Author: Rayn Riel

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Public Service Loan Forgiveness Workshop NEXT WEEK!

PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS EVENT

Are you enrolled or considering enrolling in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PLSF) program but confused about how it actually works? Did you know that close to 99% of applicants are currently denied after ten years of service?

We will host a lecture and workshop on the program with loan expert Betsy Mayotte, who spent twenty years doing loan compliance before founding her own nonprofit organization dedicated to helping student loan borrowers. Join us for a presentation on the inner workings of the program and the latest COVID-related updates to it, as well as a Q&A session (must be a member to attend for free). We will have an option to submit questions privately as well.

Tuesday, 12/15 at 7:30PM
RSVP

Check your membership status here, or join here. Being an active member is $20 for the year and allows us to organize events.

NYC CIVIL SERVICE EXAMS

The Open Competitive and Promotional Administrative City Planner exam’s filling period is open until Tuesday, 12/22. Taking a civil service exam puts you in a position to gain permanent status with the City of New York, which provides a higher level of job security compared to being a non-permanent employee (i.e. provisional, non-competitive).

Check the requirements listed on the DCAS website to see if you qualify and should apply for this exam. The exam is based on Education and Experience (E&E), so in other words, the application is the exam and takes only a few minutes to complete.

NEW YEAR

The outgoing 2020 YPT-NYC Board wishes everyone a safe and healthy holiday season. We didn’t expect a year like this one, but we hope that our many events, opportunities, spotlights, and more helped you — whether by providing you with new connections, new ideas, new skills, or just by bringing you some virtual joy. As we work with the incoming 2021 Board to transition duties, we hope all of you take care and we look forward to meeting everyone in-person again soon.

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YPT-NYC Election Results & Upcoming Opportunities + Events

YPT ELECTION RESULTS 

The outgoing YPT–NYC Board would like to thank everyone for voting in our election and especially those who ran for the 2021 Board. We look forward to working with our new Board members over the next month and helping them transition to their roles.

YPT–NYC 2021 Board:

  • Chair: Tyce Herrman
  • Deputy Chair: Rayn Riel
  • Content Manager: Kristy Tu
  • Treasurer: Scott Middleton
  • Professional Development Manager: Ayanthi Gunawardana
  • Membership Manager: Elizabeth Jule Gladoun
  • Events & Programs Manager: Sydney McGinn
  • Communications Manager: Emily Provonsha
  • Social Media Manager: Lauren Rushing
  • Partnerships Director: Julia Fiore

Congratulations to our new YPT–NYC 2021 Board members!

TRB OPPORTUNITY

As a result of COVID-19, young professionals have had reduced access to leading industry conferences due to event cancellations, budget reductions, travel restrictions, and social distancing. Young Professionals in Transportation – International wants to support the professional development of young professionals by funding the 2021 TRB Young Professional registration fees for four YPT Members at a value of $245 per registration. The conference will be held virtually.

Disclaimer: the TRB Annual Meeting website defines that a Young Professional can register at a reduced rate if they are age 35 or younger at the time of the Annual Meeting (date of birth & ID required.) We will reimburse for this rate, however an active YPT Member who does not confirm to that definition can enter and would need to cover the difference between the Young Professional rate and the standard rate if selected.

Additional information is available through the form below. Submissions must be submitted using this form by November 19, 2020 at 8 pm PST to be eligible.

YPT TRB Young Members scholarship submission form

PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS

Are you enrolled or considering enrolling in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PLSF) program but confused about how it actually works? Did you know that close to 99% of applicants are currently denied after ten years of service?

We will host a lecture and workshop on the program with loan expert Betsy Mayotte, who spent twenty years doing loan compliance before founding her own nonprofit organization dedicated to helping student loan borrowers. Join us for a presentation on the inner workings of the program and the latest COVID-related updates to it, as well as a Q&A session (must be a member to attend for free). We will have an option to submit questions privately as well.

Tuesday, 12/15 at 7:30PM
RSVP

BIKE RIDE & MEET UP

Nice to see many of you at last month’s bike ride meet up!

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YPT-NYC Elections and THIS Sunday’s Central Park Meet-Up

YPT ELECTIONS 

YPT elections are live until October 30th at 11:59PM EDT and we have many candidates running for the 10 open positions on our board! 

To participate in the election, you must be an active member. Check your membership status here, or join here. Being an active member is $20 for the year and allows us to organize events.

You should have received voting instructions from our voting host server, Simply Voting, where our ballot and candidate statements are available. If you haven’t or if you’re having problems, please e-mail the YPT International Deputy Chair at deputy@yptransportation.org.

