Unofficial Fact Sheet on the TE and PTOE Exams

The ITE SF Bay Area Section is providing this information as a rough guide for our members and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. For complete, accurate, and up-to-date information, please contact the testing administrators directly.

TYPE OF CERTIFICATION OR REGISTRATION	California Traffic Engineer (TE)	Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE)
WEB SITE	www.pels.ca.gov TE Examination Recommended Reference Books (2008 PDF) View PDF of TE Examination Outline (2008 PDF)	www.tpcb.org/ptoe/default.asp
ADMINISTERED BY	The State of California Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (PELS)	The Transportation Professional Certification Board, Inc. (TPCB) This is a non-profit organization independent of ITE but created by ITE and supported financially, in part, by ITE.
TEST DATES	4th Friday in October	Three times per year (check web site)
TEST LOCATIONS	Varies each year (check web site); Past locations have included Daly City, San Mateo, Sacramento, Pomona, San Diego, Visalia, others.	In 2009, TPCB began administering the PTOE as a computer-based test at various sites around the world, including about 30 locations in California. (Previously, the exam was only offered in a few cities, with locations varying each year, including Anaheim, CA, Milwaukee, WI; Calgary, AB; New York, NY; Toronto, ON; State College, PA.)
EXAM FREQUENCY	Once per year	Approximately three times per year
APPLICATION DEADLINE	3rd Friday in July (changed to Monday, July 20, in 2009) (schedule)	30 days before test date
APPLICATION FEE	$275	$150
RENEWAL FEE	$125 every 2 years (first payment due on June 30)	$275 every 3 years (due at time of application, refunded to unsuccessful candidates) (PTOE fees)
PASS RATE	Ranging from 29% to 70% since the year 2000 test date (TE exam statistics)	75% since beginning of exam
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED	EIT and six years of experience (four years education credit for undergraduate ABET degree, plus one year credit for graduate degree, education credits optional) or Without EIT: engineering degree and 15-17 years of work experience depending on accreditation of degree.	Four years experience in traffic operations engineering (advanced education may be substituted for some years of experience)
# OF REFERENCES REQUIRED	FOUR references from people who are authorized to practice in the discipline for which the applicant is applying and who have personal knowledge of the applicant's qualifying experience, none of which is a relative either by birth or marriage. Note: Technically, anyone is "authorized" to practice traffic engineering in California, although only registered T.E.'s may use that title. Therefore, anyone with personal knowledge of the applicant's professional experience may serve as a reference for the T.E. exam.	None.
PREVIOUS LICENSE REQUIRED	Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) (also known as Engineer-In-Training, or EIT) Certificate, unless extra experience is included as stated above	To apply for the PTOE, you must have a license in civil, mechanical, or electrical engineering license from California, or a PE license from any other state, valid (and not expired) in the jurisdiction in which you reside.
RECIPROCITY (Waiving of the need to take the exam.)	California will provide comity to registered Traffic Engineers from the State of Oregon. For those seeking the California TE, there is no reciprocity arrangement related to the PTOE credential.	NONE. Prior to 2008, IF, in addition to possessing a valid license in civil, mechanical, or electrical engineering from the State of California , you ALSO HAD a valid license as a California Traffic Engineer, you could become a PTOE without taking the PTOE exam. Such persons still needed to submit the one-time application fee to TPCB and pay the PTOE renewal fee every three years. However, this reciprocity is no longer available..
DATE OF FIRST EXAM	1979	1999

Definition of the Type of Engineering Being Registered or Licensed

California Traffic Engineer (TE)

Traffic engineering as defined by PELS is "that branch of professional engineering which requires such education and experience as is necessary to understand the science of measuring traffic and travel and the human factors relating to traffic generation and flow; and requires the ability to apply this knowledge to planning, operating, and evaluating streets and highways and their networks, abutting lands and interrelationships with other modes of travel, to provide safe and efficient movement of people and goods. The above definition of traffic engineering shall not be construed to permit the practice of civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering."

Note that TE registration only allows the holder to use the title of "traffic engineer." Currently, many traffic engineering tasks (A) can be performed in the State of California without any license or title, while other traffic engineering tasks (B) (such as traffic signal design) DO require a PE license. In the State of California, the TE title IS NOT a PE license; therefore, a person with a TE title may only legally perform tasks (A). (This is the same range of tasks that non-TE's are allowed to perform.) Read more on this subject in the July 2004 WesternITE article by Walter Okitsu.

Reminder: A PE license (civil, electrical, or mechanical) is NOT required before one may apply for the TE title examination.

Also note that, in terms of rules for the PELS exam application process ONLY, PELS puts the "traffic engineer" in the same test-taking category as "professional engineer" (even though a Traffic Engineer is not a LICENSED PE). During the PELS exam application process, the following branches of engineering abide by the same rules: agricultural, chemical, civil, control system, corrosion, electrical, fire protection, industrial, manufacturing, mechanical, metallurgical, nuclear, petroleum, quality, safety, and traffic. Thus, to apply for a TE, you download the "PE" Application form. TE applicants generally follow the instructions for the PE, unless specific intructions are given pertaining to TE's. (Note the examination outline and list of reference books, which are specific to the TE exam.)

Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE)

By the TPCB's definition, a "Professional Traffic Operations Engineer is a person who applies a comprehensive knowledge of technology and scientific principles acquired through study and experience to the supervision of day-to-day operation of traffic systems. Responsibilities often include the analysis of those operations, detection of problems and deficiencies, setting of priorities, assignment of resources and development of improvements in operations through geometric design, traffic control or other means. The Professional Traffic Operations Engineer may carry out some but not all of the above duties or serve as a consultant to individuals with the above responsibilities.

"Traffic Operations Engineering generally includes:

• Traffic Operation Analysis
• Operational Effects of Geometric Designs
• Traffic Safety
• Traffic Control Devices
• Traffic Engineering Studies
• Social, Environmental and Institutional Issues."

Note: A PE license IS required before one can apply to be come a PTOE. Currently, PTOE registration is not required to perform any engineering task in California. However, because a person can only become a PTOE after obtaining a PE license, all PTOE's are, by definition, licensed PE's.

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A final reminder: The ITE SF Bay Area Section is providing this information as a rough guide for our members and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. For complete, accurate, and up-to-date information, please contact the testing administrators directly.

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