Emerging Leaders in Transportation fellowship – Image courtesy: NYU Rudin

The Emerging Leaders in Transportation fellowship program aims to enhance the toolkit of early-career employees to make transportation more efficient, effective and people-oriented.

In this competitive fellowship program, participants will learn from top transportation and management professionals to enhance leadership skills, communication techniques and policy work to bring innovative ideas into practice.

The 2016 program will take place on December 1 and 2. The agenda includes:

December 1:

• A half-day leadership session, where emerging leaders will collaborate on long-term leadership goals
• A behind-the-scenes visit to a major transportation facility for hands-on learning about industry goals and challenges
• A networking reception with 2014 and 2015 Emerging Leaders cohorts

December 2:

• A half-day leadership session focused on developing innovative projects and ideas within an organization
• Lunchtime networking opportunities 

Discussion topics will include: leadership, innovation, communications, building support for innovation, and practical applications. Sessions will include talks from and with esteemed professionals and group discussions and exercises. Participants will develop plans to introduce innovative solutions or concepts within their workplaces.

View a recap of last year’s fellowship program here.

Apply using the form below or by clicking here.

Application Timeline:

• August 3: Application period opens
• September 15: Applications due
• October 13: Fellowship class selection announcement
• December 1-2: Fellowship program

Details:

• The Emerging Fellows program is open to transportation professionals with up to 10 years of experience.
• There is no cost for participating in the program.
• Applicants are welcome from any location; however, we are unable to subsidize travel or lodging for participants.
• No AICP or other continuing education credit is available for this program.
• Previous applicants are welcome to re-apply. Past participants are ineligible.

If you have questions about this program, please email rudin.center@nyu.edu.

This program is supported by a grant from the University Transportation Research Center.

Fascinating interview and congrats to winning team.  Very exciting to see the young engineers take to building radically new transportation systems/concepts like Hyperloop that will transform the future of mobility/transportation! Graduate student Chris Merian, chief engineer for MIT’s Hyperloop team, speaks with Radio Boston’s Meghna Chakrabarti about the team’s success in the recent Hyperloop contest

“…really cool engineering challenge that we are really passionate about, and seeing our hundreds of hours of work rewarded like that was really, really nice”

Related articles

• SpaceX selects 124 engineering teams to do battle in Hyperloop pod design competition

Nelson Nygaard is hiring a Senior Associate Transit Planner in our San Francisco office. Please follow this link to apply: http://nelsonnygaard.com/career/senior-associate-transit-planner-san-francisco/

Senior Associate Transit Planner – San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

NelsonNygaard Consulting Associates is seeking a highly organized, independent, and motivated member of our senior-level staff for our San Franciso office to support the firm’s nationally recognized transit and multimodal transportation planning practice. This practice emphasizes innovative transportation planning, transit service planning, transit system funding, compliance, and community involvement, often within a wider set of goals such as economic development, health, and reduced dependence on the private automobile. We are seeking an individual with at least eight years of experience and a strong interest in transit planning as well as some background in developing sustainable strategies to improve community accessibility and mobility.

NelsonNygaard offers a dynamic and self-directed work environment that is fast-paced, congenial, and supportive. Our office culture is built upon diversity and creativity. This is your opportunity to work with one of the most innovative groups of planners and engineers in the United States, including highly talented junior and support staff.

Responsibilities

In this position, the successful candidate will be expected to manage and win midsize to large projects and provide guidance to staff. Your projects may be located anywhere throughout the United States, and thus a willingness and desire to travel is essential. You will work closely with NelsonNygaard’s senior and junior staff in the San Francisco office, and also Canadian pharmacy online throughout the country. Our approach is to bring the most appropriate staff together, irrespective of where they are based, as collaboration across offices produces better outcomes and improves all of our skills.