YPT uses a ranked voting process. We use this method so that:  

1. Candidates can run for multiple positions, and if someone wins two positions, they will choose which position they want. The votes they received will be reallocated to the voters’ second choices.

2. In the event of a tie, we will not need to have a separate run-off vote. The votes from the candidate receiving the lowest total will be reallocated to each voter’s second choice candidate.  

The results will be made available to the YPT membership in early November. The new Board term for all winning candidates will begin on January 1, 2020. Please take the time to learn about the candidates and vote!

BIKE RIDE & MEET UP



Want to ride bikes? With us? Meet up at the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West and join us for a ~6 mile bike ride around Central Park. No cars!

There is an adjacent CitiBike station (please check for availability before the event). We have a limited number of free CitiBike guest passes for the first few members who meet us. Please remember to bring a mask and wear it if you cannot maintain at least 6 feet of distance from others.

RSVP below so we can contact you with any updates. 

Sunday, 10/25 @ 1PM EDT
RSVP

The current forecast below for your convenience.



MEMBER PROFILE

Casey Barrett, EIT, ENV SP
Civil Associate II in Michael Baker’s Civil-Highway Department


I earned my BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Manhattan College in 2015. I went on to work for Michael Baker in their Civil-Highway department, where I worked on a variety of projects from streetscape improvements to bridge replacements. My project tasks include Maintenance and Protection of Traffic designs, and Traffic Control and staging plans, which is how traffic patterns are maintained during construction. In addition to being an active YPT member, I’m also involved with Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) and I’m co-chair of the college outreach committee. In my spare time I enjoy gardening, hiking, doing puzzle, and baking/cooking.

What do you most enjoy about YPT? 

I’ve really enjoyed the virtual tour series, specifically the old NYC subway lines aerial imagery tour by Rayn Riel. I find it fascinating to see how New York’s mobility has changed (or has not changed) over time. I joined YPT in February 2020 and was looking forward to all the upcoming events. I have enjoyed the topics about NYC’s infrastructure and the networking opportunities YPT has hosted while in quarantine, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What’s your preferred transport mode and why?

At the moment, my preferred mode of transport is walking. I’m still working from home, so I take walks around my neighborhood in order to get some fresh air. I take a different route so I’m constantly seeing something new every day.

What is the biggest transit-related problem that you’d like to help solve?

Carbon-Neutral Transportation. The transportation sector generates the largest portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The solution to get to a carbon- neutral transportation sector is multifaceted issue, but I will only touch on a couple topics here. In order to cut carbon, we need to get people to drive less. That means getting people out of their personal vehicles and on to mass transit. This would require a reliable multi-modal mass transit system serving all communities. The mass transit fleet would need to be fueled by clean, renewable energy sources. Best management practices in sustainable transit will require research and development, and knowledge sharing across the industry. Another factor to consider in achieving carbon neutral transportation is the physical infrastructure: highways, roads, bridges, airports, etc. Our nation’s infrastructure is built out of concrete which contributes to 8% of global carbon emissions. Therefore, future infrastructure improvement projects will need to be sourced from sustainable resources with a low carbon output. 

For the full profile, visit our website!

AUTHOR TALK

Thank you Dr. Adonia Lugo for your time discussing your book, Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, and Resistance!

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Member Profiles

Member Profile: Casey Barrett

Casey Barrett, EIT, ENV SP
Civil Associate II in Michael Baker’s Civil-Highway Department

I earned my BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Manhattan College in 2015. I went on to work for Michael Baker in their Civil-Highway department, where I worked on a variety of projects from streetscape improvements to bridge replacements. My project tasks include Maintenance and Protection of Traffic designs, and Traffic Control and staging plans, which is how traffic patterns are maintained during construction. In addition to being an active YPT member, I’m also involved with Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) and I’m co-chair of the college outreach committee. In my spare time I enjoy gardening, hiking, doing puzzle, and baking/cooking.

What do you most enjoy about YPT? I’ve really enjoyed the virtual tour series, specifically the old NYC subway lines aerial imagery tour by Rayn Riel. I find it fascinating to see how New York’s mobility has changed (or has not changed) over time. I joined YPT in February 2020 and was looking forward to all the upcoming events. I have enjoyed the topics about NYC’s infrastructure and the networking opportunities YPT has hosted while in quarantine, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What’s your preferred transport mode and why?

At the moment, my preferred mode of transport is walking. I’m still working from home, so I take walks around my neighborhood in order to get some fresh air. I take a different route so I’m constantly seeing something new every day.

What are you working on that you’re most passionate or proud about (transit-related)?

