Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Urban Transport Coordinator

🎯 Role Definition

The Urban Transport Coordinator is a hands-on planner and program manager who coordinates multimodal transport initiatives, operationalizes transit and active-transport strategies, and works across city departments, transit operators and community stakeholders to deliver safe, equitable and sustainable mobility solutions. This role combines technical analysis (GIS, travel demand modeling, KPI reporting), contract and grant management, public consultation, and on-the-ground coordination to ensure projects move from concept to effective service delivery and measurable outcomes.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Transportation Planner / Assistant Planner (public sector or consultancy)
Transit Operations Analyst or Scheduler
Civil Engineer or Traffic Engineering Technician

Advancement To:

Senior Transport Planner / Senior Transit Coordinator
Transit Operations Manager / Mobility Program Manager
Multimodal Transportation Division Lead / Director of Mobility

Lateral Moves:

Traffic Engineer
Public Engagement / Communications Specialist for Transportation
Project Manager in Infrastructure or Transit Procurement

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, coordinate and implement citywide and corridor-level urban transport plans and projects that improve multimodal connectivity, increase public transit ridership, and support sustainable mobility objectives, ensuring alignment with municipal strategic goals and climate action plans.
Lead day-to-day coordination with transit operators, traffic engineering teams, cycling and pedestrian program leads, parking management, and public works to integrate service schedules, infrastructure improvements and ITS deployments for seamless multimodal operations.
Manage transit service planning tasks including route design, stop spacing, timetable/schedule adjustments, headway optimization, and coordination of transfer points to improve reliability, reduce passenger wait times, and optimize vehicle utilization.
Prepare and manage grant applications, funding proposals and capital/operating budget requests for transit and active-transport projects (federal, state, regional grants including FTA, CMAQ, and local funding sources), and ensure compliance with grant terms and reporting requirements.
Oversee contracts and service agreements with third-party operators, consultants and vendors: draft scopes of work, manage procurement processes, monitor deliverables, control budgets and ensure contract compliance and performance standards.
Conduct robust data-driven analysis of travel demand, ridership trends, on-time performance, mode split, and corridor capacity using tools such as GIS, TransCAD, Excel/Power BI, and travel demand or microsimulation models to inform service design and policy recommendations.
Design and maintain KPI dashboards and periodic performance reports for executive leadership and council/board presentations, translating technical findings into clear, actionable recommendations for policy and operational change.
Lead public engagement and stakeholder consultation programs—organize workshops, open houses, focus groups and online surveys; synthesize community feedback into project design changes and clear communications for affected neighborhoods and riders.
Coordinate accessibility and equity assessments for projects and transit services, ensuring compliance with ADA standards, equitable fare policies, and targeted outreach to underserved and mobility-impaired communities.
Develop and implement fare policy initiatives and farebox strategies in collaboration with finance and transit operations teams, including integration with regional fare media (smartcards, mobile ticketing) and fare subsidy programs.
Integrate Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and real-time information (AVL, APC, passenger information systems) into operations planning to support signal priority, real-time passenger information, and dynamic dispatching improvements.
Lead pilot programs and proof-of-concept deployments for micromobility, on-demand transit, transit priority lanes, or shared mobility services, evaluating performance and scaling successful pilots into ongoing services.
Coordinate construction staging and traffic management plans with capital projects teams to minimize impacts on transit reliability and ensure continuity of service during roadway or infrastructure works.
Prepare technical briefs, policy memos and council/board reports summarizing project benefits, environmental and socio-economic impacts, funding strategies and recommended actions for adoption.
Train and support internal staff and partner agencies on new service standards, tools and operational procedures, including development of SOPs for incident response, service recovery, and data collection protocols.
Monitor and enforce safety and security standards on transit services and infrastructure, collaborate with transit safety officers, law enforcement and emergency management on contingency planning and incident after-action reviews.
Conduct cost-benefit analysis, life-cycle costing and value-for-money assessments for proposed capital and operational investments in transit vehicles, stops, shelters and ITS hardware.
Coordinate with regional agencies and neighboring municipalities to align service boundaries, schedule coordination, and fare integration to support seamless cross-jurisdictional travel.
Lead procurement planning and technical specification writing for vehicles, shelter infrastructure, traffic signal equipment and ITS components, ensuring procurement aligns with technical, accessibility and environmental standards.
Provide technical support for land-use and development review processes—coordinate transit impact assessments, developer contributions, and mitigation measures to support transit-oriented development and active-transport infrastructure.
Monitor regulatory and policy changes at federal, state and regional levels (FTA, DOT guidance, emissions regulations) and translate implications into operational or policy adjustments to keep programs compliant and competitive for funding.
Establish data governance practices for transport datasets (ridership, AVL, APC, traffic counts), ensure data quality, and foster cross-departmental data sharing to enable better analytics and decision-making.
Serve as a public-facing representative for transport projects, presenting at council meetings, community boards and stakeholder forums, handling media inquiries and preparing outreach materials that clearly communicate technical trade-offs and benefits.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Transportation planning and service design (route scheduling, headway optimization, transfer coordination)
GIS and spatial analysis (ArcGIS, QGIS) for corridor analysis, stop-placement and accessibility mapping
Travel demand and simulation tools (TransCAD, EMME, VISSIM, Synchro) and familiarity with modeling workflows
Data analysis and visualization (Excel advanced, SQL, Python or R, Power BI / Tableau) for KPI dashboards and performance monitoring
Transit ITS / AVL / APC systems knowledge and experience integrating real-time data feeds and transit priority signals
Grant writing and management for transportation funding (FTA, CMAQ, state transit grants) including compliance and reporting
Contract procurement and vendor management for vehicles, shelter infrastructure and technology systems
Fare policy systems and electronic fare media integration (smartcard, mobile ticketing, back-office systems)
Traffic engineering basics (signal timing, safety audits, intersection operational analysis)
Accessibility and ADA compliance knowledge for transit infrastructure and paratransit services
Budgeting and financial analysis for operating and capital projects, including life-cycle costing and cost-benefit analysis
Familiarity with environmental review processes (NEPA/SEPA) and transportation conformity requirements

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder engagement and community consultation skills, able to build consensus among diverse groups
Clear written and verbal communication, including preparing executive briefings and public presentations
Project management and organizational skills, able to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines
Strategic thinking and policy analysis, able to translate technical data into actionable policy recommendations
Problem-solving mindset with an emphasis on practical, implementable solutions and pilot-first approaches
Leadership and team collaboration — ability to coordinate cross-functional teams and external partners
Negotiation and conflict-resolution skills for resolving service or contract disputes
Attention to detail and high standards for data quality and regulatory compliance
Adaptability and resilience working in fast-changing urban environments and political contexts
Customer-focus and empathy for public transit users, particularly vulnerable and underserved populations

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning, Transportation Planning, Civil Engineering, Public Policy, Geography, or closely related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Transportation Planning, Urban Planning, Civil/Transportation Engineering, Public Policy or a related discipline; professional certification (e.g., AICP, PMP) is a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Urban Planning
Transportation / Civil Engineering
Public Policy / Administration
Geography / GIS
Data Science or Statistics (for technical roles)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3 to 7 years of progressively responsible experience in urban transport planning, transit operations, or related roles (public sector, transit agency or consulting experience preferred).

Preferred:

5+ years managing multimodal transport projects, grant-funded programs, or transit operations; demonstrated experience with public engagement, ITS/AVL systems, and successful grant procurement and contract management.