John A. Volpe Transportation Internship
Lisandra Garay-Vega
2004-2005 Internship Recipient
Lisandra Garay-Vega, a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering/Transportation Engineering at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, was recently chosen to participate in the 2004-2005 John A. Volpe Transportation Internship program. Developed four years ago in recognition of the contributions of John A. Volpe, the second Secretary of Transportation, the Volpe Transportation Internship features substantial tuition assistance and paid work opportunities at the Volpe Center for selected outstanding graduate students in engineering, scientific, and social science disciplines who have expressed an interest in working in the field of transportation.
Ms. Garay-Vega is interested in transportation safety issues such as driver behavior, crash data analysis, and safety management planning and traffic operation matters such as congestion management and transportation planning. Her background is in engineering and transportation system analyses. She has worked on several projects for the Massachusetts Traffic Safety Research Program and the Human Performance Laboratory which utilized statewide crash data analysis, statewide safety belt studies, program evaluations, and driving simulation technology to evaluate perception skills and driving performance among novice drivers. She has also worked on projects that involve incident management, road safety audits, and the evaluation of traffic control devices.
Ms. Garay-Vega joined the staff of the Service and Operations Assessment Division in June of 2004. Her current work includes evaluating National Park Service road safety data as part of the Safety Management System Project and helping to develop a congestion management system for the National Park Service. She is also working with Anya Carroll of the Railroad Systems Division on a railroad grade crossing project.
