Who's New

Rambabu Bavirisetty, chief of the Office of Capital Improvement Programming

Rambabu Bavirisetty is the new Division of Transportation Programming’s Chief of the Office of Capital Improvement Programming. The office was led for many years by recently retired Kurt Scherzinger. The office produces the Interregional Transportation Improvement Program, coordinates State Transportation Improvement Program activities with the California Transportation Commission (CTC) on behalf of the Department, and is liaison to the CTC for Proposition 1B Bond programs.

Rambabu previously served as the Programming Office of Systems and Resource Administration Chief, where he was responsible for the development, implementation and management of the California Transportation Improvement Program System. He started his Caltrans career at the Engineering Service Center in 1991 as a civil engineer in the Office of Structures Maintenance and Investigations Bridge Ratings section and continued in the Offices of Structures Construction and Structures Design. Rambabu moved to Programming in 2000 as a senior transportation engineer working on federal and state programming policies and processes as a federal and state programming liaison before he became Chief of the Office of Systems and Resource Administration. He also served as interim chief for the Office of Federal Transportation Management Program and the Office of the State Highway Operation and Protection Program during his tenure in Programming.

A licensed civil engineer and a project management professional, Rambabu earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree in civil engineering from the Osmania University in India in 1984 and his Masters of Science and Doctoral degrees in structural engineering from the University of Arizona.

---

Kyle Gradinger, assistant division chief of the Division of Rail and Mass Transportation

Kyle Gradinger joins the Division of Rail and Mass Transportation as the Assistant Division Chief, Network Integration. He is excited to work for a state committed to combating climate change with ambitious goals and effective mechanisms to encourage a greater share of trips by rail, transit, on foot and by bike. 

Kyle comes to Caltrans from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), where he led the development of FRA's rail planning framework and provided guidance to grantees on projects ranging from multi-state regional rail plans to National Environmental Policy Act level corridor studies and service development plans. At FRA, he fostered an integrated, network-based planning approach for "high-performance rail" (faster, more frequent, more reliable service).  

Prior to the FRA, Kyle crafted comprehensive land use and transportation plans as an urban planner for a small consulting firm in Philadelphia. He also served as President of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, working to create a safe and comfortable network for cyclists of all ages and abilities.

Kyle is excited to explore all that California has to offer with his wife, Lauren, and their two young sons, ages 1 and 3. He looks forward to hiking in the Sierra and taking the kids for their first west coast "double-decker" train rides on the Capitol Corridor.

---

Ellen Greenberg, deputy director for sustainability

As Caltrans new Deputy Director for Sustainability, Ellen Greenberg oversees Caltrans’ continued efforts to shift and align policies and practices to improve the environment, the economy and social equity for all Californians.

Ellen has more than 30 years’ experience working with cities, transportation agencies, and non-governmental organizations to guide development, conservation, and transportation decisions. She brings an innovative and multi-disciplinary approach to all her work, with a focus on improving the integration of transportation and land use to offer people better mobility opportunities while also improving community quality. 

Prior to coming to Caltrans, Ellen worked for Arup, an independent design, planning and engineering firm. She served as principal in Arup’s San Francisco Infrastructure Group and project director for Arup's work on the Concord Naval Weapons Station Re-use Planning, the Sustainable Transit and Land Use Integration Study for the Maricopa Association of Governments in the Phoenix region. She was also involved in multiple projects for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Sustainable Communities and Arup's contributions to the Regional Transportation Strategy being prepared by Translink for the Vancouver region.

Prior to that, she was owner of Ellen Greenberg, AICP, an independent consulting practice offering planning, research and education services to public and private clients. Some of her key projects included working on the “Smart Mobility Framework” with Caltrans and “Smart Growth Streets” with the U.S. EPA’s Smart Growth Office. During this time, she also was a visiting practitioner at the University of California at Davis’ Sustainable Transportation Center.

From 2004 to 2007, she was principal and project manager at Freedman Tung and Bottomley, a planning and design firm focusing on district and corridor planning and public realm projects. Ellen held several positions at the Congress for the New Urbanism, including interim executive director from 2003 to 2004 and director of policy and research from 2000 to 2003. She was project leader at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority from 1997 to 2000 and held several positions at Blayney Dyett Greenberg, including principal from 1990 to 1993 and planner from 1986 to 1990.

---

Karl Kopper, chief information security officer

Karl Kopper is the Caltrans Chief Information Security Officer. The office is responsible for developing and implementing the security policies to protect the confidentiality, availability and integrity of the systems and data used to further the mission of the Department.

Kopper comes to Caltrans from CalPERS where he worked since 2008, managing systems engineering, storage engineering and administration teams responsible for developing a secure, stable operating environment for the CalPERS business systems.

Prior to that he worked for the California Resources Agency as chair on the IT Governance committee helping to bring some of the earliest internet-connected security principles into practice to protect systems and services. During the dot-com boom of the late 90s, he moved to a private logistics company headquartered in Northern California and was one of the first to convert an entire mid-sized business to 100 percent open-source software. Based on his experiences, he authored the book, “Linux Enterprise Cluster,” which for a time was one of the top selling books on early open-source software adoption and the challenges of using open-source software for business-critical applications in private industry. He then helped bring these security, availability and integrity techniques to the public sector for health and financial services in California. With a variety of in-depth experience across a great many aspects of IT security and operations, Kopper will be an invaluable addition to the IT leadership team and the Caltrans security program.

---

Blair Thompson, chief of innovation, risk and strategic management

Blair Thompson is Caltrans' first Chief of Innovation, Risk and Strategic Management, overseeing a newly created office, and developing ways to streamline and improve department performance. The office manages and implements the 2015-2020 Strategic Management Plan, as well as additional innovation initiatives and risk management projects.

Thompson came to Caltrans from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), where he worked since 1998. During his 18 years of state service, he worked in Project Management and helped create DMV’s Strategic Planning Program. As of 2008, he managed the teams responsible for strategic business and information technology planning, enterprise governance, performance management, strategic analysis, and organizational development, as well as DMV’s robust customer and employee survey programs. During his tenure, he also assisted in setting up DMV’s Risk Management Program, and since February 2016, he served as DMV’s Acting Enterprise Planning and Performance Branch Chief. 

As Caltrans Director’s Office of Innovation, Risk and Strategic Management Chief, Thompson will also manage Caltrans efforts in the Federal Highway Administration’s State Transportation Innovation Council; ethics helpline and ethics policy development; risk management; Lean-6 Sigma process improvements and other special projects, such as Open Data and Intellectual Property.

Thompson has two grown sons and currently lives in Roseville with his 14-year-old daughter.