Director's Corner

Town Hall set Jan. 5; Caltrans tackles climate change

Greetings, Caltrans Family, and welcome to the latest edition of CT News, our department’s e-newsletter.

I hope to see all of you at my first Director’s Town Hall, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 5, when Chief Deputy Director Michael Keever and I will answer questions you submitted. Our District 4 colleagues are hosting the Town Hall in Oakland and I look forward to meeting everyone there in person. You can also watch the Town Hall live online. 

Two months ago in this space, I addressed some of the important progress that Caltrans is making in terms of safety and equity, two issues that are at the heart of our mission. Today I want to update you on our response to climate change, which remains a generational challenge for all Californians.

We play a key role in the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI), which was adopted by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) a year and a half ago as part of a redoubled commitment to invest billions of discretionary transportation dollars annually to aggressively confront climate change while also supporting public health, safety and equity.

CAPTI represents a major commitment by the department that will guide our work for many years to come, but we have some early successes to share. So far, the state has:

Committed $150 million in the recently enacted state budget for Caltrans to establish a new Reconnecting Communities: Highways to Boulevards pilot program.

Invested an additional $1.05 billion in the Active Transportation Program to expand safe walking and biking options.

Included nine new multimodal projects in the Interregional Transportation Improvement Program, including four programmed and four reserve rail projects and one active transportation project.

Caltrans is committed to building a world-class transportation network and that means we must continually assess how we can act in ways that display leadership in adapting to climate change while also building a transportation network that is ever more safe, equitable, accessible and sustainable.

Happy new year to you and your loved ones. Let’s make 2023 as productive and forward-thinking as we can. Keep focused, be healthy, and stay safe.