Division of Planning, Local Assistance and Sustainability (DPLAS)

The Division of Planning, Local Assistance, and Sustainability (DPLAS) is an interdisciplinary team of transportation planners, engineers, and support staff work cooperatively together to meet California's transportation needs while being sensitive to the needs of our communities and partners in the planning process.

• Sukhvinder (Sue) Takhar is the Deputy District Director of DPLAS. 
• Alex Fong is the Office Chief for Planning & Modal Programs
• Bruno Costa is the Office Chief for Local Assistance, Engineering and Analysis

 

Staff Contacts (click to download Excel file)

Advance Planning

Advance Planning develops Project Initiation Documents (PIDs) and provides quality assurance review of PIDs developed by local agencies for projects on the State Highway System (SHS) in the 11 counties covered by District 3.  PIDs are required to be developed and approved by Caltrans before any major or high complexity project can be programmed and constructed on the SHS.  Projects requiring a PID must be identified in a Regional Transportation Planning Agency or Caltrans plan, such as a Regional Transportation Plan or 10-Year SHOPP Plan. 

Modeling and Forecasting  

The primary function of the Forecasting and Modeling team is to provide transportation insights on freight, goods, people movements and new mobility deployment metrics; Travel Demand Modeling and Forecasting support services for Traffic Operations, Environmental and Design staff to provide Existing, and future travel forecast, Traffic Indices and Design Designations (TI/DD's); benefit cost analysis for Federal and State grant applications and post project performance evaluations; and analyze VMT/traffic impacts from local developments to the State Highway System as part of Local Development Review  process.

Regional Planning

The Regional Planning Branches are responsible for grant management, oversight, policy implementation, and local develop intergovernmental review (LD-IGR).

Local Assistance

The Office of Local Assistance oversees the authorization, allocation, and reimbursement of federal and state funds made available to the cities, counties, and regional agencies in District 3 for their transportation projects. Local Assistance Staff Link.

Local Development Review (LDR)

Local Development Review Coordinators serve as the primary point of contact with the District for all Local Development Review program activities. 

System Planning

Caltrans District 3 System Planning Branch provides planning data and analysis for long-term interregional transportation and statewide travel. Through a series of system planning documents, studies or plans, current and future deficiencies on the State Highway System are identified, in addition to identification and improvements for multimodal options. The Branch also coordinates with partners and stakeholders for the region in support of the safe, sustainable, and efficient movement of freight. As well as overseeing the District’s Mobility Hubs (previously known as Park & Ride lots) to offer a convenient and safe location to transfer from a single passenger vehicle to other multimodal travel mode options such as local or regional transit bus, rail, light rail, carpool, vanpool, or active transportation connectivity to bike and pedestrian facilities.

Climate Changes/Sustainability

The goal of the District 3 Sustainability Program is to align our activities with the Caltrans Strategic Plan 2020 - 2024 and its commitment to meet our present generation’s needs without compromising the future generation’s ability to meet its own needs.  For more information please visit the Sustainability Program Website.

Equity & Engagement

The Community Engagement and Equity Program will help develop and promote an engagement process that embodies social justice principles, where everyone is treated with respect and fairness.

Investment Planning

The Investment Planning Branch is responsible for recommending projects for Caltrans project nominations and for leading Caltrans District 3 competitive grant applications.  The Investment Planning Branch monitors federal, state, and regional transportation grant programs and is the lead on Caltrans District 3 Letter of Support (LOS) requests.

Note: This page is currently, Caltrans is currently remediating documents for ADA compliance.