I’m still waiting on that passion project, but it would be some type of sustainable infrastructure project using the Envision framework.

What is the biggest transit-related problem that you’d like to help solve?

Carbon-Neutral Transportation. The transportation sector generates the largest portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The solution to get to a carbon- neutral transportation sector is multifaceted issue, but I will only touch on a couple topics here. In order to cut carbon, we need to get people to drive less. That means getting people out of their personal vehicles and on to mass transit. This would require a reliable multi-modal mass transit system serving all communities. The mass transit fleet would need to be fueled by clean, renewable energy sources. Best management practices in sustainable transit will require research and development, and knowledge sharing across the industry. Another factor to consider in achieving carbon neutral transportation is the physical infrastructure: highways, roads, bridges, airports, etc. Our nation’s infrastructure is built out of concrete which contributes to 8% of global carbon emissions. Therefore, future infrastructure improvement projects will need to be sourced from sustainable resources with a low carbon output. 

Do you have any tips (career advice) for YPT’ers interested in your career path?

Young professionals should join YPT (or any professional society) because it allows you to grow your network outside of the people you work with. Sometimes professional societies offer opportunities, such as tours or training, that your employer doesn’t offer. 

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newsletter

Meet the Candidates Virtual Happy Hour, Author Talk, and Central Park Meet-Up: YPT-NYC October Newsletter

YPT ELECTIONS & HAPPY HOUR
 

YPT elections are this month and we have many candidates running for the 10 open positions on our board! Join us for a special virtual happy hour on Thursday, October 15th at 6:30 PM to meet the people running for the 2021 YPT-NYC Board.

Thursday, 10/15 @ 6:30PM EDT
RSVP

We encourage everyone to learn about the candidates.

Remember, to participate in the election, you must be an active member. Check your membership status here, or join here. Being an active member is $20 for the year and allows us to organize events.

The election timeline is below:

  • October 19, 2020 – Election ballots will be sent out to eligible voting members.
  • October 30, 2020 – Online elections close.


AUTHOR TALK

Join us for this special author talk with Dr. Adonia Lugo as we discuss her book, Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, and Resistance. Please note this event is for members only.

Tuesday, 10/20 @ 6PM EDT
RSVP

BIKE RIDE & MEET UP

Wanna ride bikes? With us? Meet up at the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West and join us for a ~6 mile bike ride around Central Park. No cars!

There is an adjacent CitiBike station (please check for availability before the event). We have a limited number of free CitiBike guest passes for the first few members who meet us. Please remember to bring a mask and wear it if you cannot maintain at least 6 feet of distance from others.

Sunday, 10/25 @ 1PM EDT
RSVP

NOVEMBER PODCAST CLUB

This November, join our four-part weekly podcast club, in which we’ll discuss four topics in NYC transportation infrastructure: streets, tunnels, bridges, and airports. Participants will receive a list of 2-3 recommended podcast episodes to listen to prior to each week’s meetup.

Tentative dates are 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, 12/3 @ 7pm-8pm. Stay tuned!

SEPTEMBER TRIVIA 

Congratulation to Team “B&QT” (Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation), the winners of YPT’s 2020 trivia event! Pictured from left to right below (at the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse) are Sunny Zheng, Mark Perelmuter, Rayn Riel, Max Diamond, and Sydney McGinn from B&QT.



Congratulations as well to the 2nd and 3rd place teams: “And the winner is” and “YPT Team 1”. Thanks very much to the organizers and all participants for contributing to a fun event.

Stay tuned for more upcoming events and we hope to see you later this month.

YPT-NYC

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Trivia, Skillshare, Elections!

SEPTEMBER TRIVIA – REGISTRATION CLOSES TODAY!

Are you eager to show off your knowledge of defunct subway stops, airport codes, or obscure acronyms? Do you crave glory? Join us for New York’s 11th Annual (Virtual) Transportation Trivia event — a joint activity supported by the local American Planning Association Transportation Committee (APA), Young Professionals in Transportation (YPT), and WTS Young Professionals Committee (WTS). The event will take place on September 16th and registration closes on September 9th. Register to participate and look for the Zoom Meeting link in your inbox.

9/16 @ 6:30-8PM
RSVP

SEPTEMBER SKILLSHARE – TOMORROW!

Join us for an IPUMS skillshare by TransitCenter’s Mary Buchanan on Thursday, September 10th at 6PM! She will introduce YPT members to Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), which is the world’s largest individual-level population database and is extremely useful to learn for transportation professionals.

