Department's Official Description 

Transportation engineering is concerned with the planning, design, construction, operation, performance, evaluation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of transportation systems and facilities, such as highways, railroads, urban transit, air transportation, logistic supply systems and their terminals. Transportation engineers are total-system oriented. In order to perform their professional duties adequately, they must have a well-developed knowledge of administration, economics, land use planning, environmental impacts, and methods of performance evaluation of transport systems. They must enjoy the challenge of working in the public arena, whether as civil servants or consultants, or in one of the many transportation companies of private enterprise. 

Transportation Engineers are concerned with all aspects of transportation systems. These include highways, railroads, mass transit, harbors, and air travel. Besides designing the physical aspects of the systems, transportation engineers also deal with the construction, operation, maintenance, environmental impact, and administration of all transportation systems. Basically, transportation engineers work to help people get where they want to go easier, quicker, more efficiently, and safer.