All right. Welcome everyone to the March 2026 CTC hearings in beautiful Malibu, California.
Before I turn it over to Doug for roll call and instructions, something quick I learned
about Malibu recently. So this, these lands were once resided by the indigenous people
of the Chumash. And the Chumash referred to this area as Umaliwu, which in the language
means a place or location where the waves sound loudly. So in the next couple of days,
we may have some lively conversations, thoughtful discussions, but maybe we'll have two days
of very nice steady waves. Right. So with that, I am going to turn it over to Douglas
for roll call.
Thank you, Chair. Commissioner Bradshaw, Vice Chair Cruz, present.
Commissioner Brown-Hines, Commissioner Eager, here.
Commissioner Elliott, present online. Commissioner Grisby, present.
Mr. Gordino, Commissioner Lugo, Commissioner Mann, Commissioner Tiffany, Chair Falcone.
Here.
Senator Cortese. Assemblymember Wilson. Chair, we have a quorum.
Thank you, Douglas. And now instructions, please.
Thank you. Welcome to day one of the March 2026 CTC meeting in sunny Malibu. Please note
Note that because this is a two-day meeting, you will need to use a separate link to attend
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Thank you for joining us today. We know your time is valuable and we appreciate
you sharing some of it with us. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Douglas. And now for the
next item. Actually, we will be deferring our welcome to the region until 1.30. Our
We will wait a little bit for that.
Our next item then will be approval of the minutes for January 2026.
Back at you, Doug.
Thank you, Chair.
We will take items 3, 4, and 5 together.
Tab 3 is the approval of the minutes for the January 29 and 30th 2026 CTC meeting.
Tab 4 is the commissioner's meeting for compensation, and Tab 5 is the committee member's compensation.
recommend your approval. Any public comment on these items? Justin? Chair we
did not receive any request to comment on these items. Okay thank you. Any
questions or comments or a motion from the dais or virtually? I'll make a motion
your crew. Okay, Commissioner Tiffany? Second. Second by Commissioner Brown-Hines. All in favor?
favor. Alright, and you pose any extensions. Okay, those items pass. Alright, next item
update from our executive director. We have today our chief deputy director Paul Goloszewski,
who is here in place of our executive director who had to be, who had to leave last night
for a very personal matter and we wish her well wherever she is. And so with that I will turn it
over to Paul. Hi, good afternoon everyone. As Chara Falcone said, I'm substituting for
Director Taylor today while she attends to a personal matter. I know as Chara Falcone said
we'll have a formal welcome to the region shortly but I'd like to thank the City of Malibu for
hosting us today. I'd also like to thank District 7 Director Roberts and the whole District 7 team
for arranging a regional tour yesterday for us. Between the safety improvements on the Pacific
Coast Highway, the emergency repairs in Topanga Canyon, and the Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.
There's a lot happening here in Los Angeles County to rebuild and enhance the region's
transportation system. And the commission is pleased to be a funding partner on these
important projects and other critical projects up and down the state.
Commissioners, we had initially planned to meet here in Malibu about a year ago.
We delayed those plans after the devastating fires in Los Angeles County, and I'm pleased
that we have returned to see the progress in rebuilding and recovery that has occurred
in the past year.
We know that much work remains to recover from the fires and the commission is ready
to continue its partnership with local governments throughout the LA region to help support that
the first meeting of the first
We're looking forward to working with you and Vice Chair Cruz.
I also want to thank Commissioner Grisby for his work this past year as chair, highlighting
the needs of rural communities and helping to prioritize investments that reduce costs
for Californians.
I'd also like to take a moment to commend the team at Caltrans for their work responding
to the storms we've had this winter, particularly in the Tahoe area.
It takes a lot of effort to ensure the safe operation
of our highway system during dangerous conditions,
and we're grateful for the effort year in and year out.
That effort is not without risk.
Representatives from the commission
will be honoring the sacrifices
our Caltrans colleagues have made
at the Fallen Workers Memorial next month.
And I encourage you all to attend or participate
in the local ceremonies that will be held
in the Caltrans districts.
Commissioners, we have some significant items
on this meeting's agenda today.
Later today, staff will present
the 2026 State Transportation Improvement Program
and the 2026 State Highway Operation and Protection Program
for your consideration.
