• Full Time
  • Los Angeles or Orange County, CA

Explore the Opportunity 

Our Southern California region seeks a full-time or part-time travel demand forecaster for a position in our Los Angeles or Orange County offices. Our regional forecasting group works collaboratively with a diverse set of clients throughout Southern California and is committed to providing transportation solutions that improve communities. We’ve partnered with regional agencies to develop tools that have full functionalities to manage ABM model runs and calculate performance measures for multiple land use and transportation infrastructure scenarios, assisted MPOs in updating long-range regional transit plans to reflect new technologies, and refined and streamlined modeling procedures following new SB 743 requirements for multiple agencies. We’re looking for an experienced professional to join our team who specializes in travel demand forecasting and travel behavior analysis and is interested in developing travel demand models, evolving conventional practices to provide our clients with the best forecasting advice, and solving problems while learning in a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment. In addition to the professional and project opportunities we offer, Fehr & Peers is an extraordinary place to work and offers a competitive salary and benefits package. 

Learn About Our Travel Demand Forecasting Specialist Roles 

As established leaders in the field, travel behavior forecasting is one of our most important and highly valued services across multiple project areas. We take a creative and intuitive approach to our forecasting work, focusing on applying a wide range of tools and models to answer pressing planning questions for our clients, and we do it all in a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive work environment. 

Our travel demand forecasting specialists make significant contributions to our success in transforming transportation consulting. These positions offer the opportunity to partner with metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), municipalities, transit planning agencies (including BART, UTA, WMATA, and Sound Transit), and major technology and civil engineering firms to help shape transportation futures. Forecasters at Fehr & Peers work on projects with large impacts, including the Caltrain Business Plan (visioning for the entire 70-mile Caltrain corridor), where our forecasts included the use of a four-step model paired with a direct ridership model that produced corridor, station-to-station, and station ridership forecasts, as well as a mode of station access forecasts. We’ve also worked with SCAG and OCTA to provide tools and innovative modeling techniques influencing and streamlining forecasting and transportation planning. 

The right candidates for these positions have strengths in developing and applying travel demand models to analyze and solve challenging transportation problems and an ability to evolve conventional practices to consistently provide our clients with the best forecasting advice possible. We’re seeking motivated individuals skilled in solving problems and developing creative approaches in a collaborative environment with the ability to think critically, adjust to unique situations, and provide customized solutions and approaches using a wide range of travel behavior tools and models. 

Responsibilities: 

    • Analyze and solve complex transportation planning or engineering problems dealing with all travel modes 
    • Apply one or more modeling and statistical analysis software programs, such as CUBE, Emme, TransCAD, or Visum, to generate forecasts from a wide variety of models 
    • Use a variety of other software programs to help visualize forecasts for elected officials, managers, and other decision-makers 
    • Manage projects overseeing staff, deliverables, budget, and schedule 
    • Develop high-quality internal and client relationships 
    • Mentor and develop forecasting staff through projects and trainings 
    • Apply knowledge of the theory, principles, and practices of transportation planning, travel demand forecasting, travel behavior analysis, and data analysis 
    • Think both critically and intuitively through the progression of projects to clearly understand the results and identify insights as to how they are important to the big picture in each unique project 
    • Participate in travel forecasting research through our Forecasting and Operations discipline group 
    • Prepare papers and presentations for technical conferences 

Qualifications: 

    • 5+ years of work experience in travel demand modeling and travel behavior forecasting (CUBE or TransCAD strongly preferred)   
    • Master’s or bachelor’s degree in transportation, civil engineering, or related major 
    • Experience with travel demand modeling software, including Cube, TransCAD, VISUM, Emme, etc. 
    • Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, with strong writing, verbal, non-verbal, and presentation skills 
    • Experience with the development and application of four-step travel demand models, tour-based models, and activity-based models including knowledge of basic statistical concepts and data analysis techniques 
    • Comfort with working beyond the model: understanding limitations, applying the big picture, and generating innovative ideas 
    • Ability to translate the results of complex analysis to clients in appealing and intuitive ways 
    • Computer and database programming and scripting skills (Python, C++, R, VBA, Access, or similar) and proficiency with GIS 
    • Professional license or certification preferred (e.g., PE, AICP, PTP) 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The pay range for this position across all our locations is $95,000 – $144,000 annually. Placement within this range will be determined based upon geographic location, education, experience, and qualifications.

The following comprehensive benefit package is available to regular employees working 20 or more hours per week.

Medical: Employees can choose between several highly subsidized plan options, including a High Deductible Plan with company funded Health Savings Account, PPO and EPO/HMO plans. Specific coverage varies by plan.
Dental/Vision: Dental and Vision plans provide both in-network and out-of-network coverage at employee cost of only $1 per pay period for single coverage.
Life Insurance: Fehr & Peers pays 100% of the premium for life and AD&D insurance, for coverage of $50,000. Employees have the option to increase coverage through a voluntary plan.
Disability Insurance: Short and long-term disability coverage of 60% of salary is fully paid by Fehr & Peers.
401(k): Fehr & Peers supports each employee’s retirement planning. The company provides a direct contribution to every employee’s retirement account, regardless of whether the employee makes their own personal contributions, and for those employees who choose to contribute personally we also provide an employer match. The magnitude of these employer contributions is based on the performance of the company. In 2022, employees who made personal contributions to their retirement account received an additional 25% in matching contributions from the company.
Mentoring/Career Development: Our robust career development program includes in-person training, customized coaching and mentoring programs, webinars and technical sessions on current topics in the field, and more.
Research & Development: We encourage staff to participant in one of our many internally-funded research and development groups, propelling innovation, creativity and enhancing the state-of-the-practice.
Additional benefits include: Flexible Spending and Dependent Care Accounts, Commuter and Biking Benefits fully subsidized up to the IRS limit, Voluntary Benefit Plans, Annual wellness reimbursement, Professional Licenses and Membership dues reimbursement, Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance programs.

Paid Time Off:
PTO: 13 days accrued annually to start, increasing to 18 days after 3 years of employment.
Holidays: 9 company paid holidays.
Sick Leave: Paid sick leave accrues at a rate of 40 hours annually for full-time employees, part-time employees accrue sick leave on a pro-rata basis.
Paid Parental Leave: Up to 8 weeks of paid parental leave provides employees with partial wage replacement.