Posted in Internship 30+ days ago.
Type: Full-Time
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
San Francisco, CA
2024 Pathway to Government College Mentorship Program (Internship)
Salary: $26.29 - $30.80 Hourly
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Closing Date: 3/27/2024 11:59 PM Pacific
DEADLINE TO APPLY IS WEDNESDAY, April 10, 2024 AT 11:59 P.M.
APPLY IMMEDIATELY IF INTERESTED
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is excited to announce its Pathway to Government College Mentorship Program for the summer of 2024 (formerly known as the College Internship program). The MTC Pathway to Government College Mentorship Program provides students/mentees with the opportunity to gain professional work experience in business operations, planning, budget and financial planning and analysis, treasury and revenue, funding policy, estuary, legislation and public affairs, regional network management and design and project delivery,
MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. It is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the state designated Regional Transportation Planning Agency (RTPA) for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC provides services to the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). For more information about MTC, visit www.mtc.ca.gov.
For the summer of 2024, students/mentees will have the opportunity to work remotely as well as in the office full-time for eight weeks from Monday, June 10, 2024 through Friday, August 2, 2024. Mentees will have job assignments and a dedicated mentor who will help develop and guide them in their overall career interests and provide real-life work experience of what it is like to work for a regional government agency.
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
Applicants should have the following knowledge, skills and abilities:
• Organizational and analytical skills, detail-oriented;
• Research and documentation skills;
• Data analysis and/or financial analysis skills;
• Project management skills;
• Ability to gather, organize and interpret data; critical problem solving;
• Ability to exercise sound judgment;
• Able to work within time constraints and produce a finished product according to specifications;
• Strong writing, communications, and presentation skills;
• Able to work effectively with a variety of people;
• Be self-motivated;
• Sound knowledge in MS applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, MS Office/Office 365).
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
To be considered for this mentorship program, you must be enrolled at least half-time in an accredited community college or university, four-year undergraduate or graduate program preferably within the nine county San Francisco Bay Area. Individuals who have already graduated (no earlier than December 2023) may be considered up to eight (8) months post-graduation.
We are looking for students who are majoring in or planning to major in fields such as Business Administration, Public Administration, Transportation Planning, Civil Engineering, City and Regional Planning, Urban Studies, Public Policy, Government Relations, Marketing, Natural Science, Finance/Accounting, and Information Systems/Computer Science. However, other fields of study and undeclared majors will also be considered.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
For the summer of 2024, we have opportunities in the following areas:
1. Regional Planning - Housing
The mentee will support the Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA) program's effort to track and support Bay Area housing programs that affirmatively further fair housing and achieve compliance with the Regions new Transit-Oriented Communities Policy https://mtc.ca.gov/planning/land-use/transit-oriented-communities-toc-policy. The mentee will review jurisdictions' approved Housing Elements (local housing plans) and gather relevant program data to inform how the RHTA program can support jurisdictions' implementation efforts. Through this project, the mentee will gain insight into how local, regional, and state housing goals come together through specific programs. The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
2. Regional Planning Program - Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects
The mentee will assist in mapping Bicycle and Pedestrian projects funded with Transit Development Act funds throughout the Bay Area. This will include program analysis of the variety of projects, location (in MTC designated Equity Priority Communities or Transit Oriented Communities), and distribution of completed projects within each county. Additionally, the mentee will support MTC initiatives to help the region’s transit operators adjust to the post-COVID new normal. Example tasks include analysis of transit agency financial data and policy research on how other regions are responding to changing transit ridership patterns. The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
3. Regional Planning Program - Major Plans Team
The mentee will support the Major Plans team in enhancing planners’ understanding of the travel needs of Bay Area drivers. The mentee in this position will help to conduct interviews with 10-15 members of the public from different walks of life to learn about their experiences with freeways, traffic congestion, and existing road pricing in the Bay Area with the goal of developing short stories that bring their experiences to life. The mentee will also support other tasks, as needed and as interested, related to the ongoing Next Generation Bay Area Freeways Study.
4. Design & Project Delivery
The mentee will work with the Capital Program Delivery team on delivering Forward Initiative projects, with the goal of enhancing the commute experience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions within the Bay Area. The Forward Initiatives are established under the framework of Plan Bay Area 2040/2050 to address the transportation needs in the SF Bay Area. The candidate will help with tasks related to various phases of capital projects from procurement and contract to design and construction. This may involve attending meetings, performing preparatory tasks, attending field visits to the construction site, etc. The ideal mentee would have a Civil Engineering background, possess strong time management skills, communicate effectively with team members, and document, gather, and coordinate project information. The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
5. Regional Network Management
The mentee will support the Regional Network Management (RNM) team with various efforts to transform Bay Area public transportation (transit) into a more connected, reliable, affordable, and equitable network. RNM efforts are focused on improving the transit rider experience, including:
• Transit fare coordination and integration efforts to foster more coordinated and affordable connections between different transit agencies;
• Mapping and wayfinding efforts to make it easier to navigate the regional transit network by making maps and signs at transit stops and stations more consistent;
• Transit priority efforts to increase the speed and reliability of transit vehicles;
• Accessibility efforts to improve transportation access for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes; and
• Performance measures that evaluate the success of the efforts at transforming the regional transit network.
