Job Alert: Operations Research Analyst – WMATA,

October 29, 2017 at 10:19 pm

Uniquely placed as members of the Chief Operating Officer’s extended staff, join a team at the center of WMATA’s ongoing initiatives to improve efficiency, safety and customer service. You will be gathering and analyzing a broad range of data, designing solutions to critical problems, and communicating with people at all levels of the organization. A fantastic opportunity to serve the people of the greater Washington area, and to be a part of a new, innovative team working to solve some of the most complex and challenging problems in the transit industry.

Image courtesy: WMATA

Job ID: 170652
Open until 11/17/2017

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education 
•    Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Business Administration or related field

Experience 
•    1-3 years of work experience (including internships) performing Data Science, Statistical or Industrial Engineering related work activities

Certification/Licensure 
•    N/A

Preferred
•    Master’s Degree
•    Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification

Click here to learn more and to apply

Job Alert! Transportation Planner – District Department of Transportation (DDOT), Planning and Sustainability Division (PSD) Research Program

February 7, 2017 at 11:47 am

Job Summary
Transportation Planner  CS-2101-13
Salary Range: $81,050 – $104,423
Agency: Planning & Sustainability Division (PSD)
Area of Consideration: Open to General Public
Open Date:  February 3, 2017
Closing Date:  February 17, 2017
Duration of Appointment: Career Service – Continuing Full-Time
Collective Bargaining Unit:  (Non-Union) This position is not a collective bargaining unit.

Introduction

This position is located in the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), Planning and Sustainability Division (PSD) Research Program.  PSD manages the research program for DDOT.  As DDOT serves a highly urbanized area, special emphasis within the research program is placed on developing and implementing a research agenda focused on a multi-modal, comprehensive approach to transportation that combines the needs of public and private sectors into coordinated transportation policies and plans, consistent with agency strategic goals and objectives. The incumbent will have exposure to such urban transportation research.

Major Duties

Supports the research program for the agency. Works with various programs within the agency to develop viable research problem statements and then to advance and complete selected research projects that lead to publication-ready reports. Supports the research intern program to ensure positive outcomes for both student interns and project owners in the agency. Also works with key researchers locally and nationally to build the stature of the research program.

Assists in managing cutting-edge research projects across multiple modes and areas of interest.  Oversees projects’ day-to-day activities to ensure high quality results are delivered in a timely fashion.  Prepares or reviews publication-ready reports related to those projects.

Coordinates with other Department personnel (i.e., safety, operations, construction, public space, etc.) as well as other District, regional, and federal agencies to facilitate broad participation in the research program. Attends other meetings, seminars, and professional conferences relating to research to promote agency research. Identifies best practices to deploy at the agency and facilitates technology transfer to Departmental personnel and programs.

Qualifications
– Advanced professional knowledge of urban transportation planning theories, concepts, and principles.
– Experience managing or providing leadership to programs and/or projects.
– Able to develop scopes of work for studies, projects, and analytical reports relating to transportation research that support the mission and goals of DDOT.
– Ability to effectively communicate orally and in written formats technical information pertaining to research studies, projects, program analyses, and to facilitate meetings and the coordination of related programs.
– Ability to exercise initiative, resourcefulness, and tact in obtaining and analyzing information.
– Working knowledge of data management, statistical analysis, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
– Knowledge and ability to use computer applications (i.e. PowerPoint, word processing, databases, etc.) and to prepare reports.
– Ability to organize work and respond to competing priorities; coordinate with others to accomplish goals; and monitor progress and evaluate outcomes.

Licensures, Certifications and other requirements
Preferred Licensures and Certifications include:

  • American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Education
    Bachelor’s degree required.  Master’s degree in Urban Planning, Public Policy, Transportation Planning, or Transportation Engineering preferred.

Work Experience

  • Minimum five (5) years of transportation research, transportation planning, or transportation engineering experience (can be a combination of work and graduate education) with increasing responsibility.
    Minimum two (2) years of experience leading projects and/or programs.
    Thorough knowledge of the concepts of transportation and urban planning sufficient to provide expertise to projects and the research program.
    Experience in a team-based environment and in securing the support and cooperation of others.

Work Environment

  • The work is often performed at a desk in an office environment, but will also require field and system observation in accordance with all applicable safety guidelines and standards.
    Incumbent is required to perform work after normal duty hours and attend community or professional meetings on an as-needed basis.

Click here to apply

Fully Funded PhD in Travel Forecasting and Data Science @ University of Kentucky’s Transportation Engineering and Data Science Lab

December 21, 2016 at 11:38 am

Spotted this announcement below in an email from a List-serve:

———————————————————————————————————

I am looking to recruit one or more talented individuals for a funded PhD in travel forecasting and data science, starting in Fall 2017. Specific areas of interest include:

  • Evaluating and improving travel forecast accuracy.
  • Using passively collected “Big Data” to measure transportation project impacts and model performance.
  • Advancing reproducibility and interchangeability in regional and statewide transportation models.

