Traffic Engineering Lopez,Juan Lorenzo; Aguilar-Carranza,Natalie Rick Engineering Company, 5620 Friars Road San Diego CA 92110;Caltrans,4050 Taylor Street San Diego CA Traffic engineering is the branch of Civil Engineering related to the design of roadways and urban development. Its goal is to provide effective ways and methods for moving people and goods in a specified area. Two important companies involved in Traffic engineering are Caltrans and Rick Engineering. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is a government institution in charge of the highway systems and transportation programs within California. Rick Engineering is a privately owned company that focuses on traffic analysis and urban development projects. The purpose of this internship is to obtain experience in the field of Traffic engineering, by being exposed to gathering of data, design and planning of a certain project. Analysis of data obtained. Using the information acquired, calculations of the required adjustments can be made. Specialized software is utilized to organize the data and perform calculations.  Design. Based on interpretations of the data and calculations, a plan can be drawn, following specific outlines unique for each project. Engineering programs such as Microstation or CAiCE may be used. Results may vary depending on each stage of the project. Each step may have its own results, that may lead to a final project objective. So, for the data collection stage, the objective is to gather numerical information that is true to the actual conditions of the site. Once the data has been acquired, a report is written to explain the information obtained. During our involvement with the companies participating in the internship program, we learned useful skills that correspond not only to the engineering field, but to the working environment in general. Engineering skills: Civil Engineering language and terminology. Equipment used in projects and sites. Professional software for design purposes. Project organization and procedures. Advice from professionals with regards to major. Professional skills: Project management. Team effort. Leadership experience. Efficient time use. Effective oral and written communication. Completed drawing that includes plan view and section view of canal. * Analysis of data obtained from intersection and mid block counts. From left to right. Map for mid block tube counters, electronic count board used for manual counts, map for intersection counts. Enlarged view of the cross sectional area of the canal. * Introduction Method Results Conclusion Acknowledgements In the case of the design stage, the ultimate goal is to obtain a sketch that is easy to read and follow for other crews involved in the project. It is important that the plan adheres to the data obtained and the specifications set by the client. In our projects there were several procedures that had to be followed in order to complete them correctly and on schedule. A summary of these steps is below:  Recollection of data. Electronic count boards and tube counters can be used to record traffic through an intersection. Depending on the project, surveying may be required in conjunction with photographs of the site. Survey data for canal. *Typical set up for a road tube counter * Images created with CAiCE or Microstation.