Qualifications and Requirements

The ideal candidate should have a broad range of transportation and urban planning experience, preferably with a focus on transit operations and planning. A candidate should be able to demonstrate expertise in at least five (5) of the following:

• Short- and long-range transit planning
• Transit/shuttle service design, planning and operation
• Transport policy, funding, and governance
• Fare policy and fare planning
• Financial planning
• Data collection and performance assessments
• Paratransit and demand-responsive services
• Title VI policy and compliance

Other highly desirable skills include the following:

• Bus rapid transit/rapid bus
• Complete streets
• Corridor plans
• Specific area plans
• Light rail, commuter rail, and/or streetcar planning
• Multimodal/intermodal facility planning
• Transit station area planning
• Citywide transportation planning and analysis
• Campus transportation planning
• Parking management
• Bicycle/pedestrian facility planning
• Street design guidelines
• Transportation demand management
• Advanced graphics communications (InDesign, Illustrator, SketchUp, Photoshop)
• Traffic analysis and modeling (Synchro, VISSIM, TransCAD)

Successful applicants will be expected to:

• Manage projects within a specified budget and timeframe
• Work independently to complete significant components of transportation analyses and planning effort
• Work successfully with clients, members of the public, and project teams
• Outline and prepare successful proposals and reports
• Analyze a wide range of transportation data and manage the completion of technical analyses, feasibility studies, and other transportation reports
• Prepare and give effective presentations
• Solve multimodal transportation problems
• Mentor and train junior staff
• Organize and supervise data collection activities in the office and the field

At a minimum, the candidate should meet the following qualifications:

• At least eight (8) years of responsible experience in transportation planning, traffic engineering, or a related field.
• A bachelor’s or advanced degree in urban or transportation planning, or a related planning field. Master’s degree is strongly preferred.
• Excellent written, verbal, and other communication skills, including facilitating public workshops.
• The ability to manage complex projects on time and on budget.
• Demonstrate advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Experience in business development a plus, i.e., winning work. If you have public agency experience, grant writing and successful RFP development are applicable skills.

We are looking for someone who can begin immediately

Salary and Benefits

Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance, carshare and bikeshare membership, pre-tax transit or bicycling benefit, a 401K program, life insurance, and paid time off. Other benefits of the position include a dynamic and self-directed work environment, collaboration with leading planners, and a congenial and supportive office culture. Applicants should include salary requirements in their inquiry.

Transportation for America is hiring a Research Fellow to help produce research and produce reports, identify innovative transportation concepts, and support a mission-based consulting service to produce the best outcomes for clients’ transportation investments.

The fellow will join Transportation for America’s policy team conducting original research that advances local, state and federal policies. This is an opportunity that features a great deal of responsibility, direct collaboration with our partners and valuable hands-on experience with transportation thought-leaders throughout the country.

Description

The ideal fellow is a proactive, savvy researcher with exceptional writing and editing skills and plugged-in to developments surrounding transportation policy at the local, state and federal, levels. The successful candidate will be able to use all these skills to create original research for Transportation for America’s partners and the public.

Fellows should be dependable team players that can perform regular duties when asked, while also being proactive self-starter who can independently research and offer and implement new research areas that support Transportation for America’s policy efforts. Fellows will be conducting research and writing assigned issue briefs and longer reports, but will also be counted upon to support the President of Transportation for America’s newly-created mission-driven consulting service.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Researching, writing and editing original research that supports local, state and federal transportation policy efforts of Transportation for America. This includes short (3-10 pages) issue briefs and lengthier research assignments when necessary.
• Identifying research trends and gaps to develop scope for new research.
• Managing oversight and quality assurance of data collection.
• Assisting policy team in researching local, state and federal policy, and producing content for Transportation for America’s members
• Supporting mission-driven consulting service by researching and writing reports and memorandums, and billing responsibilities.
• Providing general research support for the organization and our partners.

Requirements

All Transportation for America fellowships require a self-motivated, detail-oriented person with excellent writing, oral communication and organizational skills, as well as the ability to think creatively and work independently with adequate supervision. Candidates should have a strong interest in transportation, economic development, smart growth or related areas.

Specific to the Research Fellow candidate, Transportation for America is looking for those who can fulfill the following requirements:

• Proactive, team-player
• A bachelor’s degree in public policy, planning, sociology, demography, economics or other related field.
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative transportation and economic development research.
• Highly computer literate
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Working understanding of Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator) and GIS a plus.

