From SBE to Transportation Planning: Linus Friedman, BS.SBE ‘26

“In my future, I’d love to continue learning and growing in the transportation planning field… Eventually, I’d like to start winning work with clients myself and pursuing projects that challenge me.”

A degree in Sustainable Built Environments (SBE) can open doors to careers at the intersection of sustainability, design and public policy. For Friedman, the program provided an interdisciplinary foundation for a career in transportation planning. Now a Transportation Planning Analyst at Kimley-Horn, a large civil engineering firm with offices around the country, Friedman works in Baltimore, Maryland, supporting transportation infrastructure planning and helping inform decisions about public investment.

1. How did classes in SBE shape your perspective on sustainability?

For me, SBE’s focus on sustainability that matched the context of a place was a huge takeaway. Sustainability looks different across climates, cultures, and countries, and the broad range of case studies and examples we looked at throughout the program demonstrated that to me. Being in the Sonoran desert, we often discussed local sustainability in the form of building materials, urban heat island, and water constraints.

2. What is a skill you learned that you apply in your life or work?

Having working knowledge of ArcGIS has been particularly helpful in my work. It’s allowed me to get plugged into projects I find interesting such as a pedestrian crash analysis or commuter rail ridership analysis. The dedicated GIS course I took at CAPLA was particularly helpful in building those skills, as well as incorporating GIS analysis into projects for other classes. I think CAPLA’s offering of courses teaching hard skills like GIS or modeling software is unique for undergraduate students wanting to work in urban planning.

3. How/when did you know SBE was the right choice for you?

When applying to schools and programs, I was torn between my interests in the environment, architecture/design, and policy. SBE, and specifically the Sustainable Communities emphasis, allowed me to pursue all these interests under one program. In the end, the program has set me up well to work in the planning industry with only an undergraduate degree.

4. What are you most proud of from your experiences in SBE/CAPLA?

One of the things I’m proud of is how my final SBE capstone project turned out. Since we were given freedom to do virtually any topic we wanted, I was able to take a deep dive into the potential for transit oriented development at a mall in the community I grew up in. I really enjoyed being able to make the project my own and am proud of the analysis and graphics I was able to create.

5. If you could give one piece of advice to prospective or current SBE students, what would it be?

Final projects in SBE classes often give you a lot of creativity and breadth to explore topics you care about. If you want to improve specific skills, you can often incorporate that into a project. Using these opportunities to do the work you want to eventually pursue professionally is very helpful to your education and future career.

6. What is your job title now and what’s the name of the company that you work for? Where is it located? What kind of company is it (private business, non-profit, government, etc.).

My official job title is “Transportation Planning Analyst” at the private firm Kimley-Horn, a large civil engineering firm with offices around the country. I work at our office in Baltimore, Maryland.

7. Share the process behind getting this job.

To get in contact with Kimley-Horn, and employers in general, I headed to a STEM-focused career fair hosted at the student union in the Fall semester of my Senior year. Since urban planning is quite niche, I preplanned which few employers out of hundreds I wanted to talk to before attending.

From there, I talked to recruiters and was set up with a first stage, on campus interview the next day. This first interview was not about any job specifics, just a generalized interview to see if they should send my information onwards.

Afterwards, they sent my information to the managers hiring for the positions I was interested in (entry level planning positions on the east coast). Lastly, I attended a 2-hour, in person interview in Baltimore with 4 different groups of interviewers.

Overall, I believe the most crucial part was physically meeting someone associated with the company at the career fair. Even though they didn’t know about specific opportunities on the east coast, having that first interaction where I could make a good impression went very far. I believe that with the automation of job applications and resume screening tools ever increasing, real in-person contact is becoming more important than ever for landing a job.

8. Can you describe what you do at work on a typical day?

In a lot of ways, my day to day work is more data analytics rather than traditional transportation planning. A large percent of my work centers around transit inventory/asset management, where I help update and organize the Maryland Transit Administration‘s (MTA) asset inventory. This, in turn, helps the state decide where capital should be spent, whether that be replacing aging bus fleets or rehabbing metro stations. In day to day terms, I spend a lot of time in Excel, creating data visualizations, and coordinating with MTA departments. I’ve had the opportunity to do a few site visits as well, heading out of the office to see bus depots and facilities.

9. What are your future career aspirations (e.g., where do you see yourself in five years)?

In my future, I’d love to continue learning and growing in the transportation planning field. Bike/pedestrian planning, public engagement, and the transportation visioning process are all areas I’d like to improve in. Eventually, I’d like to start winning work with clients myself and pursuing projects that challenge me.

10. What do you like about your job the most?

One thing I particularly enjoy is the amount of opportunities my company has. Being a large firm, there’s potential for me to do work on projects all over the country that touch on a variety of my interests. Even in the three months I’ve been here, I’ve done work across Maryland and Virginia for state, county, university and regional organizations. This is one area where government versus private sector jobs may differ a lot; I highly encourage anyone looking into planning to talk to planners in all sectors!