During the summer, the Transportation Authority hosted graduate school and high school interns who were involved in projects across various divisions. We interviewed some former interns to learn about their experiences at our agency.
Niyah is a high school junior. She has lived in San Francisco her entire life and relied on public transportation often while growing up. She is interested in solutions to the climate change crisis and has won a competition focused on sustainable transportation.
Omriqui is a high school freshman. She was born in Berkeley, but has lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for most of her life. Her passion for public transportation has drawn her to create YouTube videos reviewing transit stations and services.
What have you learned?
Niyah: Through my internship with the Transportation Authority I have learned many things and have picked up many new skills. I learned how to work with spreadsheets, how to create pivot tables, and the process in which data is analyzed. Working in a professional workspace was something that I was unfamiliar with prior to completing this internship, but this opportunity was unique in the way that it gave me the chance to see what it was like. This experience has also given me a lot of insight into what I want to pursue for my future career.
Omriqui: For as long as I can remember, I've been interested in transit and transportation, and working at the Transportation Authority has been a great way to direct that interest. In addition to learning more about various projects, I learned about making information accessible to all - especially as I worked on making various documents more accessible to people with visual impairments.
What is a highlight or memory of something you worked on?
Niyah: My favorite thing that I got to work on during this internship were the pivot tables I created for the Octavia Improvement Study. Finding patterns and noticing trends was exciting to me. Data analysis was a topic that I was interested in, but never really had the chance to try it out, so I’m really grateful for the opportunity that I was given!
Omriqui: I've really enjoyed all of the learning made available at the Transportation Authority. From weekly lunch-and-learn meetings for interns to touring and learning about the transportation plan for Treasure Island, it's been really fun and interesting. After this internship, I'm especially interested in transportation as a future career path.
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