The Race and Equity Action Plan (REAP) is a coordinated effort to identify priorities and strategies that advance racial equity in alignment with the Department’s goals. This effort is led by the Director’s Office of Equity, Sustainability, and Tribal Affairs (ESTA), in partnership with the Equal Employment Opportunity Program, Office of Civil Rights, and other Caltrans Headquarters divisions and districts.
The REAP is intended to be a living document. The first version was released in 2019. The 2022 REAP provides an update on the actions completed by Caltrans Headquarters divisions and districts since 2019 and identifies new actions, organized according to the following Caltrans commitments.
Caltrans Commitments
We will create a workforce at all levels that is representative of the communities we serve by improving our recruitment, hiring, contracting, and leadership development policies and practices.
We will meaningfully engage communities most impacted by structural racism in the creation and implementation of the programs and projects that impact their daily lives by creating more transparent, inclusive, and ongoing consultation and collaboration processes. We will achieve our equity commitments through an engagement process where everyone is treated with dignity and justice. We will reform our programs, policies, and procedures based on this engagement to avoid harm to frontline and vulnerable communities. We will prioritize projects that improve access for and provide meaningful benefits to underserved communities.
By leveraging our transportation investments, we also commit to increasing pathways to opportunity for minority-owned and disadvantaged business enterprises, and for individuals who face systemic barriers to employment.
We commit to combating the climate crisis and its disproportionate impact on frontline and vulnerable communities — such as Black and Indigenous peoples, Communities of Color, the people experiencing homelessness, people with disabilities, and youth. We will change how we plan, design, build, and maintain our transportation investments to create a more resilient system that more equitably distributes the benefits and burdens to the current and future generations of Californians.
Caltrans recognizes our leadership role and unique responsibility in State government to eliminate barriers to provide more equitable transportation for all Californians. This understanding is the foundation for intentional decision-making that recognizes past, stops current, and prevents future harms from our actions. The REAP allows us to uphold our equity commitments through the implementation of strategic actions, which are aligned with the Caltrans Strategic Plan goals:
- Safety first
- Cultivate excellence
- Enhance and connect the multimodal transportation network
- Strengthen stewardship and drive efficiency
- Lead climate action
- Advance equity and livability in all communities