Qualified individuals may have a background in civil engineering, geography, urban science or a related field. They will bring competence in software development or data visualization and a passion for transportation problems.

The Transportation Engineering and Data Science lab (http://transportlab.net/) is a part of an active and growing transportation group in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Kentucky. We work in close collaboration with the Kentucky Transportation Center, which serves as the research arm of the state Transportation Cabinet.

We are located in beautiful Lexington, Kentucky, a vibrant small city with the nation’s first urban growth boundary. Lexington is famous for bourbon, bluegrass and basketball, and offers easy access to hiking, rock climbing and other recreational opportunities.

Please email me at greg.erhardt@uky.edu to express interest or with any questions.

Kind Regards,

Greg

Gregory D. Erhardt, PhD, PE
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky
261 Oliver H. Raymond Bldg., Lexington, KY 40506
859-323-4856 (office), 859-699-1761 (mobile)
greg.erhardt@uky.edu

http://transportlab.net/

Job Alert: General Engineer – USDOT’s ITS Joint Program Office @ Washington, DC

September 29, 2016 at 2:50 pm
Seal of the United States Department of Transp...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. Department of Transportation is pleased to announce an opportunity for a General Engineer within the Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office (ITS JPO).

The successful candidate will serve on the Policy, Architecture, and Knowledge Transfer team and manage systems engineering, radio frequency spectrum, certification, cybersecurity, and deployment technical assistance projects that are consistent with the ITS Strategic Plan 2015 to 2019 portfolio. The General Engineer will also serve as a technical expert on ITS ranging from the development of connected vehicle core system architectures, application of wireless communication to safety and mobility enhancing systems, certification processes, smart city interoperability, vehicle and infrastructure cybersecurity, and connected vehicle testbed operations and deployment support.

Come join the ITS JPO team if you are passionate about advancing tomorrow’stransportation technologies to create a safer, smarter, more efficient transportation system!

The vacancy is open until October 6, 2016. Please visit the following for more information and to apply for this position:

FHWA.JPO-2016-0017:

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/451553000/ (open to all U.S. candidates)

FHWA.JPO-2016-0016:

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/451552800/ (open to candidates that are current or former federal employees or eligible Veterans with VEOA)

TRB 2017: Interactive Workshop – Analyze This! What YOU want to know – Unsolved Mysteries: Have a hard-to-solve problem that needs to be solved?

September 13, 2016 at 4:26 pm

Sunday, January 8, 20179 AM – 12 PM • Washington, D.C.

Unsolved Mysteries: Have a hard-to-solve problem that needs to be solved?

We all are faced with difficult, hard-to-solve problems – so we have created an interactive workshop at the 2017 TRB Annual Meeting we hope will address the unsolved mysteries that vex transportation professionals at all levels of the organizations – from planners to modelers to analysts.  This workshop will present three intriguing, real-world problems selected from a pool of submissions before the workshop.  WE NEED YOUR HELP!   We are looking for real-world transportation problems that can be summarized in a case study from the perspective of an individual or project team.   The case studies should contain pertinent information on the type of problem presented, geographic context, who was impacted and the impact of not reaching a resolution.

The deadline for submissions is October 1, 2016 and submissions can be made using this on-line form at: http://adb50.github.io/analyze-this/   Those who submit ideas that are selected will be provided the opportunity to present their problem at the TRB Annual Meeting.

Last year, workshop attendees had an opportunity to solve one of three mysteries. Coca Cola was seeking corporate strategies to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips. The City of Boulder asked the group to explore repurposing travel lanes for multimodal projects. Lastly, the City of Edmonton had question about how to incorporate connected and autonomous vehicle technologies into the regional travel demand model.

analyze-this-call-for-workshop-ideas-final-2016-09

A Venn Diagram of the Murky Driverless Taxi Ecosystem

August 22, 2016 at 6:56 pm

Not a day passes without us seeing some major headline about global automakers and shared mobility providers working to revolutionize the mobility landscape. Last week Uber dominated the headlines when the company announced that its autonomous cars (souped up Volvo XC90 SUVs) will be available for its ride-hailing customers in Pittsburgh. And in this process, the company announced that it bought the truck automation company Otto, founded by a couple of former Google Car research engineers.  This was followed by Ford’s major announcement that it intends to deliver high-volume, fully autonomous vehicles for ride sharing in 2021. In addition, the company announced that it is investing in or collaborating with four startups on autonomous vehicle development and doubling its Silicon Valley team.

