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Planning and Engineering Internship Program

SFMTA.com/StreetsInternship

Update January 29, 2024: Applications for the 2024 SFMTA Planning and Engineering Internship are now closed. Sign up to be notified for next year on the SFMTA internship email list at "Sign up for updates" link on this page.

Project Introduction

Applications for 2024 are now closed. View the job description at the Careers at SFMTA page on SF.gov.

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

  • Transportation Planning
  • Livable Streets
  • Curb Management

Transit Division

  • Business Admin
  • Program Delivery & Support
  • Transit Planning
  • Transit Operations

Finance & Information Technology

  • Funding Strategy and Programs
  • Asset Management

Taxis, Access & Mobility Services Division

  • Taxis and Mobility Services
  • Accessible Services

Office of the Chief Strategy Officer

  • Design Strategy and Delivery
  • Government Operations
  • Building Progress Program
  • Facilities & Real Property Management
  • Shelter and Platform Maintenance

Streets Division

  • Traffic Routing
  • Operations
  • Livable Streets
  • Transit Engineering
  • Street Use, Development, and Signals (SUDS)

Transit Division

  • Program Delivery and Support – Fleet Engineering
  • Maintenance of Way – Mechanical Systems Program
  • Maintenance of Way – Traction Power Group
  • Maintenance of Way – Maintenance Engineering

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 now closed. View the job description at the Careers at SFMTA page on SF.gov.

Instructions on how to apply:

Step 1. Visit Careers at SFMTA page at SF.gov 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.

Project Timeline 
November 2023 - January 2024
Recruitment and application period
Pending
February - April 2024
Candidate interviews
Pending
May - September 2024 and beyond
Summer internship with possibility of extending
Pending
Project Details, History or Features

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.

The internship program is a hybrid of remote and in-office work. Due to the need for fieldwork as well as state Disaster Service Worker requirements, interns will be required to be based in the Bay Area for the extent of their internships.

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.

Contact Information
HR for questions about the application:
Darryl Yip and Julia Flessel, 2024 intern co-chairs, for questions about the program: