Public Lands Transportation Fellows (PLTF) Program

Innovation across the National Park Service (NPS) happens in many forms, including in the areas of transportation and mobility. To succeed at this work, we seek to collaborate with experts in the public, governmental, and private sectors. One such collaboration is the Public Lands Transportation Fellows (PLTF) Program. Established in 2012, the program participants are assigned to a federal land unit for one to two years, where they provide dedicated staff capacity and specialized expertise to lead or support transportation transformations, such as creating viable alternative transportation options for visitors and encouraging collaborative or integrated transportation programs that serve visitors across multiple units.Within the 2020 PLTF class, three Fellows are serving the National Park Service.

Ma’ayan Dembo (Master of Urban and Regional Planning), Transit and Visitor Use Management fellow. She is exploring transit and accessibility in National Parks nationwide, including the operational impacts of COVID-19. She will offer direct project assistance to Glacier National Park for the summer of 2021.

Patrick McMahon (B.A., Economic Geography), Trails and Sustainability fellow. He is identifying climate change impacts on NPS transportation infrastructure nationwide. Later this summer, he will have the opportunity to apply this knowledge to National Parks in Alaska.

Charlie Gould (B.A., History), Transportation Innovation fellow. Charlie is researching innovations and emerging technologies to transform mobility in National Park settings. This summer he will support autonomous vehicle demos in Yellowstone National Park and other locations.