Director's Corner

Done with one busy year, and onward to the next!

Greetings, Caltrans colleagues. Welcome to the latest edition of our bimonthly e-newsletter, CT News.

As the new year dawns, we can reflect that 2024 was characteristically busy – and productive. I want to acknowledge that all your individual hard work has the cumulative effect of making Caltrans the nation’s premier department of transportation. I have every confidence that we will continue that leading role for the foreseeable future.

While the emergence of 2025 puts us in forward-looking mode, let us take a few moments to consider a couple of major things that we announced this fall: the 2024-2028 Strategic Management Plan, and the 2023-2024 Annual Accomplishments Report.

The strategic plan is a compass that will guide the innovative solutions that Californians deserve. It was developed using numerous data sources, including transportation partners, community advocacy groups, and Caltrans employee survey results, and was informed through engagement with historically disadvantaged and underserved California communities in alignment with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-16-22.

At its core, this plan recognizes that we must continue to adapt our organization to meet the needs of all people and communities within the state.

It also recognizes that we do more than construct and maintain highways. Whether we are building public park space in our right of way, installing broadband connectivity, or reconnecting communities that were separated by highways decades ago, we understand that the meaning of public service is to improve lives.

Out of this plan’s five new goals, four were chosen to align with the Core Four Principles: Safety, Equity, Climate Action and Prosperity. Because Caltrans cannot succeed without employees who are healthy, fulfilled and growing in their careers, we are adopting a fifth goal of Employee Excellence.

The Strategic Plan is not simply a lofty ideal intended for the purpose of executive planning. Every office and division throughout our organization will be measured by their progress toward the goals outlined in this document.

(The entire plan is downloadable as a PDF document.)

Our Caltrans Annual Accomplishment Report highlights accomplishments from January 2023 through June 2024 and celebrates the exceptional work that districts and programs completed. As I reflect on those 18 months, I am in awe of all that we have accomplished. As a department, we continue to work tirelessly to achieve our goals – with successes achieved every day. We can be proud of all that we have done.

The report marks our fourth collection of successes that spans the breadth of all the programs and districts of Caltrans and highlights the broad reach of our impact on Californians. This newest report is framed in the context of our Core Four Priorities — Safety, Equity, Climate Action, and Prosperity — with People First at the forefront of what we do.

I hope that seeing these accomplishments in one place helps to reinforce in each of you exactly how much the work we do matters. We all play an integral role in shaping our communities. Whether we are out in the field maintaining the roads or working behind the scenes to plan our transportation future, our mission is the same — to improve lives.

The past 18 months have brought us many challenges — including emergencies that shut down our busiest highways and repair efforts that are still underway — but they have also marked an exciting time to be in transportation, with unprecedented levels of funding for the safety and connectivity improvements that Californians deserve. Throughout this time, Caltrans employees have risen to the occasion, a fact to which this report (download the pdf version) clearly shows.

As always, I thank you for your vital contributions to our past successes and future accomplishments. Happy New Year, everyone!

P.S. Take a look at the image below, which reflects that Caltrans is considered by Forbes to be among the best places to work in California. In 2025, let’s strive to move higher on that prestigious list!