The 2026 STIP is a five-year investment plan
totaling $2.7 billion in regional priority projects
and projects that better connect
different regions of the state.
We will hear more about the multimodal suite
investments being proposed later on, but I'd like to thank our acting STIP
program manager, Sheila Ennis, as well as our previous program manager Casey
Morgatteras, as well as Lori Waters and our two retired annuitants Juan Guzman
and Teresa Fevella for their hard work preparing this year's STIP. The 2026 shop
includes seventeen point nine billion dollars over the next four years for
safety improvements, rehabilitation and complete streets improvements on our
highway system. While this is a sizable investment in our communities in our
transportation system, it is important to note that for the first time since
2020, this shop will be smaller than the last. We will continue making progress
towards our Senate Bill 1 performance targets, but continued growing project
costs, unanticipated emergency damage needs, and declining fuel tax revenues
continue to put greater pressure on our ability to meet those targets. Should
As these trends continue, we should be prepared to see fewer projects funded, projects delayed
and a greater strain on our transportation system.
We'll hear more about the 2026 shop later, but I'd like to thank John Pray, Tim Sywillman,
Justin Mann and the Caltrans Asset Management and Shop team for their work preparing the
document you'll consider later today.
Also later today, staff will present the guidelines for cycle eight of the Active Transportation
opening the call for projects.
We have over $600 million in funding capacity
for this cycle, which is welcome news for us
in our local and regional partners who were faced
with much smaller funding levels last cycle.
These guidelines are the culmination of many workshops,
site visits and office hours on the part of the ATP team.
And I'd like to thank Anya Allenbacher,
Alika Chingizi and Jaden Gales for their work
to get us to this point today.
Entering the federal transit administration's 5310 small urban and rural enhanced mobility of seniors and disability of seniors and individuals with disabilities program of projects for your approval.
These are critical projects that will benefit some of our most vulnerable populations and I'd like to recognize cat Kim for her work on this program.
We'll also hear a presentation of the draft vehicle weight safety study report to the legislature developed pursuant to assembly bill 251.
This report builds on the work of the vehicle weight safety study task force whose findings we shared with you at the December commission meeting.
The draft is available for public comment through the end of the month, and I'd like to thank Kayla McDonald for her work putting this report together.
Commissioners I'd also like to note one item we expect to be on our agenda at our next meeting in May.
Last month, the Caltrans Independent Office of Audits and Investigations completed its audit of Caltrans's administration of its Statewide Airspace Leasing Program.
There are some significant findings that Caltrans is reviewing and developing a plan to address.
These airspace leases are important not just to the communities where these facilities are located, but also the safety and security of our state highway system, as we saw with the I-10 fire in 2023.
Caltrans is reviewing the audit findings, and we'll hear more about next steps to address in May.
You bittersweet staffing updates today.
First, Jaden Gales has accepted a position with the Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission, and his last day with the CTC was earlier this month.
Jaden was a key team member for the engineering team and the active transportation program
team since he joined us nearly five years ago, and we're grateful for his contributions to the Commission.
second this is Kayla McDonald's last meeting with Commission Kayla joined us
a year ago as the project manager for the vehicle weight safety study and has
been the driving force behind leaving the study task force and leading the
study task force and developing the draft report she'll be presenting later
today we would not have been able to do this work without her next month she'll
be stepping into the role of deputy director for program planning and grant
operations at the California Office of Traffic Safety. So she'll be staying within the CalSTA
family, so to speak. And lastly, Kasey Mora-Guterres has accepted a role with the Caltrans Division
of Financial Programming. We wish Kasey well as she returns to Caltrans and thank her for
her years of service to the Commission working on the state transportation improvement program
and the transit and inner city rail capital program. There's a couple of upcoming events
that I wanted to highlight, the commission will be meeting in San Francisco on April 9th with the
Air Resources Board and the Department of Housing and Community Development for our first joint
meeting of the year and then later in April we'll hold our first town hall of 2026 in Los Angeles
on April 23rd and 24th and as a reminder our next regular commission meeting will be in San Jose on
March 14th and 15th. Thank you. May 14th and 15th. And that
concludes my report. Thanks.
