“DURP helped me to prepare presentations for public use, solve real-world problems, and make connections that still benefit me today.”
– Brian Waterman, Class of 2005
Faculty
Transportation Planning
Transportation is essential to the function of cities and the well-being of their residents. Transportation systems make the exchange of goods and services possible, and they help shape the form of the built urban environment. The ways we design and use the transportation system affect all other aspects of planning, from the environment to housing and community development to health and land use development. Transportation planners draw on insights and tools from a variety of academic disciplines, including planning, geography, economics, public administration, engineering, and the design disciplines to examine, design, plan, and manage the multimodal transportation system in a way that is safe, efficient, effective, equitable, and sustainable. Transportation planning students take courses that enable them to work as professionals in a variety of contexts at all geographic scales, domestically and internationally. The curriculum covers all surface urban transportation modes: highway/automobile, public transit, pedestrian, and bicycling.
Public Transit and Transit Fellow Program
Public transit is a particular focus of the transportation specialization. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning offers a Transit Fellow Program in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation. You can visit our Transit Fellow webpage to learn more about this exciting cooperative internship program.
Required Transportation Courses
Students specializing in transportation planning must take both of the following courses:
- URP 5711 Transportation Planning Process
- URP 5717 Methods of Transportation Planning
Students must also complete one additional course from the following list:
- URP 5350 Pedestrian-Oriented Communities
- URP 5716 Transportation and Land Use
- URP 5355 International Transportation
Prospective students should contact the department’s academic program specialist for more information about the transportation planning specialization. Current students should consult the graduate student handbook for more details about specialization and degree requirements.
Employment Placements
Recent transportation graduates have found employment at Cambridge Systematics, CDM Smith, Citilabs, Federal Highway Administration, Florida Department of Transportation, URS Corporation, Pace Transit, Charlottesville (VA) MPO, and many other firms and agencies in the private and public sectors.
Transportation Research at FSU
Transportation planning faculty and students conduct research on a variety of transportation topics that fall under two general research themes: Alternative Transportation in the Modern City and Transportation, Land Use and Accessibility. Our transportation research webpage describes recent projects by DURP faculty, Ph.D. Students, and Master’s Students.