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Author: Amy Liu, City Planner, Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)

At the 2024 WTS Transportation YOU Capital Summit, transportation professionals across the country were paired with high school students from their respective chapters to foster hands-on learning and mentor-mentee relationships. My mentee, Leah, and I were honored to attend as representatives of the WTS Philadelphia chapter. We spent 6 days in the Washington, D.C. region the last the week of June exploring topics such as transportation policy, rail, aviation, transportation research and development, and bike and pedestrian planning. Mentees also got to develop skills in leadership, interviewing, and teambuilding.

The week was packed with panels, presentations, and tours. We visited the U.S. Capitol, the USDOT, BWI Airport, WMATA, Amtrak, and the FHWA. We also toured MDOT purple line construction sites and conducted a walk audit led by the Washington Area Bicycle Association. We saw demonstrations on hydraulic engineering, artificial intelligence in vehicles, concrete testing, road user behavior and substation operations, just to name a few topics!  

Mentors led mentees through table-top exercises to showcase our areas of expertise. Mentors at my table facilitated a Streetmix exercise to guide mentees on exploring how active transportation can inform roadway design. Other topics included finance, technology, and public engagement.

To commemorate the ending of the Capital Summit, a celebratory dinner was held at The Hall College Park, where mentees received certificates and took congratulatory pictures with each other. Mentees boasted about the lasting friendships and professional connections they made and cheered each other on.   

Click here to see more photos from the event.