system components.
- Design or prepare plans for new transportation systems or parts of systems, such as airports, commuter trains, highways, streets, bridges, drainage structures, or roadway lighting.
- Design or engineer drainage, erosion, or sedimentation control systems for transportation projects.
- Design transportation systems or structures with sustainable materials or products, such as porous pavement or bioretention structures.
- Develop plans to deconstruct damaged or obsolete roadways or other transportation structures in a manner that is environmentally sound or prepares the land for sustainable development.
- Evaluate construction project materials for compliance with environmental standards.
- Inspect completed transportation projects to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
Qualities of Good Transportation Engineer
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Tools Used by Transportation Engineer
- Computer laser printers
- Desktop computers
- Digital cameras
- Laptop computers
- Laser facsimile machines
- Mobile radios
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Personal computers
- Photocopying equipment
Technology Skills required for Transportation Engineer
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D
- Autodesk Land Desktop
- Bentley GEOPAK Civil Engineering Suite
- Bentley InRoads Suite
- Bentley MicroStation
- Citilabs Cube
- Computer aided design and drafting software CADD
- Cubic Synchro Studio
- ESRI ArcGIS software
- McTrans Center TSIS-CORSIM
- McTrans HCS+
- McTrans TRANSYT-7F
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Project
- Microsoft Word
- OpenRoads Designer
- Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
- Python
- SIDRA INTERSECTION
- Structured query language SQL
- Trafficware SimTraffic
- Trafficware SynchroGreen
- Transoft Solutions AutoTURN
- Visual Solutions VisSIM
- Warehouse management system WMS
- Web browser software
- Word processing software