Photo: NCDOTcommunications (CC BY 2.0)
Job description
The job spans both drawing board and field: engineers create plans for new streets, highways, bridges, and rail systems, and separately review other people's construction plans and cost estimates for accuracy and code compliance. A good chunk of the work is analytical, digging into traffic accident data or pedestrian patterns to write reports that justify a proposed fix. Because any change to a road or intersection affects the public, engineers regularly meet with contractors and government agencies and present their findings at public hearings, defending a design in front of people who will actually drive it every day.
Pros
- Solid pay ceiling near $163k with faster than average growth (5%)
- Large national demand pool (23,600 jobs) tied to ongoing infrastructure investment
- Visible, tangible civic impact designing roads, bridges, and transit systems people use daily
Cons
- Regularly deals with frustrated stakeholders at public hearings over traffic and construction plans
- Design work must meet strict engineering standards, leaving little room for error
- Coordinating with contractors, utilities, and government agencies adds process to every project
A typical day
The morning model run answers a big question: does the proposed interchange design clear the projected 2045 traffic, or does the ramp queue spill onto the freeway? Late morning is plan review -- a developer's site plan sends 400 new trips through an intersection already failing, and the memo has to say so with numbers. The afternoon holds a public meeting prep session, translating level-of-service jargon into sentences a neighborhood can argue with fairly. The day closes red-lining a junior engineer's signal timing plan and checking crash data on a corridor the city wants to redesign for safety.
Tasks at the job
- Design or prepare plans for new transportation systems or parts of systems, such as airports, commuter trains, highways, streets, bridges, drainage structures, or roadway lighting.
- Check construction plans, design calculations, or cost estimations to ensure completeness, accuracy, or conformity to engineering standards or practices.
- Prepare administrative, technical, or statistical reports on traffic-operation matters, such as accidents, safety measures, or pedestrian volume or practices.
- Plan alteration or modification of existing transportation structures to improve safety or function.
- Confer with contractors, utility companies, or government agencies to discuss plans, specifications, or work schedules.
- Present data, maps, or other information at construction-related public hearings or meetings.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and most of the day is spent sitting at a desk.
There's a regular, moderate amount of time pressure. You'll regularly deal with frustrated or upset people as part of the job, and almost all of the work is done as part of a team.
Education necessary or common
Bachelor's degree
Common college majors
Licenses & certifications
- FE then PE license
- PTOE (Professional Traffic Operations Engineer, later)
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- AP Calculus AB/BC -- civil engineering's entry requirement
- AP Physics 1/C -- vehicle dynamics and design loads
- AP Statistics -- traffic is stochastic; the analysis is statistical
- Geometry -- curve design and sight distance
- AP Computer Science Principles -- modeling tools and data
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Science Olympiad -- engineering events
- Math team
- Attend a public meeting on a local road project -- see the job's civic side
- Robotics -- systems design practice
First steps you can take now
- Redesign a problem intersection near you on paper and defend your choices
- Learn what level of service and induced demand mean
- Take a free online intro course on transportation or urban systems
- Interview a city traffic engineer -- most love explaining their corridors