Thank you so much, Paul. And it's a testament to the fine
work that the staff does when you're growing some of your team
members out of the commission. And so we wish Kayla, Casey and
Jaden best wishes we will miss you, but we know that you're
to do great things, so make us proud. With that, I'm going to open it up to the next item,
Commissioner and Ex officio reports. Thank you for the reminder. Any public comment?
Jeff, there's no request coming on the item. Thank you. Thank you very much, Justin. So again,
next tab is Commissioner and Ex officio reports. Anybody from the dais or online that would like
to speak. Commissioner Tiffany. Thank you Madam Chair and first of all I enjoy saying Madam Chair
and I just wanted to join Chief Deputy Director Paul Gee and congratulating you and welcoming you
as our new leader and I'm sure you're going to do a great job and also welcome Commissioner Joe
Cruz who is online as well as our vice chair so congratulations once again looking forward to
working with you and also I just wanted to say that as Paul mentioned Commissioner Falcone
and Commissioner Mann and myself as long along with staff really has spectacular tour yesterday
the Pacific Coast Highway, saw some of the devastating impact of the fire
and all the the good work that Caltrans is doing along the PCH and also a fascinating tour of
the wildlife crossing. We were told that we better enjoy it because we will never be on,
they won't allow us up there anymore in the future. So it was a very special tour and
what they're doing. So thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Anyone else on the dice that would like to speak? Anyone virtually? I would Oh, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Oh, yes. Okay, Commissioner Eager, welcome. Oh, thank you. And I'm so sorry. I'm not there. I certainly toured TCH in that area previously. So I know y'all had a great tour and
Thank you to District 7 for doing that.
I just wanted to say congratulations to Chair Falcone.
I know you're going to do a wonderful job moving forward.
Your tenacity and your background will take us to great places, I'm sure.
I also wanted to say a special thank you to past Chair Grisby.
as my partner traveling around the rural communities
looking at some of the obstacles
that our rural communities are facing
and looking at their main streets
and certainly our areas of California
that have been left behind.
I know he was a great proponent
for reaching out to all of California.
And so I just wanted to say a special thank you
and commissioner Grishamie, we're glad to have you join us
in the past chair team, you'll be part of our click.
Thank you for keeping it very eager and appreciate
just personally your mentorship through the years,
as well as commissioner Gordino, your mentorship as well
and helping me to prepare for this role, so thank you.
Anyone else online or on the dais?
Okay, I just want to support the comments
that were made about the tour yesterday
and just want to also express appreciation
to Director Gloria Roberts and her team
at District 7 for such a very impactful tour.
It really shows the delicate work that you're all doing
while trying to really move things forward
as it relates to the recovery.
And then, you know, the wonderful tour
of the Annenberg Wildlife Crossing,
very impressive and important project for our state.
And so thank you again for the effort in helping educate
and sharing with us the work that you're doing
in this area of your region.
You know, before we continue on today's agenda,
I just want to take this opportunity also
to recognize our immediate past chair, Darnell Grisby.
During his tenure, Darnell consistently reminded us
that California's transportation system
does not only begin and end in our largest cities.
He lifted up the realities of rural communities,
places where distance is greater,
options sometimes fewer, but growth and possibilities abound.
And transportation is often that thin line
between isolation, but also opportunity.
So his leadership asked us to widen our lens
in honor to the full geography of the state.
And for that commitment to equity, access, and fairness,
we are grateful.
And so to acknowledge his year as chair,
we have a proclamation with all the therefores
and where as is befitting his service
thus far at the commission.
And we will keep it warm for you
since you are joining us virtually past chair, Grisby.
And again, we thank you for your wonderful year as chair.
And please join me in providing a round of applause
for past Chair Kristin.
All right, so as I step into this role,
I do so with deep responsibility to the commission,
to the communities we serve,
and to the moment that we are in.
We are meeting at a pivotal time
in transportation in California.
And our funding, as you know, our funding programs
are oversubscribed.
The demands and the needs of our system continue to grow.
At the same time, we are entrusted
with maintaining a state of good repair,
reducing the impacts of climate change,
improving air quality, supporting our workers
and growing economy,
and expanding meaningful transportation choices
for Californians.
