Office of Community Planning

Overview

The Office of Community Planning (OCP) works to address a statewide need to improve planning between transportation planning and decision-making and local land use planning and decision-making. The office stresses the need for community-sensitive approaches to transportation and land use decisions. OCP also works to enhance Caltrans’ leadership role in the development and delivery of transportation projects that are consistent with community values and therefore enjoy public support.

Office of Community Planning Value Statement

Objectives

Some of the broader goals of OCP include:

• Affect existing Caltrans processes and functions to reflect relevant context-sensitive approaches and community values;
• Develop partnerships to enhance community-based transportation planning approaches at local, regional, and state levels;
• Develop technical and program expertise in community-based transportation planning and active public engagement techniques;
• Enhance Caltrans leadership role by integrating community-based transportation planning approaches in the department's planning processes;
• Move forward with transportation planning efforts and projects that enjoy public support, thus are easier to develop and deliver because of consistency with community values;
• Work at the local level to ensure that potential impacts of proposed local development to the State Highway System are avoided or mitigated.

OCP Programs

OCP consists of these elements: Community-Based Transportation Planning (CBTP), Environmental Justice (EJ), Public Engagement, Local Development-Intergovernmental Review (LD-IGR), Native Americal Liason, Complete Streets, Sustainable Mobility, Land-Use/Transportation Data and Tools.

Each element addresses broad departmental goals for improving safety, increasing transit use and vehicle occupancy, and reducing motorist delay. CBTP, EJ, and Public Participation & Engagement efforts promote the integration of community needs with those of the State. The LD-IGR work helps to preserve the State Highway System by avoiding or mitigating impacts of local planning and development. Native American Liason work ensures consistency for our required consultation with Native American Tribes. Our Complete Streets work helps guide the Department toward implentation of the Complete Streets elements and projects. We have recently begun testing implementation of the Smart Mobility Framework, which will help create more efficient transportation choices. The Land-Use/Transportation Data and Tools work consists of managing studies and initiatives for housing and transportation coordination, transit-oriented development, and land use/transportation analysis tools and models.

Contact

Alyssa Begley
Chief, Office of Community Planning
HQ, DOTP, MS-32
Tel: 916-651-6882
alyssa_begley@dot.ca.gov