The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) will launch a national educational initiative aimed at girls and young women, at the WTS annual awards dinner on May 18 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, WTS President/CEO Marcia Ferranto, and WTS Board Chair Terry Gruver will preside at the launch event for the initiative, "Transportation YOU."

Transportation YOU is a joint initiative of the USDOT and WTS to promote education and careers in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and for the advancement of women in the field of transportation.

Transportation YOU will introduce younger girls, ages 13 to18, to the broad array of transportation careers through hands‐on interactive activities, mentoring programs, field experiences and a national “virtual” community. This initiative also provides specific attention to STEM and career exploration in a variety of transportation related fields.

“The Women’s Transportation Seminar and the WTS Foundation are thrilled to collaborate with Secretary LaHood and the U.S. Department of Transportation on this crucial work,” added WTS Board Chair Terry Gruver. “The Transportation YOU initiative directly supports our mission to transform the transportation industry through the advancement of women.”

Secretary LaHood will be a special guest at the WTS 2011 Annual Conference, where many of the international organization’s 4,100 members will gather to explore the technical, policy, financial and political aspects of emerging transportation issues in virtually every sector.

WTS helps women find opportunity and recognition in the transportation industry through its professional, networking, mentoring and leadership activities and opportunities.