These are not separate challenges.
They are deeply interconnected and they require partnership.
As Chair, my approach is guided by three principles.
First, clarity of purpose.
In a system as complex as ours,
spanning regions, modes and communities,
it is easy to lose sight of the why.
My goal is to help us stay anchored in purpose,
especially when trade-offs are real,
resources are constrained and the path forward
sometimes not very obvious.
Second, respect for the process and for people.
This commission works because of the professionalism
of our staff, the collaboration of our agency
and regional partners, and the engagement
of stakeholders across the state.
I wanna continue building a culture
where our questions are welcomed.
Disagreement is handled with respect
and decisions are made transparently and with integrity.
Our staff's expertise is foundational to this work.
My role is to support and amplify their work
and the Commission's mission.
And third, delivery with humanity.
We are stewards of significant public investment,
but transportation is ultimately about people.
How we get to work, how we get to school,
to our healthcare appointments, to the grocery store,
to CTC hearings, to see family and friends,
and then to return home safely.
The technical excellence that we talk about here matters,
but so does lived experience
and the best decisions honor both.
Finally, I also wanna acknowledge the deep expertise
around this table.
Each commissioner brings knowledge
shaped by regional experience and perspective,
professional discipline and a commitment to public service.
And as chair, my role is not to overshadow that leadership
but to help cultivate the space for it to shine.
So if we remain clear in purpose and discipline
and process and grounded in human impact,
we will continue to serve California as well.
And I'm so honored to be in this space
and to serve with each and every one of you.
So let's get to work.
Thank you.
Thank you. Alright any public comment on all of those comments. Justin. Can I see any request
a comment on the item. Okay, great. Thank you. Next we will have ours esteemed under
Secretary James hacker. Welcome. Thank you, Madam Chair, and congratulations on your election.
Very excited to work with you. I'm James hacker undersecretary at the California State Transportation
agency sitting in this afternoon for Secretary Omashakan who sends his regards, but unfortunately
you're stuck with me. So thank you for putting the slides up. I'm very happy to be here in
beautiful Malibu. So let's get to it. First slide, as usual, we'll sort of run through
the CalSTA Core 4 and just provide a couple of key updates. So first, for safety, we're
excited to note that we've launched our third safety corridor, priority safety corridor
project this one on Varner Road in Riverside County. This one joins State
Route 91 and Avalon Road Boulevard both in Los Angeles County. These corridors
were selected based on serious and fatal traffic injury data ensuring a data
driven effort to identify the corridors most in need of intensive and
multidisciplinary intervention from the state. So these corridors have been
identified for action by Caltrans, the Office of Traffic Safety, CHP, as well as
local partners. So the coordination between those state and local entities continues in an effort
to further drive safety on those corridors, and we look forward to hopefully expanding the program
across additional corridors statewide in the near future. Moving on to the Zero Traffic
Fatalities Task Force, ZTF-TF, the easiest acronym in the world. This was a task force that was run
earlier in the administration they wrapped up and provided their first set of recommendations back
in 2020 as part of the implementation of the secretary's updated safety policy which was
instituted late last year. We have reconvened the zero traffic fatalities task force in an effort to
go back and review what the recommendations that came out of that first task force see where we are
and then to drive further opportunity for implementation. So we've released our five
We are excited to see a 5 year
update to that initial report
since that first 2020 report of
findings.
We have identified a number of
places where progress has been
made and a number of places
where we have ticked off the
proposed item and noted that 13
of those recommendations have
been integrated into the state
highway safety plan.
We are excited to see progress
there and given that this is a
longer-term task force, we are
excited for that continued
move down to complete streets workshops, complete streets remains an agency priority and a core safety strategy supporting vulnerable road users protection vulnerable vulnerable road users mode shift and the state's climate goals.
As a reminder all Caltrans projects are currently required to include complete streets elements unless an exception is approved.
So in an effort to continue to build capacity in this space and drive further progress here,
we've launched a series of workshops, starting with pilot workshops in Caltrans District
Three and District Four, multi-hour efforts to sort of identify best practices, and sort
of additional work that can be done.
Ideally, once those workshops are complete, we'll take this statewide.
