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what do transportation engineers do
The transportation sector has undergone a sea change over the past few years, as more cities pilot smart city initiatives with intelligent transportation systems (ITS). With ITS technologies, cities can gather and analyze data to design safer roads, cleaner vehicles, and more efficient travel. New York City, for example, has installed cameras and sensors at over 10,000 traffic intersections to collect data and enact changes that improve safety and traffic flow.
Professionals in transportation engineering careers play a pivotal role in the implementation of transportation advancements by combining technical knowledge and creative thinking skills.
For example, Assistant Professor Mehrnaz Ghamami of Michigan State University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering developed a comprehensive framework for analyzing issues related to electric vehicles. The results and recommendations from the project are now being used to develop a statewide network of electric vehicle charging stations, which will change the outlook of sustainable transportation in Michigan for years to come.
Government agencies, industry companies, and engineering firms all need insights from professionals that can guide the development of transportation projects. A master’s in civil engineering with a focus in transportation engineering will prepare you to design and preserve the next generation of transportation infrastructure.
What Is Transportation Engineering?
Transportation engineering is a branch of civil engineering that involves the planning, design, operation, and maintenance of transportation systems to help build smart, safe, and livable communities.
Any system that moves people and goods from one place to another falls under the scope of transportation engineering, which includes:
- Highways and roadways
- Railways
- Oil pipelines
- Public transport systems
- Traffic control systems
- Automated transport systems
- Space transport systems
What Does a Transportation Engineer Do?
In planning projects, transportation engineers gather relevant data on the population in the surrounding area, travel patterns, socioeconomic characteristics, laws and ordinances, and financial resources. They consolidate this information and use decision-support tools to develop, design, and deliver various types of transportation projects in consideration of various performance measures (e.g., operations, safety, environmental impacts).
While their professional duties vary based on job level and specialization, some of the most common responsibilities of a transportation engineer are:
- Draft design and construction plans for new transportation systems
- Investigate traffic problems and identify solutions
- Analyze engineering data and draw conclusions and recommendations
- Estimate project budgets for labor, materials, and equipment
- Discuss plans with contractors, local organizations, and the public
- Inspect completed projects to ensure safety and compliance to standards
- Model transportation systems to assess impact
- Oversee survey, staking, and layout of projects
- Present reports and proposals to stakeholders
What Skills Do Transportation Engineers Need?
To pursue transportation engineering as a career, it’s crucial to develop both technical skills and interpersonal skills. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, some of the most common skills requested in transportation engineering positions are:
- Technical knowledge in engineering and technology
- Project management skills
- Knowledge of design techniques and principles
- Ability to use analytical software
- Proficiency in computer-aided design software
- Problem-solving skills
- Written and oral communication skills
One option for building these skills while gaining experience on industry-standard software is to look for a master’s with a transportation engineering specialization. In Michigan State University’s M.S. in Civil Engineering, for instance, students learn to solve complicated infrastructure problems while working with industry-adopted programs such as computer aided design (CAD) software, Highway Capacity Software (HCS), traffic simulation software (e.g., Synchro/SimTraffic, VISSIM), statistical analysis software, and more.
What Jobs Are Available in the Field of Transportation Engineering?
There are many career paths you can pursue in the field of transportation engineering, including jobs in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The most common employers of transportation engineers are transportation corporations, construction companies, state and local governments, and engineering firms.
Transportation engineers typically spend their work days in an office environment, but some jobs require travel outside of the office for assessment and coordination of construction projects.
Based on education and experience, transportation engineers may choose to further specialize as highway engineers, traffic engineers, or safety engineers. Highway engineers, for example, are responsible for researching, planning, and constructing roads, bridges, and tunnels.
Regardless of potential specializations, transportation engineers who want to take on higher-level responsibilities such as independent decision-making and project oversight should consider graduate-level education and possibly licensure (see box). Nearly half of all senior engineer job postings in the transportation sector required an advanced degree, according to Burning Glass.
To advance your career prospects and earning potential as a transportation engineer, you can seek licensure as a professional engineer (PE). With a PE license, engineers become qualified to prepare, sign and seal, and submit engineering plans for clients. On average, transportation engineers with a PE license earn about $5,000 more per year than their counterparts without a license.
To qualify as a PE, you must:
- Graduate with a four-year degree from an ABET-accredited engineering program
- Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam to become an engineer intern
- Gain requisite amount of professional experience under a PE’s supervision
- Pass the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the next few years, the work of transportation engineers will primarily involve repairing and rebuilding deteriorating transportation infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, and airports. Aside from rebuilding existing infrastructure, transportation engineers will also play a key role in designing innovative, data-driven transportation systems that optimize sustainability, safety, and quality of life.
scope of transportation engineering
The field of transportation engineering involves the planning, construction and maintenance of transportation systems or facilities. Everything from roads to airports falls under the domain of transportation engineers, who are charged with designing and implementing transit hubs, roadways and shipping ports that can withstand the demands of commercial transportation and private transit needs.
There are three types of transportation engineering: civil, mechanical, and electrical. Civil engineers are responsible for the construction, design, and maintenance of roads, bridges, railroads and other modes of transportation. Mechanical engineers focus on the creation and design of vehicles that move people and goods from one place to another. Electrical engineers work on the power systems used to drive trains or aircraft.
