Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development 

The Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development is responsible for policy and planning research, public transportation and modal research, research programming, data analysis and reporting. The office also leads the Caltrans Innovation Program. Our vision is to be the preferred choice to provide research products and solutions empowering customers to become well informed, effective, and innovative.

Benjamin Bressette, Office Chief

What We Do

• Support the Research and Deployment Advisory Committee and the Program Steering Committees
• Deliver Research Products Supporting:
  • Transportation Planning
  • Aeronautics
  • Sustainability 
  • Asset Management
  • Road Charge
  • Strategic Planning
  • Geospatial Enterprise Operations
• Manage the University Transportation Center Program
• Manage the Preliminary Investigations Program
• Collect and display data and information

The Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development Branches

Innovation Branch

Casey McKenzie, Acting Chief

Our team cultivates an innovative culture across Caltrans by providing technical resources staff and engaging leaders to take informed risks to improve what we do and how we do it.

• Executive Support - Lead the Innovation Leadership Council (ILC), a Caltrans chartered committee that governs innovation across the Department
• Develop staff resources - Create tailored materials such as trainings and decision support tools to staff at all levels
• Vendor Engagement - Work with the vendor community to ensure Caltrans has the resources it needs to achieve its goals

Planning and Policy Research Branch

Tyler Monson, Chief

We provide support for developing key policy decisions by addressing critical transportation issues and forming a better understanding of travel behavior and the relationship between transportation and land use.

• New and Improved Products and Services
  Champion new and improved products and services to be used in the planning and policy areas of transportation research.

• Planning and Policy Research
  Conduct innovative research, develop practical applications, introduce deployable products, and facilitate the transfer of technology for planning and policy research.

• Preliminary Investigations and Policy Briefs
  Partner with our internal and external customers and stakeholders to deliver high quality transportation research preliminary investigations, policy briefs, and projects.

Research Program Development Branch

Tori Kanzler, Chief

Our team coordinates the research selection process. We work with DRISI, the Research and Deployment Advisory Committee (RDAC), the Program Steering Committees (PSCs) and Technical Advisory Panels (TAPs) to evaluate, prioritize and select new research. We also advertise the Call for Submissions (CFS) as a service to DRISI Project Managers in soliciting research proposals from academic institutions. The branch is also responsible for coordinating the Preliminary Investigation process.

• Research Selection
  Support DRISI, RDAC, the PSCs and TAPs in selecting new research.

• Call For Submissions (CFS)
  Develop and advertise the CFS to public entities, and provide resultant research proposals to the DRISI Project Managers.

• Preliminary Investigations
  Coordinate the Preliminary Investigation process with DRISI, PSCs and consultant.