The Workforce Development Institute (WDI) provides professional training and continuing education for Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State’s (Region 10) transportation workforce and also STEM education opportunities to K-12 students.
July 31, 2025
July 7, 2025
With support from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), PacTrans offered spring internship opportunities to high school and undergraduate students interested in infrastructure-related fields such as transportation, engineering, planning, computer science, and more. At the end of the three-month long experience, students gathered at the WSDOT Northwest Region Office in Shoreline, WA to present […]
June 30, 2025
On June 18, 2025, fourteen participants gathered in downtown Spokane, Washington for the Field Course in Active Transportation Safety and Complete Streets Design instructed by transportation engineers, Chris Breiland and Marissa Milam, at Fehr & Peers. After a brief overview of key active transportation design concepts, the group hit the streets for a sunny walking tour of the city’s pedestrian, […]
June 17, 2025
PacTrans WDI staff attended the TRB National Summit on the Future of the Transportation Workforce in the first week of June in Westminster, Colorado. Melissa Amrhein, Assistant Director of the PacTrans Workforce Development Institute, presented an update on the annual Washington Transportation Camp, sponsored by WSDOT and PacTrans, and hosted by the University of Washington and […]
June 7, 2025
May 24, 2025
With support from Washington State proviso funding and in partnership with the Washington State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and the Washington State Association of County Engineers, the PacTrans WDI and TRAC have completed a comprehensive engineering pathway study. This study identifies critical workforce challenges facing the state’s transportation sector and […]
May 22, 2025
On May 21, 2025, twenty-five participants gathered on beautiful spring day in Seattle, Washington, for a hands-on learning experience as part of the PacTrans WDI’s “Field Course in Active Transportation Design”. Attendees explored real-world applications of active transportation principles in two of Seattle’s most dynamic neighborhoods: University District and Capitol Hill. The course attracted a […]
May 16, 2025
In May, Dr. Ryan Avery, Deputy Director of the Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC) at the University of Washington, taught both Introduction and Intermediate Transportation Data Analysis Courses for the PacTrans Workforce Development Institute (WDI). For the Introduction to Transportation Data and Analysis Tools course, ten students actively participated in discussions on data, geographic information […]
May 1, 2025
In response to the increasing demand for knowledge and practical skills in artificial intelligence (AI) among transportation professionals, the PacTrans Workforce Development Institute (WDI) launched a short course titled “AI 101: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Transportation Professionals.” Following the overwhelming response to the first session held in February— which quickly reached full capacity—PacTrans organized […]
