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A-1Â Â A P P E N D I X A Survey/Interview Templates The following survey template used for AASHTO members is indicative of the type of surveys sent to all groups contacted. Background Information 1. What is your current position title?_____________________________________ 2. How many full-time equivalent (FTE) professional employees do you have in your planning unit? ____________________________________________________ 3. What is the estimated age distribution (in percentage) of the planning professionals in your planning unit? a. Younger than 25 years old ____________ b. 26 to 50 years old ____________ c. More than 50 years old ____________ Total 100% 4. What is the estimated employee time-in-position (in percentage) of the planning professionals in your planning unit? a. Less than one year in my planning unit ____________ b. Two to 10 years in my planning unit ____________ c. More than 10 years in my planning unit ____________ Total 100% 5. To the extent you have had new employees joining your planning unit in the last 5 years, what is the source for these employees (estimated percentage)? a. New graduates b. Lateral transfer from my own agency ________ c. Other government agencies ________ d. Other nongovernment organizations (e.g., consultants) ________ e. Retired professionals returning for a new career ________ f. Other ________ Total 100% 6. Does your agency have a defined career path (that is, a hierarchy of planning job positions) for transportation planners?
A-2 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners 7. If the answer to Question 5 is yes, how many position levels are in this hierarchy? a. 1 to 3 b. 4 to 6 c. Greater than 6 d. Other ____________________________________________ 8. Does your human resource unit have defined personnel codes for transportation planning positions? a. Yes b. No c. Donât know Your Organizationâs Experience With Transportation Planners The research project is primarily interested in the reasons why transportation planners are attracted to transportation planning as a professional career and the types of opportunities and challenges facing new employees that could affect future career moves. 9. Which of the following factors do you think would attract new (that is, from outside your agency) transportation planners to join your agency? Rate each from 5 (very important) to 1 (least important). a. Reputation of my agency b. Salary and benefits c. Opportunities to work on problems of interest/professional challenge d. Opportunities for professional development, training, rotation, mentoring e. Working with first-rate professionals. Mentoring, etc. f. Desirable work location g. Flexible work hours h. Application of state-of-the-art tools, technology, methods i. Other ______________________________________________________ 10. Which of the following skills do you think a transportation planning employee should have to be successful today? Rate each from 5 (very important) to 1 (least important). a. Proficiency in analysis/design tools and data analysis b. Understanding clientâs needs and desires/marketing c. Team member and collaboration effectiveness d. Abilities in convey nontechnical information to the general public (e.g., public meetings) e. Familiarity with latest project management software programs f. Interpersonal communication skills g. Willingness to take on challenges in new (unfamiliar) areas h. Supervising other staff members i. Managing project deliverables j. Familiarity with social media k. Ability to work long hours when necessary l. Other ____________________________________________________ 11. Transportation planning, and indeed society itself, is being influenced by many evolutionary and, in some cases, transformational changes. With respect to transportation planning, please rate the following changes in terms of how important they are for defining what transportation planners will need to know five years from now. Rate each from 5 (very important) to 1 (least important). a. Changes in transportation technologies (e.g., vehicle types, networks, communications, automated/connected, etc.) b. Changes in personal communication technologies (e.g., internet-based interpersonal communications, mobile phone technologies, etc.) Changes in data collection/analysis technologies
Survey/Interview Templates A-3Â Â c. Increasing concern for changing environmental conditions and impacts, including climate change d. Increasing public/policy focus on transportation as related to livability and community quality, e.g., Increasing importance of Active Transportation including pedestrianization, bicycle and scooter accommodation and micro e. transit f. Mobility needs of those underserved by effective transportation g. Changing demographic characteristics/lifestyles of the population h. Evolving socioeconomic trends, geography and land-use patterns and their impact on travel i. New forms of financing/funding transportation systems j. Changing roles of public agencies and private firms (e.g., public/private partnerships) and increasing policy emphasis on performance and cost-effectiveness k. Increasing focus on economic development/new economic entities l. Global economic competition as related to transportation costs and economic development m. Security/system disruption risks n. Other _______________________________________________________ o. Cannot comment 12. Given the changes you rated as being most influential in the future, which of the following skills do you think a transportation planning employee will need to be successful 5 years from now? Rate each: 1- Not important today and not important 5 years from now 2- Not important today but somewhat important 5 years from now 3- Not important today but very important 5 years from now 4- Important today and somewhat important 5 years from now 5- Important today and very important 5 years from now 6- Very important today and somewhat important 5 years from now 7- Very important today and very important 5 years from now a. Proficiency in analysis/design tools and data analysis b. Understanding clientâs needs and desires/marketing c. Team-building skills d. Skills in working with nontechnical groups (e.g., public meetings and elected officials) e. Familiarity with latest project management software programs f. Interpersonal communication skills g. Familiarity