California Department of Transportation

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacramento.[4]

"Caltrans" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Caltrain.
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Agency overview
Formed1972 (1972)
Preceding agencies
  • California Bureau of Highways
  • California Department of Highways
JurisdictionCalifornia State Government
Headquarters1120 N Street, Sacramento, California
38.574564°N 121.493660°W / 38.574564; -121.493660
Employees18,415 permanent staff
Annual budget$17 billion (2016)
Agency executive
  • Toks Omishakin, Director
Parent agencyCalifornia State Transportation Agency (CalSTA)
Key document
Websitedot.ca.gov
Footnotes
[1][2][3]

Caltrans manages the state's highway system, which includes the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is involved with public transportation systems throughout the state. It supports Amtrak California and Amtrak's Capitol Corridor.

In 2015, Caltrans released a new mission statement: "Provide a safe, sustainable, integrated and efficient transportation system to enhance California’s economy and livability."[5]

History
Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in Los Angeles, designed by Thom Mayne.
Caltrans District 8 Headquarters in San Bernardino
Caltrans headquarters in Sacramento

The earliest predecessor of Caltrans was the Bureau of Highways, which was created by the California Legislature and signed into law by Governor James Budd in 1895.[6] This agency consisted of three commissioners who were charged with analyzing the state road system and making recommendations. At the time, there was no state highway system, since roads were purely a local responsibility. California's roads consisted of crude dirt roads maintained by county governments, as well as some paved roads within city boundaries, and this ad hoc system was no longer adequate for the needs of the state's rapidly growing population. After the commissioners submitted their report to the governor on November 25, 1896, the legislature replaced the Bureau with the Department of Highways.[7]

Due to the state's weak fiscal condition and corrupt politics, little progress was made until 1907, when the legislature replaced the Department of Highways with the Department of Engineering, within which there was a Division of Highways.[6] California voters approved an $18 million bond issue for the construction of a state highway system in 1910, and the first California Highway Commission was convened in 1911.[6] On August 7, 1912, the department broke ground on its first construction project, the section of El Camino Real between South San Francisco and Burlingame, which later became part of California State Route 82.[8] The year 1912 also saw the founding of the Transportation Laboratory and the creation of seven administrative divisions, which are the predecessors of the 12 district offices in use as of 2018.[6] The original seven division headquarters were located in:[9]

In 1913, the California State Legislature began requiring vehicle registration and allocated the resulting funds to support regular highway maintenance.[6]

In 1921, the state legislature turned the Department of Engineering into the Department of Public Works.[10]

The history of Caltrans and its predecessor agencies during the 20th century was marked by many firsts. It was one of the first agencies in the United States to paint centerlines on highways statewide; the first to build a freeway west of the Mississippi River; the first to build a four-level stack interchange; the first to develop and deploy non-reflective raised pavement markers, better known as Botts' dots; and one of the first to implement dedicated freeway-to-freeway connector ramps for high-occupancy vehicle lanes.

In 1967, Governor Ronald Reagan formed a Task Force Committee on Transportation to study the state transportation system and recommend major reforms. One of the proposals of the task force was the creation of a State Transportation Board as a permanent advisory board on state transportation policy; the board would later merge into the California Transportation Commission in 1978. In September 1971, the State Transportation Board proposed the creation of a state department of transportation charged with responsibility "for performing and integrating transportation planning for all modes." Governor Reagan mentioned this proposal in his 1972 State of the State address, and Assemblyman Wadie P. Deddeh introduced Assembly Bill 69 to that effect, which was duly passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Reagan later that same year. AB 69 merged together three existing departments to create the Department of Transportation, of which the most important was the Department of Public Works and its Division of Highways. The California Department of Transportation began official operations on July 1, 1973.[11]

Administration

For administrative purposes, Caltrans divides the State of California into 12 districts, supervised by district offices. Most districts cover multiple counties; District 12 (Orange County) is the only district with one county. The largest districts by population are District 4 (San Francisco Bay Area) and District 7 (Los Angeles and Ventura counties). Like most state agencies, Caltrans maintains its headquarters in Sacramento, which is covered by District 3.

Districts
Caltrans district map
District[12]Area (Counties)Headquarters
1Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, MendocinoEureka
2Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity; portions of Butte and SierraRedding
3Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo,YubaMarysville
4Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma,Oakland
5Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa CruzSan Luis Obispo
6Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, KernFresno
7Los Angeles, VenturaLos Angeles
8Riverside, San BernardinoSan Bernardino
9Inyo, MonoBishop
10Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, TuolumneStockton
11Imperial, San DiegoSan Diego
12OrangeSanta Ana[13]
gollark: This sort of thing will get cheaper and easier over time, and then someone will *actually do that*.
gollark: Oh no.
gollark: It might even be commercially saleable as long as beeoids don't complain about genetic modification and "crimes against nature" and such.
gollark: If exposed to UV or whatever.
gollark: Idea: splice that 'green fluorescent protein" stuff into grass. Your grass WILL be greener than on the other side.

See also

Notes
  1. Willits was the northernmost California Coast Range city connected to the national rail network when the headquarters were established there.
  2. The Forsythe Building was shared with the original Gottschalks department store.

References
  1. "Caltrans Executive Fact Book" (PDF). May 2016.
  2. Taylor, Mac. "The 2016–17 Budget Transportation Proposals" (PDF). Legislative Analyst's Office. Legislative Analyst's Office of California. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  3. "State of California Department of Transportation February 2018 Organization Chart" (PDF). Caltrans. February 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  4. "Caltrans Mail Addresses." California Department of Transportation. Retrieved on November 19, 2009.
  5. "Caltrans Mission, Vision, Goals & Values". Caltrans. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  6. Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, One Hundred Years of Progress (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 11
  7. Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, One Hundred Years of Progress (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 12.
  8. Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, One Hundred Years of Progress (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 13.
  9. Ellis, W.R. (1913). "Division Engineers – Office Addresses". California Highway Bulletin. California Highway Commission. 1 (2): 2&3.
  10. Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, One Hundred Years of Progress (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 32.
  11. Karner, Alex (June 2013). "Multimodal dreamin': California transportation planning, 1967–77". The Journal of Transport History. 34 (1): 39–56. doi:10.7227/TJTH.34.1.4. Available through ProQuest.
  12. "Caltrans District Offices". California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  13. "News Release D12 Move to Santa Ana October 2016 (PDF)" (PDF).
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