Department for Transport (DfT)

Location: London, Birmingham, Leeds 

Number of placements: 15

Salary: London £29,641 or National £25,159 (annual rates. Pro-rata.)

About DfT

The UK’s transport system is used by most of the population every day, whether travelling to and from work, school, shops or just meeting friends and family. Transport is key to growing and levelling up the economy, reducing environmental impacts and increasing the UK’s global impact.

The Department for Transport is investing to make journeys better: simpler, faster and more reliable. Our policies and regulations support jobs, enable business growth, and bring our country closer together.  

We are supporting a record £70 billion investment in rail, roads, ports and airports.  We are funding the biggest rail modernisation since Victorian times, and the most extensive improvements to roads since the 1970s. We are making transport safer and more sustainable. We impact the lives of millions of people every day and will leave a lasting legacy for future generations. 

The Role of Economists

Our analysis gives ministers fresh ideas about big, complex issues and deep insight into policy options. We advise which investments are best value for money. We analyse the wide-ranging economic impacts of transport schemes and assess the social and environmental benefits and costs, to inform decisions about whether to take forward schemes worth multiple millions of pounds.

We look ahead at key trends in society, such as population growth or the number of trips people take, to forecast how demand for transport will change in the future, as well as how people will travel.

  Our analysts are currently influencing a wide range of programmes, for example:

• Analysis to inform the future shape of the rail sector as part of a fundamental review to improve the railways for both passengers and taxpayers

• Cost benefit analysis on the development of clean air zones regulations 

• Developing the evidence base around connected and autonomous vehicles

• Estimating the likely carbon footprint of various transport modes

Working in DfT

Our roles offer the chance to put your academic knowledge and skills into practice and gain experience as a government economist, in an organisation that genuinely values sound analytical thinking and the development of its people. There will be opportunities to apply economic expertise to live policy issues that will influence how people travel now and, in the future, to develop cutting-edge appraisal guidance, to use economics to inform the development of transport schemes, to determine transport’s contribution to our ambitious environmental agenda, and more.

Your manager will give you a thorough induction to your team and your role, so you’re quickly able to make the most of your work. They’ll be close by when you need them – for tips, technical guidance, or just a sounding board for your ideas.

You’ll be able to collaborate with and learn from peers, senior economists and other analytical professionals including statisticians, operational researchers, transport modellers, social researchers and scientists.