Resume and Letters of Recomendation

I am actively exploring my next step. The Workgroup on the Reorganization of the Maryland Transit Administration has recommended a governance change. This change could dissolve the Baltimore Regional Transit Commission. It would also dissolve my current role as of the fall of 2026. To avoid waiting until the last minute, I am planning for a career transition. I will consider roles with meaningful work and compensation at or above my current level.

In my next role, I want to keep building on my experience in transportation planning, policy, and geospatial analysis. I also want to work in places that match my values and how I live. I do not own a car and plan to keep it that way. Therefore, a work location that is realistically accessible by transit and active transportation is essential.

I am prioritizing opportunities that:

• Keep me in the same general job market, ideally Baltimore or Washington, DC, with some interest in Philadelphia
• Are in other regions only if the role is economically feasible and located in a culturally vibrant, politically progressive urban center
• Are based in the public sector at the local, regional, or state level, although I will consider private sector roles if the compensation, responsibilities, and mission are a good fit
• Offer a genuine mix of work so that I can use my strengths as an analyst alongside my growing skills in communications, project management, and stakeholder collaboration

The best way to reach me is via email at jakeschutt@gmail.com or message me on LinkedIn. From there I’m glad to set up a phone call, video chat, or formal interview to discuss career opportunities.

My resume and letters of recommendation below speak to how I work and what I can bring to a team serious about improving transportation and land-use outcomes.

PDF Resume

Letter of Recommendation from Don Halligan (Senior Planner for the Baltimore Regional Transit Commission)

Letter of Recommendation from Tod Sherman (Planning Director at the Minnesota Department of Transportation)

Jake Schutt

Transportation Planner and Geographer

Experience

Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) | Baltimore, Maryland

Transit Planner & Policy Analyst, Baltimore Regional Transit Commission (BRTC) | Dec 2023 to Present

• Create orientation documents, data management conventions, and GIS products for the BRTC
• Successfully collaborated with MTA staff for the 2024 staffing report
• Piloted all aspects of the BRTC’s monthly newsletter and built its audience
• Conceiving and creating transit advocacy materials in a variety of formats for different goals and audiences
• Analyzing and commenting on transit plans by Baltimore providers
• Using the Remix software platform to assist with local transit feasibility studies and develop a route change evaluation process for the BRTC
• Managing consultant teams and serving on selection committees for transit contracts in the Baltimore region

Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Metro District | Roseville, Minnesota

Principal Planner, Metro Planning Office | Jan 2022 to Nov 2023

• Conducted reviews of new developments that impact Minnesota’s highway system in the Twin Cities
• Scoped, procured, and managed the North Metro Highway 169 Corridor Multimodal Study
• Produced ESAL calculations and documentation to scope pavement maintenance and construction work
• Led technical implementation of a new development review map app
• Annual scoping for projects in MnDOT’s state transportation improvement program
• Organized information and designed a data structure for a web map of significant MnDOT corridor studies for improved coordination
• Led implementation of the Metropolitan Council congestion analysis process for MnDOT urban highway corridor studies

Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Central Office | Saint Paul, Minnesota

Multimodal Planner & Data Analyst, Office of Transit & Active Transportation | Jun 2020 to Jul 2021

• Technical coordinator to build GIS database of services with rural transit providers to support a statewide mobility app
• Tracked, analyzed, and reported the impacts for $40 million of federal CARES funds spent by dozens of rural Minnesota transit providers
• Executed GIS analysis of demographics and medical resources to advise Minnesota’s mobile COVID vaccination program
• Production lead coordinator for MnDOT’s 2020 Annual Transit Report
• Research co-champion to develop improved methods to produce bicycle and pedestrian travel metrics using aggregated mobile phone data
• GIS analysis and mapping for MnDOT’s Title VI Transit Program Report

Senior Transit Planner, Office of Transit & Active Transportation | Jul 2019 to Jun 2020

• Project managed 5-Year Transit System Plans drafted by consultants for 30 rural Minnesota transit systems and coordinated implementation
• Project management for a pilot program for rural transit marketing with a regional subset of rural Minnesota transit providers
• Co-chair and primary admin of MnDOT’s Multimodal Research Council to develop research need statements for consideration as funded studies
• Created a variety of documents to illustrate the new transit budgeting process utilizing Excel, Tableau, and InDesign
• Cataloged and tracked comments and completed extensive InDesign edits for the MnDOT Bikeways Facility Manual

Intermediate Aeronautics Planner, Office of Aeronautics | Dec 2018 to Jul 2019

• Executed an innovative GIS environmental justice analysis of Minnesota’s aviation system, replicated in MnDOT’s Statewide Aviation System Plan
• Prototyped a form of GIS spatial risk analysis for individual airports to identify and address hazards for proposed zoning revisions proactively
• Performed a wide variety of spatial analyses and cartographic presentations to enforce airport zoning regulations
• Researched comparative statewide aviation funding and created a presentation for the Minnesota State Legislature
• Updates, maintenance, and adding content to MnDOT’s Office of Aeronautics and Aviation website on an as-needed basis
• Designed and analyzed a stakeholder survey and presented findings to assess Airports Needs Meetings

Multimodal Transportation Intern, Office of Transit & Active Transportation | May 2018 to Dec 2018

• Performed spatial analysis to propose the optimum placement of permanent automated bike/ped counting equipment
• Completed statewide analysis of transit needs and capacities relying on data from census, business, trip generators, and transportation infrastructure datasets
• Performed installation of portable automated active transportation traffic counting equipment, along with data warehousing and analysis
• Collected, organized, and tracked nearly 1,000 internal and external comments from experts for the 50% iteration of MnDOT’s Bikeways Facility Design Manual
• Authored advisory response from MnDOT to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program’s Rural Transportation Issues: Research Roadmap
• Set up multiple outreach events and presentations to support MnDOT’s program, encouraging local partners to utilize portable counting equipment

Career Narrative

2023: Accepted a role with the Baltimore Regional Transit Commission

2018: Hired by MnDOT as an intern, advancing to the role of principal planner in four years

2018: Earned my master’s in urban & regional planning, focused on land use and transportation

2015: Earned a GIS capstone certificate

2010: Earned my bachelor’s in geography and urban studies

2001: Hired by a consultant, leading to a 14-year career in aerial mapping, promoted to roles of
increasing responsibility

1999: Began studying geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Degrees

Master’s, Urban & Regional Planning, University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Dec 2018)

GIS Certificate, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Jun 2015)

B.S. Geography, Minor Urban Studies, University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Dec 2010)