Mentee tasks may include conducting research; performing data analyses; writing memos and reports; preparing for, attending, and summarizing meetings; and other duties as directed. This is an exciting opportunity to support a variety of customer-focused transit projects in MTC’s newest section! The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
6. Estuary Partnership
The San Francisco Estuary Partnership is part of the National Estuary Program, a non-regulatory program of the EPA created through the Clean Water Act. We lead a regional strategy, the Estuary Blueprint (aka the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, CCMP) to protect and restore the water quality and ecological integrity of the Estuary from the Golden Gate to the Sacramento Delta.
The mentee will support the San Francisco Estuary Partnership staff in the Estuary Youth Council (EYC). The mentee will assist with stakeholder meetings, social media content creation, and research the needs, concerns, and priorities of environmental justice communities that EYC stakeholders are based in. The mentee may also perform other tasks related to equity and communications as needed and as interested.
7. Business Operations & Capital Projects
The mentee will have the opportunity to engage in an enriching experience where they will learn from seasoned professionals while gaining valuable insights from a public transportation agency building owner's perspective of facilities and capital projects management. The mentee may be assisting on the following projects/initiatives:
• Building infrastructure and maintenance
• Public meetings logistics
• Construction management processes
• Participation in project-focused meetings
• Space management
• The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
8. Funding Policy and Programs
The mentee will be entrusted with a range of tasks designed to progress their professional growth and contribute meaningfully to the MTC Funding, Policy, and Programs section’s goals. Responsibilities may include conducting statistical and data analysis to inform funding policy decisions, developing grant materials to evaluate competitive grant applications, and supporting competitive grant program administration. Additionally, mentees will have the opportunity to participate in meetings with regional partners, gaining firsthand exposure to collaborative decision-making processes. They may also attend key MTC committee and commission meetings, providing them with insights into broader regional transportation governance. Beyond these primary tasks, mentees will be expected to assist with other project-related duties as needed, providing them with a robust understanding of the transportation planning and policy world. The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
9. Treasury & Revenue - Tolling
The mentee will provide support to the Toll Revenue group within the Toll Services section. Responsibilities include:
• Updating Revenue Statistics Report: The mentee will assist in maintaining and updating the Weekly and Monthly Traffic and Revenue Statistics report for the Bay Area Bridges, FasTrak and All Electronic Tolling programs. Once updated, the mentee will perform analysis to determine trends.
• Toll and Violation Revenue Settlements: The mentee will assist in performing daily and weekly revenue settlements related to tolls and violations. These settlements involve coordinating with various agencies under the FasTrak program.
• Toll Revenue System Monitoring: The mentee will assist in performing daily and weekly audits, checking for accuracy and accountability of all toll revenue systems and ensuring revenue security. The audit includes the analysis of toll variances, revenue and traffic reports disparities, and lane equipment malfunctions.
The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
10. Budgets and Financial Planning and Analysis
The mentee will learn the processes undertaken by the BFPA section to produce, monitor and support the Agency’s and its entities’ budgets and actual transactions. This will be achieved through assisting the team in the preparation of reports, analysis of financial transactions, monitoring of encumbrances, and helping in the coordination functions of the unit with internal staff. The mentee will be provided hands-on learning and insight into the skills needed to enter the public financial sector. In this mentorship program, the mentee will be coached on the necessary skills required to succeed in the budget and financial planning sector and be motivated to apply the skills and values learned to their future career endeavors. The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.
11. Legislation & Public Affairs
The mentee will support the LPA engagement team in implementing the agency’s inclusive public engagement program by helping to outreach to and engage interested Bay Area residents, partners and organizations in key planning efforts at MTC and ABAG while learning about best practices for communications, public participation and engagement. Key public engagement efforts happening in summer 2024 include the second phase of Plan Bay Area 2050+ and Transit 2050+ engagement. The mentee will work with staff to help organize in-person community events as well as virtual workshops and webinars; support content development; and staff community meetings, as needed. The mentee also will support reviewing, analyzing and synthesizing comments and feedback from the public to identify community and partner priorities for the various planning efforts. The mentee may also perform additional tasks as needed and as interested.