And Secretary Omashak and we'll be speaking at the Caltrans Leadership Summit later this
month to further drive home the importance of this effort to the agency and to the state.
And lastly, it's not reflected on this slide but because of where we are, I want to give
just a brief update on some of our work on PCH.
The Caltrans planning team is currently in the progress of developing the project initiation
documents to implement the recently completed PCH master plan.
That will define the scope and the scope of work for the priority locations that that
plan designates and community engagement is planned for April and May of this year as
that effort moves forward.
on the first of two major pavement rehabilitation projects is poised to begin in July. This one
will focus on the northern segment of PCH running from Cross Creek Road to the Ventura County line.
And in addition to just your basic pavement rehabilitation, this will include a number of
complete streets and safety improvements, including updated guardrails, improved signaling and signage,
as well as intersection alignments along the corridor to further improve safety along that
roadway. The second section of that corridor work the southern segment from Cross Creek Road down to
I-10 in Santa Monica is proposed to finish design middle of next year with construction to begin
ideally sometime in 2028. Additionally as everybody knows there's a large amount of emergency
repair work currently ongoing on PCH. This includes nearing completion work on the Getty
wall, the catchment wall north of Big Rock, the seawall repair south of Big Rock and additional
slope protection work along PCH. So lots of work going on and many thanks to the Caltrans team for
driving those things across the finish line. We go to the next slide. Equity. So the the Interagency
Equity Advisory Committee EAC met on March 4th in Sacramento. Congratulations newly elected chair
Anna Gonzalez and vice chair, Andres Ramirez.
And also wanna welcome new member, Anthony Giddens.
Agencies and members of the EAC presented the work plan
for 2026, which focuses on complete streets implementation,
enhanced statewide community engagement,
implementation of the new director's transit policy
and the transit transformation task force recommendations,
which we spoke about, I think at our last CTC meeting,
as well as the larger transportation equity index
development. As a reminder, this is a 15-member volunteer committee and they're continuing to
play a very important role in advancing our work and equity across the state. So many thanks for
all their work and Secretary Omashakhan plans to join their executive meeting in May. Moving on
to small business and federal DBE ACDBE re-evaluations. Small businesses continue or small
business continues to be a priority for the agency as well as the restarting of our disadvantaged
business entity or DBE program. So Caltrans and the CUCP, the California Unified Contractor Program,
who oversee that program, that federal designation have been working to implement the new federal
guidance that came out in the last year or so. They recently initiated the new statewide
recertification process on March 2nd. Certified firms have 45 days, which puts us out to April 16th
to submit the required documentation which one we can hopefully move ahead with the program.
Alongside that we had our our latest DBE summit which we held in Fresno and had more than 400
participants so very excited for continued interest in that program and for our continued
work in this space. I think we can move on to the next slide. Climate action a couple of things to
highlight a lot of work going on in the international space we're continuing to engage and expand our
our engagement with a number of African nations, including building on recent engagements with
Kenya and Nigeria and most recently the nation of Ghana. On February 20th we hosted the ambassador
or Ghana's ambassador to the United States to discuss bilateral cooperation with both state
level officials, local officials as well as local businesses in Los Angeles and later in Sacramento
to discuss cooperation areas including clean energy, logistics, innovation, agriculture and
critical minerals. So we're excited to continue to build on that relationship as it expands.