Recommended candidates include:

• New professionals, especially policy, transportation, planning and economic professionals.
• Candidates able to demonstrate the capacity for independent study or research.

The position is full time (40 hours per week) and requires a six-month commitment. Some former fellows have joined our full-time staff. Transportation for America Fellows receive a stipend of $1,500 per month. This position is based in our offices in Washington, DC.

To apply, please send these materials to info@t4america.org with “Research Fellow” in the subject line:

• A short cover letter that includes a 50-word description of the assets you would bring to this position
• A current resume with references
• Recent research examples

Applications will be accepted immediately on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Equal opportunity and having a diverse staff are fundamental principles at Transportation for America. Employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law.

About T4America

T4America is an alliance of elected, business and civic leaders from communities across the country who are united to ensure that states and the federal government step up to invest in smart, homegrown, locally-driven transportation solutions. Learn more at http://t4america.org

Image Courtesy: ITSA.org – Click image to learn more.

Nearly 50% of the country’s containerized cargo passes through the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, making Southern California the epicenter of America’s freight network. From infrastructure investments that support reliable and efficient freight movement, to an emerging suite of advanced safety technologies on-board commercial vehicles, the nation’s freight network continues to deploy innovative solutions to address challenges and improve performance.

Make plans today to join ITS America, Caltrans, Contra Costa Transportation Authority, the Port of Long Beach andITS California for a two-day event, March 26-27, as we explore the smarter movement of goods in the 21st century by advancing an intelligent freight transportation network.

The symposium will take place in our most unique location yet — on board the historic Queen Mary. Special registration rates are available for ITS America members, public sector attendees and students and start as low as $40.00. Learn how you and your organization can get involved, check out the preliminary program and register today at www.itsa.org/freightsymposium.

As the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words .. This one is worth a few thousand stories on transport policy, included as part of a message promoting the ITF report titled “Cycling, Health and Safety”  In a nutshell, as summarized by ITF, the more people cycle, the fewer fatal accidents. Every kilometer cycled benefits society.

Image Courtesy: International Transport Forum . Click image to read the report “Cycling, Health and Safety”

While we are at it, I recommend you to check out the video series on cycling, safety & health on ITF’s YouTube channel:

via Citylab

This interesting chart was a part of a CityLab article that analyses how Germany is less car dependent than the United States by looking data from comparable cities in each of these nations.  What caught my attention, among the many things, is the difference in the carbon footprint.  In the US, Transport sector alone accounts for 32% of our overall CO2 emissions whereas in Germany it is only 19%.  If we ever get around to implementing a carbon tax, it could fall precipitously but I don’t see that happening anytime soon, given the current political discourse.

The data come from a recent comparison of German and U.S. planning approaches led by transport scholar Ralph Buehler of Virginia Tech. Drilling down to the city level, Buehler and collaborators find more of the same driving trends in an analysis of two large metros from each country: Washington, D.C., and Stuttgart.

Welcome!

The J.M.K. Innovation Prize is an exciting new initiative of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a New York-based family foundation. In 2015 up to ten Prizes will be awarded to U.S.-based individuals or teams addressing our country’s most pressing needs through social sector innovation.  The Prize will provide up to three years of support at $50,000 per year, as well as a $25,000 “bank” of funds available for technical assistance or targeted project expenses, making a total award of up to $175,000.  Specifically, the Prize seeks to support inter-disciplinary innovation in the fields of cultural heritage, human rights, the built environment, and the natural environment.  The Prize is particularly designed for high-risk, early stage ideas being piloted or prototyped by dynamic visionaries.

The Creation of the J.M.K. Innovation Prize

For three generations, the J.M. Kaplan Fund has provided catalytic funding for projects in their early stages of development.  Whether a pilot project, a new organization, or a nascent initiative, work supported by the Fund has involved a certain level of measured risk that ultimately led to large-scale, transformative results.  The new J.M.K. Innovation Prize will further this legacy, providing funding to visionary social entrepreneurs throughout the United States who are championing emerging social sector innovations.

