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What does a transportation planning engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
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Transportation planning engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real transportation planning engineer resumes:

  • Manage multiple projects involving both internal and vendor resources affecting national production infrastructure.
  • Use of GPS for surveying and mapping to incorporate in planning and in a GIS database.
  • Resolve delivery issues by redesigning interfacing DACs or media gateways so as to fulfill commit SLA installation date and accuracy.
  • Coordinate with contractors, vendors and site personnel for procuring material and manpower by utilizing optimization and total quality management techniques.
  • Provide input for the management of traffic management policies according to MUTCD specifications.

Transportation planning engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 19% of Transportation Planning Engineers are proficient in IP, Transportation Planning, and SONET. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Organizational skills, and Math skills.

We break down the percentage of Transportation Planning Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • IP, 19%

    Perform WAN and LAN IP network service infrastructure design and engineering; service prototyping and laboratory experimentation.

  • Transportation Planning, 18%

    Monitor the Transportation Planning Scholarship program thru fundraising efforts.

  • SONET, 13%

    Develop and deliver executive presentations on SONET contract deployment status.

  • DCS, 12%

    Work with DCS engineers to provide regional forecast to ensure ports were allocated for transport: entrance facilities and optimization projects.

  • DACS, 12%

    Validate CFA availability based on LEC/ILEC database query; retrieve DACs cross connects to validate CFA availability.

  • GIS, 5%

    Assisted to provide a transportation plan to improve the traffic quality in the largest district in Tehran using EMME/2 & GIS

Common skills that a transportation planning engineer uses to do their job include "ip," "transportation planning," and "sonet." You can find details on the most important transportation planning engineer responsibilities below.

Organizational skills. Many transportation planning engineer duties rely on organizational skills. "civil engineers often oversee several projects at the same time and must be able to allocate resources effectively.," so a transportation planning engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways transportation planning engineer responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "provide technical direction and organizational leadership for "start-up" the highway design division of a locally based engineering firm. "

Math skills. This is an important skill for transportation planning engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how transportation planning engineer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "civil engineers use calculus, trigonometry, and other mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a transportation planning engineer: "developed highway geometry for complex and non-complex highway projects in pa, wv, or, and ny using inroads. ".

Problem-solving skills. Another crucial skill for a transportation planning engineer to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what transportation planning engineers relies on this skill, since "civil engineers may encounter problems during each stage of their work." How this skill relates to transportation planning engineer duties can be seen in an example from a transportation planning engineer resume snippet: "converted multiple copper fed dslams with ethernet solution. "

All transportation planning engineer skills

Compare different transportation planning engineers

Transportation planning engineer vs. Traffic designer

Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.

The annual salary of traffic designers is $13,918 lower than the average salary of transportation planning engineers.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between transportation planning engineers and traffic designer. For instance, transportation planning engineer responsibilities require skills such as "ip," "transportation planning," "sonet," and "dcs." Whereas a traffic designer is skilled in "traffic studies," "traffic control," "impact analysis," and "traffic signals." This is part of what separates the two careers.

The education levels that traffic designers earn slightly differ from transportation planning engineers. In particular, traffic designers are 17.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a transportation planning engineer. Additionally, they're 1.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transportation planning engineer vs. Engineer

A Junior Engineer helps design, build, or maintain engines, machines, or public works. They work under the supervision of an engineer.

Engineer positions earn higher pay than transportation planning engineer roles. They earn a $24,976 higher salary than transportation planning engineers per year.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that transportation planning engineer responsibilities requires skills like "transportation planning," "sonet," "dcs," and "dacs." But an engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Engineers tend to reach lower levels of education than transportation planning engineers. In fact, they're 9.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transportation planning engineer vs. Junior engineer

The Traffic Engineer is responsible for the design of roadways that provide free traffic flow. In city planning, congested roads are one of the crucial problems that need solving. The Traffic Engineer works with various agencies to gather information to develop and design a customized road network that will decongest roads and prevent bottlenecks. Traffic Engineers are essential personnel, even in building suburban subdivisions and housing projects. A Traffic Engineer's tasks are to conduct assessments of existing road networks and provide suggestions for improving traffic flow and recommend design modifications and alterations

On average, junior engineers earn higher salaries than transportation planning engineers, with a $3,552 difference per year.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from transportation planning engineer resumes include skills like "transportation planning," "sonet," "dcs," and "dacs," whereas a junior engineer is more likely to list skills in "control systems," "java," "c++," and "c #. "

Most junior engineers achieve a lower degree level compared to transportation planning engineers. For example, they're 12.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Transportation planning engineer vs. Traffic engineer

Traffic engineers tend to earn a higher pay than transportation planning engineers by an average of $19,978 per year.While their salaries may vary, transportation planning engineers and traffic engineers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "transportation planning," "gis," and "traffic analysis. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "ip," "sonet," "dcs," and "dacs" are skills that commonly show up on transportation planning engineer resumes. On the other hand, traffic engineers use skills like hcs, traffic operations, signal timing, and project management on their resumes.In general, traffic engineers hold similar degree levels compared to transportation planning engineers. Traffic engineers are 3.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of transportation planning engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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