How to find - transit planning (small city)

[JusticeZero]

Just filling the last little bits - I hope - on my MUP and then i'll be off. I'm interested in academia, but a professor I value the opinion of suggested that I take some time working in the field to get a bit of experience and inspiration before going any further. My present interests are leaning toward the question of the functioning of public transit systems in small cities, such as might be seen in Kotzebue, Juneau, etc. since they seem to go totally off of the edge of the map in terms of the "usual" excuses of transit requiring large populations and tokyo-esque densities.
That implies that I should be looking for work which at least in part involves planning transit in small cities. I don't know how i'll be able to filter that particular search, or how I might go about finding positions like that. Does anyone have any advice in that regard?

[joshww81]

I agree with the idea of working before academia because you'd get an opportunity to understand on the ground why things work the way they do, what issues do come up and it'd help sharpen your capacity to understand the planning scene.

It might be worth doing research on what cities you're really interested in, why they're able to do well in what they do and then contact the actual transport planning authorities there to see if they'd allow you for an internship or job experience. Maybe list three cities?

Just out of curiosity, is Paul Mees your supervisor?

[JusticeZero]

Okay... will three cities be enough, if the cities are extremely small?

He is my supervisor, yes. Any particular reason it comes up? If I had to do it all over again I might have looked at other supervisors; on account of things like the GAMUT program, a lot of the planners here have been doing work on various transportation issues as of late. Mees is very knowledgeable and has high standards, but he is also rather a troublemaker - a good thing in many respects, but i'll admit to being slightly nervous about the idea of inheriting any of the people he's upset over the years.

[joshww81]

I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a list, just like doing a typical career search, especially if you're willing to relocate. The main issues are more practical, for instance can you get a work permit, are jobs available, what skills they require, etc.

Paul Mees was also my supervisor during my honours year. I admit that he's really good in thinking and capacity to argue, although I must say that my BUPD failed to provide any technical skills I might need in most planning jobs (lack of statistics, modelling, forecasting, engineering, design, and so forth).

[JusticeZero]

I have to agree with that assessment of what is missing in the program here. Fortunate for me I picked a lot of that up in my undergraduate (PSU) and during my planning experience in the in betweens.