Differentiation from Other Innovation Programs

The burgeoning field of social innovation has become a recognized area in philanthropy.  The demand for funding of this type, however, has increased so rapidly that many worthwhile ideas fail to find backing from established funders.  The J.M.K. Innovation Prize will fill a gap in this marketplace, not only by providing critical capital to the social innovation field, but also by taking risks on projects that may be seen by others as underdeveloped or too small.

Another difference is that the J.M.K. Innovation Prize will build on the Fund’s longstanding areas of grantmaking interest while remaining flexible enough to allow for fresh and unexpected thinking.  Prize recipients will ideally innovate across at least two of the Fund’s four traditional disciplinary boundaries:

• Cultural Heritage (e.g., historic preservation, archaeology, architecture, arts & culture)
• Human Rights (e.g., immigration, homelessness, incarceration, public health, education)
• Built Environment (e.g., parks, open space, public space, waterfront revitalization, transportation)
• Natural Environment (e.g., oceans, conservation, land use, climate change, alternative energy)

Criteria for Selection

The J.M.K. Innovation Prize will be awarded to projects or ideas that: represent a game-changing answer to a clearly identified need; demonstrate an interdisciplinary or hybridized approach, ideally involving at least two of the four areas of interest to the Fund; demonstrate the potential to develop an actionable pilot or prototype with Prize funding; show scalable impact or impact beyond the initial pilot or prototype; and hold out the promise to benefit multiple individuals, communities or sectors through a clearly articulated theory of change.

Our 2015 Timeline

Interested individuals or teams may apply for the J.M.K. Innovation Prize from January 15 through April 30, 2015.  A short application will be made accessible via this website starting on January 15.  A sub-set of applicants will be invited to submit a second, longer application for the Prize in late spring.  A review of these second round applications will take place throughout the summer, with finalists being flown to New York City in the fall to present their ideas to the trustees of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.  The Prize’s awardees will be publicly announced in November 2015.

Award Details

Awardees are eligible to receive $50,000 per year for three years, as well as a $25,000 “bank” of funds available for technical assistance or targeted project expenses.  Accordingly, the total prize award amount will total up to $175,000 per prize recipient over the three year period.  These funds are intended to allow recipients to focus their attention on their social impact idea.  Awardees will also receive ongoing, dedicated support from the J.M. Kaplan Fund, including networking opportunities at in-person convenings.

Apply Now!

You may access the online round one application for the J.M.K. Innovation Prize from January 15 through April 30, 2015 by clicking here.  We are using the grant management software program Foundant Technologies for this process; the creation of a Foundant account is necessary to view the round one application itself.

Additional Information

For convenience, you may download this one-page document containing the information presented on this webpage. For any additional information, please contact:JMKInnovationPrize@JMKFund.org.

#Manspreading much? LOL. For the uninformed, “Manspreading,” is the term coined for this: when men take up excess space by sitting with their legs far apart in buses and trains (and this has long been a pet peeve for fellow riders, particularly women). Off late there has been a lot of discussions on this topic, which I suspect was what prompted this brilliant cartoon.

Image courtesy. The New Yorker, via Twitter

And here is the New York MTA campaign poster advising folks to keep their legs together:

Image courtesy: NY MTA

Strongtowns.org has a compelling piece that explains the funding crisis in transportation and why the U.S. transportation system is going broke. This Strongtowns article points to the set of graphics below, which are actually part of a lengthy write-up on Star Tribune that dissects the state of Minnesota’s transportation funding issues.  In all, you get a good understanding of the fundamental disparities when it comes to the state of our unsustainable transportation financing methods and how badly we need a dramatic shift in our approach (H/T Streetsblog for sharing this article via Facebook).

Image Courtesy: Star Tribune. Click on the graphic to be linked to the source story

Image Courtesy: Star Tribune via Strongtowns.org. Click on the graphic to be linked to the source story

Image Courtesy: Star Tribune. Click on the graphic to be linked to the source story