National Summer Transportation Institute expanding in Arizona

PHOENIX – A summer program that introduces Arizona high school students to careers in transportation-related disciplines is expanding to include Gila Community College and Pima Community College in addition to instruction long offered by Arizona State University.

The National Summer Transportation Institute, funded by the Federal Highway Administration and offered at no cost to students, provides hand-on experiences such as learning how bridges are built, how to use geospatial software and how to manage traffic through technology. The Arizona Department of Transportation manages the program in Arizona.

As it has been for more than a decade, the program is being offered this summer at Arizona State University, with four week-long camps at the Polytechnic campus.

This year, ADOT’s On-The-Job-Training Supportive Services Program, part of the agency’s Business Engagement and Compliance Office, has also arranged for the National Summer Transportation Institute to be offered at camps that lasted two weeks each at Gila Community College campuses in Globe and Payson. It also has an agreement pending with Pima Community College to offer a two-week camp in Tucson later this summer.

Whether it’s designing and building the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway or using Intelligent Transportation Systems to move traffic more efficiently, engineering is critical to transportation. While some participants may eventually work in the field, the institute’s goal is exposing students to transportation-related career options, including engineering, as an essential part of STEM education.

To learn more about ADOT’s Business and Compliance Office, please visit azdot.gov/BECO.