Planning and Engineering Internship Program
Update November 9, 2023: Applications are live on Careers at SFMTA page on SF.gov and due on January 15, 2024. Sign up for the SFMTA internship email list at "Sign up for updates" link on the right to be notified of the latest information. For links to other internships with the City, visit SFStudentIntern.org.
Applications for 2024 are live on Careers at SFMTA page on SF.gov and due January 15, 2024!
The SFMTA Planning and Engineering Internship Program is aimed at students pursuing degrees and careers related to transportation planning and transportation engineering. Interns join teams within the Agency’s Streets; Transit; Finance & Information Technology; Taxis, Access, & Mobility Services (TAMS) and Office of the Chief Strategy Officer divisions to work on projects that help residents and visitors of San Francisco get where they need to be safely and equitably.
Planning and Engineering interns work on the following teams:
| Planning Teams | Engineering Teams |
|---|---|
|
Streets Division
Transit Division
Finance & Information Technology
Taxis, Access & Mobility Services Division
Office of the Chief Strategy Officer
|
Streets Division
Transit Division
|
Interns participate in transportation planning and engineering activities, including:
- Designing and implementing transportation safety improvements and multimodal complete streets
- Performing community outreach and engagement, responding to community requests for transportation improvements
- Coordinating with other city agencies, contractors and communities on transportation-related projects
- Field trips and seminars to learn about various teams within the agency
Applications for 2024 are live on Careers at SFMTA page on SF.gov and due January 15, 2024!
Instructions on how to apply:
Step 1. Visit Careers at SFMTA page at SF.gov starting from November 9, 2023 through January 15, 2024 and search for "Intern".
Step 2. Select the SFMTA internship you want to apply for, depending on your qualifications: two for engineering and two for planning, each with multiple positions:
For undergraduate students with little or no relevant work experience:
For graduate students OR undergraduate students with relevant work experience:
Step 3. Follow instructions on the page to apply. Make sure to include a cover letter, resume and proof of education. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2024.
For links to other internships with the City and County of San Francisco, visit SFStudentIntern.org.
-
City staff who went through the intern program pose with Bond Yee, former head of the Streets Division, at his retirement celebration in 2014. -
The 2016 interns get a tour of the cable car barn. -
The 2018 interns tour the construction site at West Portal Station for the Twin Peaks Tunnel Improvement Project. -
The 2018 interns learn about outreach and engagement at Forest Hill Station for the Twin Peaks Tunnel Improvement Project. -
The 2019 interns tour the Salesforce Transit Center.
Details
The Planning and Engineering Internship Program is one of many internship opportunities offered by the City and County of San Francisco. Each summer, the Agency welcomes anywhere from twenty to forty students interested in transportation planning and transportation engineering.
Interns are generally assigned to a planning or engineering role within a team for the duration of the summer. The internship takes place between May and September with varying start dates and a possibility of extending. To supplement the work experience, the Intern Committee programs content such as weekly field trips and seminars for interns to get a sense of the various aspects of transportation-related work that the Agency does for the people of San Francisco.
History
The internship program started in 1989 as a response to the City’s Early Retirement Program, a budget-saving measure resulting in many of the agency’s most senior staff taking advantage and retiring. At that time, the agency made a collective and strategic decision to replenish the staffing through the internship program. Over the past 30+ years, the internship program has been immensely successful in fulfilling our workload needs as well as being an effective tool for recruitment and retention. Over 500 emerging professionals have participated in the program, gaining experience as civil servants in transportation engineering and transportation planning in San Francisco.