with latest communication technologies h. Supervising other staff members i. Managing project deliverables j. Other ________________________________________________________ 13. The following are types of activities (talents) transportation planners engage for their jobs. Rate how important these talents are today and for transportation planners 5 years from now. Even if you are not a transportation planner or currently working in a transportation planning-related job, please still answer the questions to the extent you can. Talent Today Five Years from Now Developing plans and related products at different scales and application contexts 1 to 5 1 to 5 Planning in other agency functional areas, for example, systems operations and asset management 1 to 5 1 to 5 Financial planning for programs, plans, and projects 1 to 5 1 to 5 Planning for inclusive population and socioeconomic groups 1 to 5 1 to 5 Working with new data bases/ data analysis and application of statistical analysis techniques 1 to 5 1 to 5
A-4 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners Talent Today Five Years from Now Planning for transportation system resilience (adapting to new environmental conditions as well as mitigating impacts) 1 to 5 1 to 5 Planning for new transportation strategies, e.g., Complete Streets applications, climate adaptation, etc. 1 to 5 1 to 5 Applying performance metrics/evaluation of transportation system operations 1 to 5 1 to 5 Freight planning 1 to 5 1 to 5 Public engagement/ Effective Communication of Technical data/information to nontechnical groups 1 to 5 1 to 5 Other 1 to 5 1 to 5 14. Which of the talents you rated in Question 13 do you consider to be the top 3 most important for transportation planners 5 years from now? 15. Please indicate which of the following are important challenges in attracting well-qualified and motivated employees in transportation planning positions in your agency. a. Lack of qualified candidates b. Inadequate match between prospective planner candidates and the skills and talents needed for todayâs planning needs c. Inadequate career paths for transportation planners in my organization d. Competition from other organizations (e.g., from organizations that can pay more) e. Competition from within my organization for new transportation professionals f. Poor salary g. Poor benefits h. No mentoring or professional development opportunities for transportation planners in my organization i. Organizational constraints, for example, no defined planning positions for transportation planners in my agency j. Other __________________________________________________ 16. Which one of the challenges you listed in Question 15 do you consider to be the top 3 most important for attracting well-qualified and motivated transportation planners? 17. This study is interested in what types of actions and/or strategies organizations can adopt to retain employees in the organization. Please rank the following strategies in relative importance from 1 to 10 (assuming you added another action), with â1â being the most important (e.g., xxx is number 1 and yyy is number 10). a. Formal mentoring and knowledge transfer programs b. Opportunities and financial support for professional development activities outside of the company (conference attendance, support for professional societies, etc.) c. Defined career paths d. Opportunities for lateral movement within the organization e. Incentives/opportunities for furthering your education f. Incentive bonuses g. Flexible work schedule and workâlife balance h. Opportunities for sabbatical (take a year off) Applying travel demand models and other forms of travel demand analysis 1 to 5 1 to 5 Applying land-use models and other forms of land-use analysis 1 to 5 1 to 5 Environmental analysis/NEPA 1 to 5 1 to 5 Planning for new transportation technologies 1 to 5 1 to 5
Survey/Interview Templates A-5Â Â i. Confidence that employee feedback will help shape the organizationâs norms; formal avenues for this feedback to be received. j. Other ________________________________________________________ 18. Please provide other thoughts concerning future opportunities/constraints, needed skills, and desired talents for transportation planners. __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
A-6 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners Interview Questions for Training Officials NCHRP 8-125: Evolving Transportation Planning Research Needs for the 21st Century 1. Please describe the training courses you have relating to transportation planningâ¦.general content, purpose, expected outcomes, etc. Do you offer courses for entry-level professionals? Mid-level professionals? 2. In general, how supportive have you found transportation agencies to be in sending their staff to your transportation planning courses? For example, regular offering of the course? Requested only rarely? 3. What are the backgrounds of those who attend your course(s)? For example, federal/state/local transportation planners, consultants, engineers, non-governmental groups, transit or other modal planners, etc. 4. Looking 5 years into the future, what types of knowledge, skills or talents do you think transportation planners will need to have that are not currently widespread in practice? 5. If there is one skill or talent you identified, which one do you think is most important for preparing transportation planners to meet these challenges? 6. Do any of your courses currently include material on such skills or talents? If not, what type of training material would be useful as part of a training course to instill such skills or talents? 7. In your opinion, what are some of the key challenges facing transportation organizations in attracting entry-level transportation planners? 8. How are these challenges likely to change in the future given such things as changing demographics, competition for talent from other organizations or groups, etc.? 9. Have you heard from your participants or otherwise found information on the types of strategies and actions transportation agencies are using to motivate and retain transportation planning staff? 10. If there is one message you think this research project should convey to transportation agencies about training transportation planners, what would it be? 11. Are you aware of other transportation planning-related training programs we should contact?
