To help children, tweens and young adults take a step closer to careers in science and math, FHWA's Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP) program developed five Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) lessons. The lessons, for K-8th grade students, emphasize roadway design and pedestrian safety.
Lessons include calculations for items such as vehicle stopping distance for older students, real-world examples of key pedestrian safety concepts, and hands-on activities including building mock streetscapes. The lessons are designed for in-classroom, afterschool events, and smaller group activities. Each STEM lesson features an easy to follow format with step-by-step instructions, lists of suggested materials, and visual aids. The included primer also describes key concepts in an accessible manner so that anyone can use the materials and become familiar with the why and how of these concepts.
Could YOU be the next instructor to engage with local youth on pedestrian safety? Contact Becky Crowe with the FHWA Office of Safety or Peter Eun with the FHWA Resource Center to learn how.
The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) Section 1524 requires the U.S. Department of Transportation to encourage States and regional transportation planning agencies to use qualified youth service and conservation corps to perform appropriate transportation-related projects. This section of law remains in effect. See:
The Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) awards fellowships to students pursuing degrees in transportation-related disciplines (PDF or HTML). This program advances the transportation workforce by helping to attract the nation's brightest minds to the field of transportation, encouraging future transportation professionals to seek advanced degrees, and helping to retain top talent in the U.S. transportation industry.
From its initial support of graduate research fellowships in 1983, to the current program's inception in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, the DDETFP has awarded over $50 million to the brightest minds in the transportation industry. From this investment, fellows have pushed for innovative change in multimodal areas from highway infrastructure to aviation to maritime, making the industry more effective and efficient. Fellows pursue careers in academia, private industry, and public service, becoming leaders across the nation.
The DDETFP is an annual program and information on how to apply is posted through a notice of funding opportunity on Grants.gov when the award cycle opens. The categories of Fellowships include:
DDETFP awards are merit-based and generally result in 150-200 grants annually, subject to the availability of funds.
Part of the DDETFP supports Fellows to participate in the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting and in 2018 we celebrated the 25th Research Showcase anniversary as highlighted in a recent Public Roads magazine article.
Fellows, faculty advisors, and staff gathered for group photograph during TRB Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
This program has moved under the FHWA Office of Human Resources, Talent Development Division. Please contact the DDETFP Program Manager, LaToya Jones, at Latoya.Jones@dot.gov.
