Sustainable Transportation Planning Intern

The City of Cambridge is seeking a Sustainable Transportation Planning Intern to assist with outreach and support for bicycle/pedestrian planning, Complete Streets design, and public transit initiatives. Responsibilities include organizing meetings, conducting fieldwork, managing content for web and newsletters, and analyzing transit data. The role requires good writing skills, creativity, and the ability to work independently while traveling around the city. This position is based in Alabama.
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT:
The Community Development Department (CDD) is the planning agency for the City of Cambridge. The Environmental and Transportation Planning division of is responsible for improving quality of life by working to protect and improve the environment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and planning a sustainable transportation system.

ABOUT THE ROLE:
The Community Development Department seeks an Intern with an interest in sustainable transportation, bicycle/pedestrian planning, Complete Streets design, outreach, and public transit. The Sustainable Transportation Planning Intern will report to a Transportation Planner in the Community Development Department and support the following work on:
• Outreach for major infrastructure design projects such as streetscape re-designs, off-road paths and other efforts related to improving conditions for people biking, walking, and taking transit.
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Program, including support for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committees; outreach and engagement on activities such as community bike rides; assistance with the expansion of the Bluebikes bike share system.
• Project Evaluations, including before/after studies of implemented projects; data analysis of traffic counts or Bluebikes.
• Other projects as directed and feasible.
• The internship provides opportunities to attend internal planning meetings and to support advisory group and public meetings.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Organizing meetings and events such as reserving and confirming meeting locations and assisting in preparation of meeting materials.
• Administrative support work for citizen advisory committees.
• Taking notes or entering data and feedback from written surveys, meetings, events, and workshops.
• Writing and managing content for webpages, creating “StoryMaps”, or similar web-based engagement tools.
• Writing and managing content for weekly or monthly e-mail newsletters.
• Designing outreach materials such as meeting flyers, bus routing diagrams, conceptual street, or bus network designs; creating ride or walk maps, brochures, and graphic materials.
• Conducting field work such as surveying bus stop locations, posting or distributing information to businesses and residents, carrying out intercept surveys, conducting counts of people walking and/or bicycling.
• Researching, analyzing, and synthesizing transit and demographic data such Ascensus or American Community Survey data and bus boarding, alighting, and load factor data.
• Analyzing and synthesizing bicycle and pedestrian count data and crash data.
• Organizing, managing and running community events such as large group bike rides or community walking tours.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

The qualified candidate should be able to demonstrate the following:
• Interest and/or experience in a related field of study, or relevant work experience
• Good writing skills and comfort with public communications
• Creativity and attention to detail
• Ability to remain flexible and thrive in an independent and dynamic environment with good time management skills
• Ability to travel around the city independently and work outdoors
• Ability to organize and present data in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint as well as creating graphs and doing simple statistical analysis
• Ability to do simple manipulation of design documents in Adobe InDesign or a simpler design program, even using Microsoft PowerPoint to display and communicate concepts for an audience of public officials
• Proficiency in Microsoft Teams and Office suite products including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint required
• Willingness to learn or proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite products including Photoshop and InDesign, SketchUp, StoryMap and/or ESRI ArcGIS is desirable.
• The City of Cambridge's workforce, like the community it serves, is diverse. Applicants must have the ability to work and interact effectively with individuals and groups with a variety of identities, cultures, backgrounds, and ideologies.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Standard office environment. Fluorescent lighting and air-conditioning. Moderate noise level with a shared workstation environment. Some fieldwork needed. This position may be eligible for a hybrid work schedule after training under the City’s Telework Policy depending on operational needs.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential function.

START DATE & DURATION:
We would like to hire as soon as possible, with a commitment at least until May 2025. The schedule for this internship is generally part-time (about 12 hours/week) during the academic year (Sept–May). Up to 18.5 hours/week may be available for an intern that continues the internship into the summer. Some regular evening hours will be required, with occasional weekend hours for special events (e.g., community bike rides or walks).

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

All applicants must provide the following materials:
• Current resume
• Cover letter, which must explain why you are interested in this specific position