On April 23rd, CalSTA along with the Bay Area Council and UC Davis will be hosting the second
California-Africa Climate and Economic Forum during San Francisco Climate Week, which will
focus on implementation of some of those international MOUs we've already established,
notably with Kenya and Nigeria, as well as continuing to build relationships with other
interested nations, including potentially Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
so stay tuned for more on that space. Closer to home, the Governor recently signed SB 117,
which was the Bay Area Transit Loan, which authorized a cash flow loan to support operations
of Bay Area transit agencies while they work on local funding measures. That bill, like I said,
has been signed, so we are now working with MTC on implementation and look forward to moving that
forward. Additionally, the call for projects is open for cycle 8 of the Transit Intercity Rail
capital program, which is roughly $960 million available for funding. Applications are due
May 18. So please get your applications ready. And if you have any questions, please don't
hesitate to reach out to CalSTA. And lastly, we are continuing to build on the Sustainable
Communities Task Force established by the Secretary late last year. We most recently convened in
February to discuss policies to accelerate infill and support climate efficient housing
developments as well as VMT reductions. We're continuing to build out our calendar for the
rest of the year and our stakeholder engagement for that process, but the end goal is going to
be to produce a report by the end of 2026 laying out some recommendations for ways to better reach
the goals of SB 375 and the sustainable community strategies. And lastly, just a little feel-good
note. Clean California continues to rack up wins. Most recently just a project to highlight
3.2 million from the program invested to help create community space in Barrio Logan along
the I-5 corridor which required significant cooperation between Caltrans, City of San Diego,
and our federal partners which is a really good example of what we can get done when we all work
together. Next slide please. So a couple of highlights here. First, California Association
of Port Authorities, Ports Day, occurred on February 18th to convene policymakers, legislators,
and supply chain partners across the state. Secretary Omashakan participated in a fireside
chat with the Port of Long Beach CEO, Noel Hasagaba, to focus on sustainability and supply
chain improvements statewide. Additionally, a little bit later in February, the Secretary
attended a groundbreaking in Port of LA for the Avalon
pedestrian bridge and promenade gateway project. This was a
project that was funded by the state's port and freight
infrastructure program to create a 380 foot
pedestrian bridge providing safe grade separated access
for the community in Wilmington and this is just one of many projects that we
currently have underway. There's a number of projects
at Port of LA including the state route 47 and seaside avenue and navyway
interchange project, as well as an expansion in the Maritime Support Facility, all of which will
support improved goods movement and economic activity in the ports. And then looking statewide,
we have major freight projects that are either advancing towards construction or actively in
construction across the state, including at Point Waniemi, Port of San Francisco, Port of San Diego,
Port of Oakland, as well as in the High Desert Corridor. This is, you know, these were major
investments made a number of years ago that are going to continue to drive benefits statewide as
as you move them across the finish line.
Next slide, please.
And lastly, innovation.
So a couple of key highlights here.
First, DMV recently submitted their final regulatory package
for their update to the state's autonomous vehicle regulation,
which will allow for expanded AV deployments and testing,
as well as an improved sort of safety framework
to allow the industry to continue to grow
in a responsible manner.
We're very excited to get those done
and to get those in place.
they should be approved and in place by May 1st.
While that moves, and then once it's done,
oversight of key permittees continues in partnership
between CalSTA, DMV, and the Public Utilities Commission,
as well as CHP, all of whom have an enforcement role
in this burgeoning space.
In terms of advanced air mobility,
Caltrans recently published its draft SB 800 report,
which provides a three-year work plan
to repair the state's aviation industry and infrastructure
for advanced aerial mobility technologies.
Public comment on that report has closed,
and the report will now be finalized for submission
to the legislature later this spring.
And lastly, in Neve, which is a national EV infrastructure
program that was funded by the federal government
a number of years ago, California
has successfully obligated the entire $373 million
provided to the state, which we're very happy for and very
thankful for.
The remaining administrative funds
will be obligated as implementation continues.
solicitations for NEVY rounds three through six are now open at the California Energy Commission.
NEVY three applications close on March 25th, so that's daily and it's coming up pretty quickly.
And Caltrans is now very focused on right away certification, NEPA review,
and construction delivery to allow those charging stations to be built in an
expeditious manner as funding continues to move. So go to the next slide. That concludes my report.
Thank you once again for having me, and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you Mr. Undersecretary. Any comments or questions from the dais or virtually for the Undersecretary.
Thank you. Just one comment from for me is just want to express appreciation for continuing to share with us your efforts, the administration's efforts as it relates to disadvantaged businesses and small businesses, given the signals that we've gotten from the federal government and
and good to hear that there's commitment still
for opportunities for our businesses here,
particularly our DBEs and SBEs.
So thank you for the update.
And it's good to see that more than 400 attendees
at the event that you described.
And so that's showing inclusivity
and focus on ensuring that we have
robust pool of people that are participating in our projects.
So thank you.
Okay, any public comments?
Thank you, Chair.
There's no request for public comment on the item.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you, Justin.
All right.
Next item is our Caltrans director, Dina El-Tawansi.
Welcome.
Thank you very much.
