Greg Duncan was not a “typical” traffic engineer in 2011, when his agency, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) selected him to attend the Operations Academy Senior Management Program at the University of Maryland. He was the state maintenance engineer at that time, but expanding his knowledge and understanding of traffic operations flipped a switch in his mind and transformed his life and his career trajectory.
Hearing from other participants about the technical aspects of how traffic engineers did their work was one of the most enlightening elements of his time in the Operations Academy. His experience, combined with the skills he acquired, resulted in a huge career opportunity for him after he completed the course.
“A great thing happened while I was in the Operations Academy,” Greg said. “Our commissioner at TDOT at the time announced they were creating a traffic operations division, and its goal was to bring together the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) with traffic engineering and incident management,” he said. “It was a fantastic time to be there. Our class had a celebration because we were taking those steps as an agency, and I was at the Operations Academy at that exact time.”
His participation enabled him to move up in his career, with his newly found understanding of how traffic operation systems needed to function within the DOT network.
Today, as Senior Engineer with Applied Pavement Technology in Spokane, Washington, he appreciates that he can pick still pick up the phone and speak to his fellow Operations Academy alumni, ask them for support and guidance, and find out how they solved problems similar to those he’s currently working on.
“I encourage everyone to go, dive in, put yourself out there as a colleague, and know you’re going to get out of it what you put into it,” he said. “Use this opportunity to accomplish things, advance your career, and advance the state of the practice for your agency. You will see the best of the best in traffic operations at the Operations Academy. So, go for it!”
