For the past decade the transportation industry has been facing a workforce challenge, with an aging workforce creating a retirement bubble, a lack of new entrants, particularly in the skilled trades, and the transformation of the sector as new technology (e.g., ITS, Smart Cities) redefines work and skills needed in the field. This project focuses on building transportation career pathways that are, or could be, supported by university environmental and sustainability undergraduate and graduate programs; profiling examples of professionals in transportation environmental fields (based on FHWA taxonomy) identifying best practices in attracting and retaining underrepresented groups in transportation environmental fields. Research outcomes will be a database of environmental discipline professional profiles, accompanied by basic career path tools, and a Summary Paper on the research topics, data gathered, and resource products developed. This effort will be highlighted in the Northeast Transportation Workforce Center’s Green Career Pathways in Transportation action plan for FHWA, and the National Transportation Career Pathway Initiative in the Environmental Discipline.