This torrid pace of acquisitions, expansions, and investments has created a confusing picture for the consumers about who owns what and who is doing what across the domain. I found this Business Insider graph (seen below), part of a big research report (cost $495) very useful in understanding the ecosystem that covers the auto OEMs, suppliers, startups, shared-mobility service providers, etc.  Though it doesn’t capture all the entities, particularly the start-ups, engaged in automated vehicle research/development, it makes a decent attempt to organize them into “bins.”

With heavy influx of venture capital money competing alongside deep pocketed organizations like Ford, GM, Tesla, Google, Uber etc, the race to build the unmanned taxis is now reaching breakneck pace. The traditional OEMs are on a buying spree or making deals with innovative start-ups, in and outside the Silicon Valley.   It is safe to say that pretty much all the automotive heavyweights in Detroit and Silicon Valley are vying for a slice of the lucrative yet untapped “autonomous shared-mobility” space. What I’d like to see someone take a stab at capturing/mapping all those entities involved (incl. those in finance, data warehousing, etc) and present that in an infographic. All I can comfortably say today is buckle up for the ride! It will be a while before this ecosystem stabilizes and be assured that there will be a steady stream of headline grabbing news is coming your way.

Publication Alert: Exploring the Opportunity for Mobility as a Service (Maas) in the UK

August 16, 2016 at 11:18 am

Just spotted this awesome report from Transport Systems Catapult in the United Kingdom that explores the opportunities offered by Mobility as a Service (MaaS) concept and highlights how transportation policy might support MaaS growth. For the uninformed, the Transport Systems Catapult is one of ten elite technology and innovation centres established and overseen by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Mobility-as-a-Service_Exploring-the-Opportunity-for-MaaS-in-the-UK-Web

2017 Traffic Control Device Challenge (Submissions Due October 1, 2016)

August 15, 2016 at 5:45 pm

TRB is co-sponsoring the Traffic Control Device Challenge (TCDC), which aims to promote innovation and stimulate ideas in the traffic control devices area with a goal of improving operations and safety. The focus of this year’s TCDC is supporting advanced vehicle technologies, connected vehicles, or autonomous vehicles. In order to focus the submissions, priorities will be given to those that include pavement markings, traffic signing, and/or work zone devices. Submissions are due October 1, 2016, and guidelines for participation are available online.

If selected as a finalist, submitters should either plan to attend or have a representative attend the TRB Annual Meeting, January 8-12, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The judging for the top three submissions will take place during the TRB Annual Meeting. The first, second and third place winners will be expected to attend the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) Convention and Traffic Expo, February 12-14, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona.

trafficcontroldevicechallenge

New TRB Report “Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit” Looks at Shared Mobility in Seven Cities

August 8, 2016 at 11:24 am

A new TRB report, Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit examines the relationship of public transportation—including paratransit and demand responsive services—to shared modes, including bikesharing, carsharing, microtransit, and ridesourcing services. The research included participation by seven cities: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. The report’s conclusion sets out actions that departments, and other local and regional agencies—can take to promote useful cooperation between public and private mobility providers. It also suggests regulatory enhancements, institutional realignments, and forms of public-private engagement that would allow innovation to flourish while still providing mobility as safely, broadly, and equitably as possible (via FHWA)

New TRB report, Shared Mobility and the Transformation of Public Transit

Job Opportunity: Research and Demonstration Program Manager @ USDOT’s ITS Joint Program Office

August 4, 2016 at 7:08 pm
Seal of the United States Department of Transp...

Seal of the United States Department of Transportation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) is pleased to announce the following opportunity:  Research and Demonstration Program Manager. Applications for this position must be in by Monday, August 15, 2016.

The successful candidate will be responsible for developing, in close coordination with the ITS JPO staff, the research direction for the ITS program. This includes recommending research initiatives, monitoring relevant research, coordinating ITS research with other modes through venues such as Research Planning and Investment Coordination (RPIC) and may include University Transportation Centers (UTC), representing the ITS JPO in research forums, and coordinating with other ITS JPO staff to ensure seamless execution of projects from research, testing, technology transfer, and evaluation.

The Program Manager is also responsible for leading specific research projects within the ITS JPO. The incumbent is a recognized ITS expert who often represents the Department on ITS technical program issues. You will also participate in a range of other ITS program technical and research activities involving other DOT and Federal organizations and other agencies, such as the Transportation Research Board (TRB), Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, and Department of Energy.

This is an exciting opportunity if you are experienced in analyzing and reviewing ITS research and deployments and adept at collaborating with public and private transportation stakeholders on the implementation, commercialization, and communication of ITS technologies.  Come join the ITS JPO team if you are passionate about advancing tomorrow’s transportation technologies today to create a safer, smarter, more efficient transportation system!

For additional information and to apply for this position, please use the links below:

Transportation Specialist, GS-2101-14/15 (Open to Status & VEOA Applicants)

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/446638200

Transportation Specialist, GS-2101-14/15 (Open to All U.S. Citizens)

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/446638600

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