Transportation engineering is a highly rewarding field with many opportunities for advancement and professional development. If you’re interested in a career as a transportation engineer, it’s important to have a strong background in math as well as an understanding of how everything works together in order to create an effective solution.
types of gradient in transportation engineering
But as our roads, highways, lights, bridges and tunnels continue to age in the United States, civil engineers will be required. Experienced, qualified transportation engineers will be crucial to fill jobs to manage engineering projects. These jobs could entail the plans and processes to rebuild, repair, and upgrade roads, tunnels, levees, bridges, airports, dams and structures of all types.
scope of transportation engineering
Transportation contributes to the economical, industrial, social and cultural development of any country. Transportation is vital for economic development of any country. Every commodity needs transport facilities both at the production stage as well as distribution stage. In the production stage, transportation is essential for carrying raw materials. Whereas in the distribution stage, transportation is required to transport products from factories to the distribution centres. Thus a effective and adequate system of transportation is required for the economic, social and cultural development of a country.
Importance Of Transportation Engineering
The importance of a transportation of a country is comparable to the veins in the human body. Just a veins helps to the health of human, similarly the transportation keep the health of a nation in good condition by keeping the people and materials moving from one place to another place. Following are the importance of transportation.
- They play an important role in the economic, social and commercial development of the country.
- They help in cultural development of the country.
- They help in political development of the country.
- It plays a vital role in development of rural areas of the country.
- They improve the employment opportunities.
- Improves the contact between two countries.
- Improves the living standard of the country.
- It helps to improve science and technology.
- It helps in industrial development throughout the country.
- Enhances the import and export of the country.
Branches Of Transportation Engineering
There are three basic modes of transportation, these are land, water and air. So the modes of transportation also depend upon these three mediums. Road and railway transport are developed on the land, similarly waterways and airways are developed on water and air respectively. Thus there are four major modes of transportation as given below :-
- Roadways or highways
- Railways
- Airways
- Water ways
Transportation Engineering Examples
1. Roadways are the means of transportation on land. Roadways are also known by highways. It consists the modern highway as well as city streets, feeder roads and village roads, catering for a big range of vehicles and the pedestrains. This is the only mode which is giving maximum service to one and all. It is possible to provide door to door service only by road transport.
2. The steel tracks laid on the ground, over which the trains move is known as railways. Railways have been used for long as well as for short distances and also for urban travels. For longer distances, railways transportation is more effective and advantageous than highways.
3. In the airways, air crafts and helicopters are used. Air system of transportation is one of the fastest system. Air system of transportation provides comfortness and also save time to the passengers. But this system is more costly compared to all other modes of transportation.
4. The transportation by water is the slowest among the four modes. This mode of transportation uses oceans, rivers, canals and lakes for the movement of boats and ships. By waterways human beings and materials are used to transport from one place to another with the help of ships and boats etc. Transportation by this system is possible between the ports on the sea routes or along the rivers or canals where inland transportation facilities are available.
Transporta Engineering Basics
- Transportation Planning: This branch deals with the planning of a new highway facility from the scratch or to improve the existing facility by introducing new modes or media or transportation. Basics include four stage modelling, OD Surveys etc.
- Pavement Analysis & Design: This branch deals with the design, construction and maintenance of pavements. It deals with the structural design and construction of pavements. Basics include layers of pavements, MSA, CBR, Bitumen/Asphalt etc.
- Geometric Design: This branch deals with geometry of prepared raod or highway. Basics include right of way, superelevation, camber, PCU, curves etc
- Traffic engineering: This branch deals with the safe and efficient movement of traffic on an existing highway. Basics include LOS, Capacity, traffic signals, PCU, congestion, traffic flow etc.
Types Of Transportation Engineering
Transportation Engineering Courses
Becoming any type of transportation engineer generally requires at least a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and usually an advanced degree. A civil engineer will need an ability to read design plans and to think mathematically and scientifically. A good visual sense and an aptitude for computers are also needed.
Public transportation engineers require a professional engineer’s license. This can be obtained by passing a 2-part proficiency test., known as the bar exam of transportation engineering. Once you are a licensed transportation engineer, you can start to move toward making a traffic engineer salary.
Salary Expectations for a Transportation Engineer
If you are working toward a career in transportation engineering, the salary ranges should bring you a smile. The career and job site Zippia shows an average traffic engineer salary to be about $62,000.
However, in a major city like Los Angeles, an average traffic engineer salary can be much higher. A Glassdoor job posting shows a traffic engineer salary for over $100, 000 to work for the city.
Transportation engineering is the study of traffic safety, and it’s very important for the world to have a good understanding of how to safely move people and goods from one place to another. There are a lot of different types of transportation engineers who work in different areas, and each one has their own area of expertise. The three main types are highway engineers, railroad engineers, and air traffic controllers.
Highway engineers build roads and highways, which allow cars and trucks to travel safely between cities or towns. Railroad engineers design trains, tracks, switches and signals so that trains can move along their designated paths at high speeds without crashing into each other or any obstacles in their way. Air Traffic Controllers coordinate all the different parts of an airport’s operations so that planes can take off and land smoothly without crashing into each other or running out of fuel before reaching their destinations.
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