Selling Transportation Engineering Means Selling Yourself Carmen W. Daecher

The field of Transportation Engineering is still in its infancy, but it has made great progress in its scientific advancement within the engineering field. It has certainly advanced far enough to be acknowledged by our peers within other fields of engineering. Rules and regulations at all levels of government attest to the fact that Transportation Engineering has influenced this nation's thinking and, for that matter, the international communities' thinking. Elected officials, community groups and the general public have become conversant with Transportation Engineering as a discipline.

Still, however, Transportation Engineering is often ridiculed and belittled by the very people in groups from which we must gain respect and acceptance. Due to a bad past of perceived "Yes Men", current differences of opinion among Transportation Engineers and an often ill-founded sense of "knowing" the problems and solutions to transportation problems by elected officials and the general public, we find ourselves at an important crossroads in our professional evolution. On one hand, we have contributed in a very positive way to the improvement of societies throughout the world; on the other hand, we are still not viewed as the professionals we are and have not achieved the level of respect that we honestly deserve. Transportation Engineering is at a point in its evolution where we, as professionals practicing within the field, must stand up and demand the respect that we deserve.

Transportation Engineering is rather unique within the engineering field since dynamic human factors are an implicit element in our thought and decision process, our engineering design, and our successes and failures. We, as Transportation Engineers, cannot point to theorems and equations concerning the physical properties and behavioral aspects of materials or structural components to demand respect. However, we can point to improved traffic flow within urban centers, safer conditions for travelers due to better roadway design, signing and signalization, and computerized signal systems as significant stepping stones of progress and proficiency. Our input has resulted in noteworthy advancements in the use of mass transit, the movement of the physically handicapped, and the design of safer circulation systems for all users.

A very basic and consistent element in our efforts is to put ourselves on the line as professionals within this growing field where answers cannot be found in textbooks but must be developed from a knowledge combining scientific factors and human factors under varying conditions.

Director of Transportation Engineering and Planning, Pennoni Associates, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

We must understand that in order to gain the acknowledgment and the credibility that we deserve, we must carry on a public relations campaign by educating the public, elected officials, and others by example through our conduct and our product within the field of Transportation Engineering. We must not be afraid to let the general public or elected officials know where they are deficient in their thinking as "Traffic Engineers." Too often, the emotional concerns of these people lead them to exaggerated conclusions. It is proper for us to continually emphasize to these people that an objective, logical approach to Transportation Engineering solutions is the only proper approach so that there is a consistent and system-oriented approach to any particular solution suggested by us.

We must impress upon local elected officials the importance of coordinated thinking regarding transportation systems, especially in large urban areas. Too often, a fragmented approach is applied to transportation improvements (e.g., Streets Department worries only about streets while mass transit authorities worry only about mass transit). A coordinated and well-balanced transportation system within urban areas necessarily will involve a centralized approach to transportation. Through a total systems approach, system efficiency, priority for system improvements, and availability and acquisition of funds for system improvements can be determined in a more intelligent way. Such an approach also offers the opportunity to balance short-term and long-term political benefits for elected officials. The management of the transportation system can be more appropriately assessed through time specific plans for the achievement of certain improvements and efficiencies within the system.

All of this leads to the crucial point that for us to truly gain the respect that we deserve we must sell ourselves. This is not an illicit or immoral suggestion; rather, we must impress our abilities and our knowledge upon those people who benefit from them the most.

To do this, we must be willing to assure a leadership role and not a back stage position within the community and within projects for which Transportation Engineering is needed. In order to exert this leadership effectively, I wish to suggest that the following elements must be employed by us as Transportation Engineers:

1. Competence - We must be able to adequately demonstrate to anyone that we are competent within the field of Transportation Engineering. We must combine our skills in Transportation Engineering, Human Factors Engineering and Management effectively to achieve this.
2. Expert Qualities - We must be able to convey our competence and abilities to clients, elected officials, community groups and the general public at a level understandable by them. Fancy language is foreign language to most people. Impress people by your depth of understanding and ability to communicate - not by using quarter words and dollar phrases.
3. Thoroughness - We must be complete in our efforts on any project and should not be misled into shoddy and incomplete performance as a result of limited budgets, persuasive clients, or any other element. We must assume an aggressive posture in insisting that a complete and thorough job be done to the benefit of our clients and the community and must be convincing in our reasons for this completeness.
4. Application of Management Principles - We must show elected officials, clients, and others that we can manage projects and people with the types of principles that maximize chances for success. We must have the ability to motivate others and to apply sound principles in decision making for developing improvement schemes for overall transportation programs. To be a good Transportation Engineer simply is not enough; we must be capable managers as well.
5. Be Businesslike - If we are to be accepted as professionals and gain credibility, we must not be afraid to ask for a proper compensation for our services. Furthermore, we should ask for just compensation in a manner that is fair to both the client and ourselves. We should always clearly define the efforts we plan to accomplish and the method of payments and overall fees for those efforts before we begin any project. We should always keep our client informed of our progress and of any problems that develop in terms of time consumption, fees, payments, etc. Whether we like it or not, we must understand that to be considered competent business people is necessary towards gaining respect from elected officials, industry leaders, and the general community as a whole.
6. Be Honest - One of the most crucial elements we must always employ is honesty. We must not be afraid to say that we "do not know" if indeed that's the case. We must always remind people that in many cases we must prepare estimates and projections which are our best effort but which are not ironclad in terms of being right on the mark. We must be honest with our clients in terms of what our results are even if they are not to their benefit, and we must be honest in answering any questions, no matter from where they come.

The persistent day-to-day use of these elements may at first seem difficult, but our use of these elements as Transportation Engineers will gain for us a long term respect and level of credibility that we deserve from elected officials, community groups, clients, and the general public.

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