What does a transit planner do?
Transit planner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real transit planner resumes:
- Manage the carrier scorecard, ensuring using proper mode, SCAC code, tending vs acceptance ratio and other KPI's.
- Discover effective means to search for and acquire GIS data.
- Plan, coordinate and supervise deployment, redeployment and distribution operations; advise executive leadership on integrating logistics planning into operations.
- Perform review of written manufacturing to ensure process specification instructions in accordance with military and FAA standards.
Transit planner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Transit Planners are proficient in GIS, Regional Planning, and Data Collection. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Leadership skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Transit Planners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- GIS, 24%
Use GIS software, ITS activities and professional planning methods to create and maps and route descriptions.
- Regional Planning, 21%
Represented SCAT at county and regional planning collaborations.
- Data Collection, 16%
Led and established quality control procedures for model development and survey data collection which reduced model errors at every step.
- Development Projects, 7%
Organized and conducted monthly community meetings with the District Planning Committee and community members to coordinate all upcoming development projects.
- Bus Stops, 5%
Mapped using ArcGIS and examined city areas to make changes to bus stops and plan service diversions.
- Capital Projects, 5%
Monitored and documented the transit agency's capital projects and mass transit service within the County.
"gis," "regional planning," and "data collection" are among the most common skills that transit planners use at work. You can find even more transit planner responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a transit planner to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what transit planners do because "urban and regional planners analyze information and data from a variety of sources, such as market research studies, censuses, and environmental impact studies." Additionally, a transit planner resume shows how transit planners use analytical skills: "conduct transit system analysis utilizing gis and other databases and mechanisms to develop service recommendations. "
Leadership skills. Many transit planner duties rely on leadership skills. "urban and regional planners must be able to manage projects, which may include overseeing tasks and planning assignments.," so a transit planner will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways transit planner responsibilities rely on leadership skills: "planned, coordinated and supervised deployment, redeployment and distribution operations; advised executive leadership on integrating logistics planning into operations. "
Communication skills. transit planners are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to transit planner responsibilities, because "urban and regional planners must be able to communicate clearly and effectively because they interact with colleagues and stakeholders, prepare research reports, give presentations, and meet with a wide variety of audiences, including public officials, interest groups, and community members." A transit planner resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "maintain communication with freight companies, customer service and warehouse to ensure on time shipping schedule. "
The three companies that hire the most transit planners are:
- Wsp USA Buildings Inc.12 transit planners jobs
- HDR5 transit planners jobs
- Jacobs Engineering Group
3 transit planners jobs
Compare different transit planners
Transit planner vs. Housing grant analyst
When it comes to planning an internship, an intern's duties will depend on the directives of supervising staff or a manager. Typically, an intern's responsibilities will revolve around performing clerical tasks such as processing documents, producing reports and presentations, responding to calls and correspondence, and managing schedules. There are also instances where an intern must share ideas and insights, attend meetings, maintain records, update databases, and assist staff in various tasks while under more experienced colleagues' supervision.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, transit planner responsibilities require skills like "gis," "regional planning," "development projects," and "analyze environmental." Meanwhile a typical housing grant analyst has skills in areas such as "provide technical assistance," "grants management," "affordable housing," and "appeals." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that housing grant analysts earn slightly differ from transit planners. In particular, housing grant analysts are 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a transit planner. Additionally, they're 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Transit planner vs. Planning internship
An urban design consultant is in charge of many projects, and so they have to oversee tasks and plan assignments. They are skilled in creating interior design solutions, space planning, sketching, and product selection. They have to analyze information and data gotten from market research studies and censuses. They also have to do presentations and prepare reports.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, transit planner responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "analyze environmental," "service changes," "financial implications," and "identify problems." Meanwhile, a planning internship has duties that require skills in areas such as "arcgis," "data analysis," "project management," and "photoshop." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, planning interns achieve lower levels of education than transit planners. They're 6.1% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Transit planner vs. Urban design consultant
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, transit planners are more likely to have skills like "regional planning," "development projects," "analyze environmental," and "service changes." But a urban design consultant is more likely to have skills like "urban design," "sketch," "landscape architecture," and "design guidelines."
Most urban design consultants achieve a higher degree level compared to transit planners. For example, they're 21.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Transit planner vs. Community development planner
Even though a few skill sets overlap between transit planners and community development planners, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a transit planner might have more use for skills like "development projects," "analyze environmental," "service changes," and "financial implications." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of community development planners require skills like "r," "site development," "cdbg," and "hud. "
Community development planners reach similar levels of education compared to transit planners, in general. The difference is that they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of transit planner
Updated January 8, 2025
