By Evan Bialostozky, MA Candidate, Department of Geography, Hunter College

I have recently been selected to participate in the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) and University Transportation Research Center’s (UTRC) September 11th Memorial Program for Regional Transportation Planning’s Academic Initiative.  Through this program, I will be working as an intern at NYMTC’s offices in Lower Manhattan for 12 months beginning in October 2008.  NYMTC is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for New York City, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley.

As a graduate student at CUNY, a UTRC member university, I was able to apply last spring for this excellent opportunity to further my educational experiences in the geography subfield in which I have chosen to specialize, transportation geography.  This UTRC/NYMTC program has paired me with a professional advisor at NYMTC; in my particular case, due to my master’s thesis topic concerning regional travel surveys, my advisor will be Jorge Argote, Survey Manager in NYMTC’s Technical Group.  I will be assisting him and his unit with various aspects of travel surveys in the New York City region.  In addition, NYMTC will provide me with other occasions for professional development throughout my yearlong internship.

I am very excited to have been selected to be a part of this prestigious program.  It is wonderful to have this opportunity to learn more about transportation planning in a real-world and hands-on environment.  The internship will allow me to bring additional knowledge and resources to the work on my thesis, and my coursework at Hunter College will allow me to contribute successfully and creatively to the work currently being done at NYMTC.  I am looking forward to a tremendous experience over the next year.