Richmond Town Planner to Take Over UVM’s Transportation Internship Course

Photo by Ravi Venkataraman.

The University of Vermont offers students the opportunity to participate in a mentored internship through one of their several Communities of Practice. Students that enroll in these programs build not just their resume, but their practical skills that they will use in a work setting after graduation. Once a student enrolls in one of the internships, they are paired up with an organization that they are interested in working with. As the name suggests, these internships are community-oriented, and all of the programs are focused on supporting local and state-wide organizations. The topics covered by the Communities of Practice include media, transportation, planning, legislation, sustainability, and public health. 

The Energy & Transportation Planning Community of Practice will be led by a new faculty mentor starting in the Fall of 2022. Ravi Venkataraman will be stepping in for the current faculty mentor, Faith Ingulsrud. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Ravi about his new upcoming role. 

Ravi is currently the town planner for Richmond, Vermont. As the town planner, he works on land use planning and effective transportation within the town. “I help the community write rules and regulations on where they can put buildings. The other aspect is trying to build better facilities over time to help people get from point A to point B,” he said. Building better bike lanes and sidewalks is one way Venkataraman believes Richmond can improve transportation within town. He cites creating more sidewalks that lead into the town’s school as one such improvement that would allow kids to bike or walk to school. However, refining out of town transportation isn’t as simple. “Most Richmond residents commute to either the Montpelier area or Burlington Area” Venkataraman said. Richmond has one “Park and Ride” lot that allows drivers to park their cars and then hop onto a bus that can take them out of town. “How can we get people to that ‘Park and Ride’ in a safer way? How can we get people to bike there or walk there?” he questions. Even if the “Park and Ride” was more accessible, it is difficult to imagine that many people would ditch their personal vehicles and opt for public transportation on their commute to work, unless there was a significant financial incentive to do so. 

A town planner as the mentor for the Energy and Transportation Planning Community of Practice is a valuable addition. Most people do not really understand what local governments do on a day-to-day basis, despite how influential they are on their own communities. Ravi will give students a clear picture of how energy and transportation issues get resolved at the local level. “Local government is what is going to be the most influential on your day to day lives compared to the federal government. Even at a young age, you can have a huge influence in attending local meetings and moving items that you want to see changed in your local community” he said.   

Ravi also discussed how local government is often overlooked in our school systems and in our population as a whole. The two of us both admitted to having taken government/politics courses in high school, but never having learned a single thing about local governments. “It just felt all so distant, abstract, and theoretical. I didn’t even realize that all of these meetings and movements were going on, on a day-by-day basis, right down the street” said Ravi. As someone who only learned about planning once in college, Ravi points to younger exposure to the planning processes as a way of getting people more informed and involved in town planning. “We definitely need more young planners who aren’t afraid to do the work.” 

This course is available to all UVM undergraduates with at least sophomore standing. Nearly 500 students have already participated in the Communities of Practice and that number will likely grow faster than ever, with the Environmental Stewardship and Resilience course being introduced in the Fall 2022 semester as well. For any student interested in any of the courses, more information can be found on the Community of Practice site.