9/10 @ 6-7PM
RSVP

YPT ELECTIONS

Becoming a YPT leader starts with you! If you want to help YPT-NYC thrive next year and are interested in developing your career and providing your skills to the Board, run! Worried that you aren’t very active with YPT? Don’t worry — run anyway, if you’re committed to stepping up!

What exactly does being on the Board of Directors entail? Directors typically offer a time commitment of 3-5 hours per week. Directors must be able to call into monthly Board of Directors meetings. The full list of available positions is here.

To participate in the election, you must be an active member by October 1st. Check your membership status here, or join here (even if you’re not running, so you can vote). Being an active member is $20 for the year and allows us to organize events (such as an upcoming Public Service Loan Forgiveness workshop with an expert who will assist YPT members).

The election timeline is below:

  • September 21, 2020 – Candidate statements are due.
  • October 19, 2020 – Election ballots will be sent out to eligible voting members.
  • October 30, 2020 – Online elections close.
  • January 1, 2021 – New term for all winning candidates begins.

Term limits for all YPT Board positions is one year. The term runs from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

YPT MEGAREGION SYMPOSIUM

The Megaregion Transportation Policy Symposium brings together industry practitioners, academic professionals, and policy experts to lead the conversation on technologies, policies and trends in the field of transportation that will promote megaregion development.

10/01 @ 10:30-3:30PM
RSVP

Categories
Member Profiles

Member Profile: Rebecca (Ray) Noble

 

Rebecca (Ray) Noble works at New York City Emergency Management as a Transportation and Infrastructure Specialist. She hails from the Midwest and relocated to NYC to pursue a graduate degree in Urban Planning at Columbia University. When she’s not nerding out about transit, you can probably find her running around Prospect Park, reading, or playing board games.

What do you enjoy most about YPT?

The Transportation group at my office is very small, so I enjoy YPT because I get to meet people with shared interests who I would not encounter directly through my job.

What’s your preferred transport mode and why?

I really love all transport modes for different reasons, but biking is special to me. Biking around Chicago as a young adult drastically changed the way I experienced the city, and getting involved in bicycling advocacy propelled me into thinking about mobility justice from a structural perspective.

What are you working on that you’re most passionate or proud about (transit/COVID-related)?

I’m really proud of the work I’ve gotten to help out with behind the scenes at Emergency Management during the COVID-19 response. There’s a lot of planning that we do year-round to prepare for power disruptions, building vacates, and evacuations, for example, and we had to rapidly adapt a lot of our planning assumptions. I’m proud of the inventive solutions we developed, especially since we produced them in the midst of a global crisis.

What is the biggest transit-related problem that you’d like to help solve?

I would love to eliminate private automobile ownership (except as a reasonable accommodation). I know there’s a lot of ways this could be done wrong, but wouldn’t it be amazing if we got it done right?

Do you have any tips (career advice) for YPT’ers interested in your career path?

Emergency managers have to be able to toggle back and forth between a lot of different roles (at our agency, we each have a day-to-day job, and a “grey sky” role during emergencies). We also collaborate with a lot of external partners during planning and response. A calm temperament is an asset; if you can encounter novel or high-pressure situations without getting riled up, this career might be a good fit for you.

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Game Night & September Events Announced!

AUGUST GAME NIGHT

The game night scheduled for today has been postponed to next Thursday, August 27th at 7PM. Register at the link below so we can contact you in advance to join virtually! We apologize for the last minute change.

8/27 @ 7-8PM
RSVP

SEPTEMBER SKILLSHARE

Join us for an IPUMS skillshare by TransitCenter’s Mary Buchanan on Thursday, September 10th at 6PM! She will introduce YPT members to Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), which is the world’s largest individual-level population database and is useful to learn for transportation professionals.

9/10 @ 6-7PM
RSVP

SEPTEMBER TRIVIA

It’s almost time for the 11th Annual Transportation Trivia event, a joint activity supported by the local American Planning Association Transportation Committee (APA), Young Professionals in Transportation (YPT), and WTS Young Professionals Committee (WTS). Given the current safety precautions, this year’s Transportation Trivia night will be hosted virtually on Wednesday, September 16 at 6:30PM. Open to active YPT and/or APA/WTS members. Registration closes on September 9th.

9/16 @ 6:30-8PM
RSVP

YPT AWARDS

YPT Awards serve as an opportunity to highlight the meaningful contributions YPT members are making in their organizations, the YPT community, and the transportation industry.

Take a look here. Application deadlines have been extended to August 21st.

YPT-NYC LINKEDIN

Use the YPT LinkedIn Group if you are #OpenToWork!

