Transportation Engineers
Develop plans for surface transportation projects, according to established engineering standards and state or federal construction policy. Prepare designs, specifications, or estimates for transportation facilities. Plan modifications of existing streets, highways, or freeways to improve traffic flow.
Also Known As:
Engineer
Project Engineer
Rail Engineer
Roadway Designer
Roadway Engineer
State Roadway Design Engineer
Traffic Engineer
Traffic Operations Engineer
Transportation Engineer
Wages
Annual wages for Transportation Engineers in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
387,500
5% Change From 2024
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Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Investigate traffic problems and recommend methods to improve traffic flow or safety.
- Design or engineer drainage, erosion, or sedimentation control systems for transportation projects.
- Prepare project budgets, schedules, or specifications for labor or materials.
- Prepare project budgets, schedules, or specifications for labor or materials.
- Inspect completed transportation projects to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
- Investigate or test specific construction project materials to determine compliance to specifications or standards.
- Evaluate construction project materials for compliance with environmental standards.
- Evaluate transportation systems or traffic control devices or lighting systems to determine need for modification or expansion.
- Develop plans to deconstruct damaged or obsolete roadways or other transportation structures in a manner that is environmentally sound or prepares the land for sustainable development.
- Direct the surveying, staking, or laying-out of construction projects.
- Participate in contract bidding, negotiation, or administration.
- Confer with contractors, utility companies, or government agencies to discuss plans, specifications, or work schedules.
- Analyze environmental impact statements for transportation projects.
- Estimate transportation project costs.
- Prepare final project layout drawings that include details such as stress calculations.
- Inspect completed transportation projects to ensure safety or compliance with applicable standards or regulations.
- Participate in contract bidding, negotiation, or administration.
- Review development plans to determine potential traffic impact.
- Supervise the maintenance or repair of transportation systems or system components.
- Design transportation systems or structures with sustainable materials or products, such as porous pavement or bioretention structures.
- Plan alteration or modification of existing transportation structures to improve safety or function.
- Present data, maps, or other information at construction-related public hearings or meetings.
- Prepare project budgets, schedules, or specifications for labor or materials.
- Develop or assist in the development of transportation-related computer software or computer processes.
- Check construction plans, design calculations, or cost estimations to ensure completeness, accuracy, or conformity to engineering standards or practices.
- Evaluate traffic control devices or lighting systems to determine need for modification or expansion.
- Model transportation scenarios to evaluate the impacts of activities such as new development or to identify possible solutions to transportation problems.
- 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.
- Prepare administrative, technical, or statistical reports on traffic-operation matters, such as accidents, safety measures, or pedestrian volume or practices.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")