Paul Louboutin, a Master of Urban and Regional Planning student specializing in transportation equity and design, spent his summer putting classroom theory into practice through hands-on work at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
What organization or agency are you working with this summer, and what are your primary responsibilities day‑to‑day?
This summer I am working at Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) as an intern among their Transportation Planning and Policy team. My main tasks are quite diverse; they can range from data collection and analysis on traffic models to policy reports on specific transportation related measures.
Describe a specific project, interaction, or milestone this summer that made you think, “Yes, this is why I chose my field.”
I worked on a map design highlighting the existing conditions of MacArthur Park, which will undergo some potential road closures along Wilshire Boulevard to reconnect both sides of the park. This map is currently available on LADOT’s website Advanced Planning section under “Reconnecting MacArthur Park”. As a graduate student in urban planning at UCLA, I personally focused my studies on transportation equity and safety. I was glad to improve my design skills working on this visioning project in Westlake, which puts people before cars, building off my academic research improving pedestrian safety and accessibility around Stoner Park in Sawtelle. By creating this map, I learned that design elements follow standards such as a specific color palette, different fonts and sizes. More importantly, I realized that final products like this map have been reviewed multiple times by various experts, each bringing valuable input before releasing it to the public. This project examines potential open streets and permanent street closure concepts to reconnect MacArthur Park. I believe this experience prioritizing safety for those walking, biking, and rolling convinced me that I chose the right career path: working as a transportation planner seeking to provide safe streets for all road users.
What’s one insight or perspective you’ve gained that surprised you, shifted your thinking, or changed how you approach urban planning?
During my summer internship, I got the opportunity to work on the Measure M guidelines, an ordinance which received incredible public support in 2016. This ordinance which imposes a retail transaction and use tax allowed the city to build and expand rail lines, implement active transportation projects, improve public transit networks and reduce congestion. I specifically worked on the expenditure plans for different ongoing and future projects in Los Angeles. Looking at all these budget plans, and how important Measure M was for the city, I was surprised to see how funding is crucial in transportation planning. In an academic environment like Luskin, projects I worked on usually didn’t consider funding implications, which in my opinion is a huge mistake. I believe I stayed too long in this bubble which blinded me from the current situation, funding and investment are key to executing successful projects. Therefore, this professional experience undoubtedly shifted my understanding from an abstract conception of urban planning learned in class and real-life challenges that planners face every day.
How has this experience shaped your career goals or next steps at Luskin? Any advice for peers seeking similar internships or research opportunities?
This summer internship at LADOT was decisive for my own career goals. The diversity of the tasks I worked on with my team was eye-opening and I was personally challenged to put my skills learned at Luskin into practice. I now can see myself working as a transportation planner on a wide range of projects through data analysis but also design elements to better implement comprehensive policies. This opportunity is great to learn how to cooperate with other team members but also how to work in a traditional office environment. As a transportation planning intern, having this macro understanding of the city ins and outs through LADOT’s public agency lens is in my view an extremely rewarding opportunity to start exploring the professional world.