We want to point those on the job hunt to our group, and those having job opportunities, to share to our LinkedIn group. The group is a great way to share some information about yourself as a job seeker or post opportunities.

If you’re job seeking, we suggest using the popular hashtag #OpenToWork and sharing the following:

  • What’s your professional background?
  • What are your hard skills?
  • What are your soft skills?
  • What kinds of positions are you interested in?
  • What geographic areas are you looking in?
  • Something fun!

And don’t forget to attach your resume and any other files that show off your skills to the post!

NYC CIVIL SERVICE CITY PLANNER EXAM

Civil service is a path to working in NYC government and the City Planner exam is open until August 25th. We recommend applying if you qualify and if you’re interested in working for City government.

RESUME WORKSHOP

Looking for a different set of eyes to take a look at your resume? Upload it here for members of the YPT-NYC Board to take a look and provide feedback, comments, and suggestions.

This opportunity is open to all active YPT-NYC members. Resume review is limited to the first 50 resumes submitted. All resumes will remain confidential, and will not be shared beyond the YPT-NYC Board Member(s) reviewing.

UPCOMING EVENTS

We are working on several upcoming events, such as:

Stay tuned!

Be well,
YPT-NYC

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YPT-NYC August Newsletter: 8/20 Game Night & More!

AUGUST GAME NIGHT

Join us for another game of Scattergories this Thursday, August 20th at 7PM.

We will send a link to join on Thursday afternoon via this newsletter.

YPT AWARDS

YPT Awards serve as an opportunity to highlight the meaningful contributions YPT members are making in their organizations, the YPT community, and the transportation industry.

Take a look here. Application deadlines have been extended to August 21st.

YPT-NYC LINKEDIN

Use the YPT LinkedIn Group if you are #OpenToWork!

We want to point those on the job hunt to our group, and those having job opportunities, to share to our LinkedIn group. The group is a great way to share some information about yourself as a job seeker or post opportunities.

If you’re job seeking, we suggest using the popular hashtag #OpenToWork and sharing the following:

  • What’s your professional background?
  • What are your hard skills?
  • What are your soft skills?
  • What kinds of positions are you interested in?
  • What geographic areas are you looking in?
  • Something fun!

And don’t forget to attach your resume and any other files that show off your skills to the post!

NYC CIVIL SERVICE CITY PLANNER EXAM

Civil service is a path to working in NYC government and the City Planner exam is open until August 25th. We recommend applying if you qualify and if you’re interested in working for City government.

RESUME WORKSHOP

Looking for a different set of eyes to take a look at your resume? Upload it here for members of the YPT-NYC Board to take a look and provide feedback, comments, and suggestions.

This opportunity is open to all active YPT-NYC members. Resume review is limited to the first 50 resumes submitted. All resumes will remain confidential, and will not be shared beyond the YPT-NYC Board Member(s) reviewing.

UPCOMING EVENTS

We are working on several upcoming events, such as:

  • A book talk to discuss our summer book (Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, and Resistance by Adonia Lugo, PhD). We will be partnering with YPT Portland.
  • A Public Service Loan Forgiveness workshop with experts joining to assist YPT members.
  • A skill share hosted by Mary Buchanan, previously featured in our member profile series!
  • September trivia (details to be announced soon).

Stay tuned!

VIRTUAL TOURS RECAP

In our first virtual tour this July, YPT-NYC took members on an aerial tour of the region’s freight rail facilities. YPT-NYC Chair Jeffrey Brauner was joined by special guest James Nunes, Manager – Operations Support at the New York & Atlantic Railway to fly across all sorts of interesting rail facilities, James shared insight on the NY&A’s operations, and gave attendees a unique transportation perspective. The tour wrapped up with an “explosive” look at Naval Weapons Station Earle, one of the craziest pieces of rail infrastructure you will ever see!

Our second tour focused on aerial imagery using publicly available tools from the NYC Department of City Planning. YPT-NYC Communications Director Rayn Riel hosted an exploration of the five boroughs as they were in 1924, diving into the history of the city’s development, looking into infrastructure projects underway at the time and comparing the built environment of almost 100 year ago with today’s reality.

The third tour was our annual MTA Bridges and Tunnels (MTA B&T) archives tour. This has been the third year in a row that YPT-NYC has been able to provide this tour, albeit under different circumstances. Nellie Hankins, Bridges and Tunnels’ archivist, gave an entertaining overview of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority’s establishment (legal name of B&T), projects that could have significantly impacted Manhattan’s landscape, and the importance of keeping a historical record. We look forward to partnering to provide this tour in the future with updated information to reflect other projects like the agency’s transition to All Electronic Tolling.