Good afternoon and congratulations, Chair,
for your new position.
I look forward to working collaboratively
with you in this new capacity.
My name is Dean Altawancy
and I serve as the Director of Caltrans.
I will be providing an update and overview
of key initiatives and progress that we've made
since our last meeting.
And I promise I will not repeat anything
that the Undersecretary had already talked about.
I'll begin by highlighting several projects
and initiatives that have been taking place recently
here in the region where we're meeting our district seven.
We are pleased to share,
oh, can you go to the next slide, please?
One more?
Yes.
We are pleased to share that State Route 27,
Topanga Canyon Boulevard,
has reopened months ahead of schedule.
Earlier this month, Caltrans restored both lanes
of daytime traffic along the 3.6 mile stretch
of State Route 27 between Pacific Coast Highway
and south of Grandview Drive.
This reopening represents a major milestone
in our recovery efforts following the January 2025
palisades fire and the subsequent rainstorms
that washed out portions of the highway.
On the screen, you can see recent photos
from the reopening alongside an image
shaken just one week after the wildfires,
showing the stark contrast in conditions.
The wildfire destroyed most of the vegetation
throughout the canyon and the heavy rainfall
that follow trigger powerful debris and mudslides.
These conditions compromise slope stability
and the safety of the road itself,
isolating neighborhoods
and affecting broader community access.
While the fires struck suddenly
and with devastating force,
the path to recovery has been long and challenging
for individuals and entire communities.
Caltrans stands with families and communities
in the Palisades and Altadena,
whose resilience and mutual support continue to inspire us.
I just wanna take a moment to really acknowledge
Director Roberts and our District 17
for all their diligent work in this space.
Yes, thank you.
As with the climate resilience work underway in District 12,
which I'll speak about shortly,
the reopening of Topanga Canyon Boulevard
reflects months of critical work and collaboration.
With this reopening, Caltrans is connecting communities
still navigating the recovery from these devastating events.
Next slide.
Caltrans District 12 has launched two major
infrastructure resilience planning studies
along the Pacific Coast Highway in Orange County.
These efforts are driven by damage
from the 2023 atmospheric rivers storms,
which caused repeated closures
at Crystal Cove and Pulsa Chica
and highlighted increasing climate related risks.
The first study covers two highly vulnerable stretches
of PCH about roughly 4.4 miles.
The study will advance engineering design solutions
to improve long-term resiliency.
It includes an 18 months process of detailed analysis
and intensive community engagement.
A technical advisory committee has been formed included,
including local agencies such as city of Huntington Beach,
the OC flood control district,
OCTA regional water board,
state agencies including the coastal commission,
fish and wildlife state lands commission
and state parks and federal agencies as well
as industry stakeholders and technical experts
including biologists from Cal State Long Beach
and Virkel associates.
The tech just did its kickoff this last week.
The second study evaluates the full Caltrans manage length
of PCH in Orange County.
It will forecast future coastal conditions
and developed adaptable resilience concepts
for long-term infrastructure protection.
These studies strengthened the safety
and sustainability of PCH.
They improve community access to coastal resources,
support economic prosperity and enhance livability.
This work reflects Caltrans people first approach
and commitment to building climate resilient
and equitable transportation system.
Next slide.
I'll be following up on the report given in December
regarding the state highway operation protection program,
which we call SHOP.
Next slide.
For the next round of SHOP project funding,
I want to highlight how our planned and active investments
are delivering meaningful quality of life improvements
in communities across the state.
The 2026 shop portfolio includes 593 projects
totaling about $18 billion in capital investment.
As one regional example that I would like to spotlight
is a safety improvement project planned in Lancaster
on State Route 14 in Los Angeles County.
The construction is scheduled to begin in summer of 2028
and the project is roughly $16 million
in construction capital.
It features the addition of a roundabout
which will provide more predictable traffic flow
and reduce severe collisions by lowering speeds.
This corridor carries a high percentage of trucks,
about 15%.
The project will significantly reduce broadside collisions
and improve overall operations at this location.
As these investments move forward,
we remain committed to serving communities
across California by improving safety, connectivity,
and access to our multi-modal transportation network.
Next slide.
I think the Undersecretary has covered some of our DBE efforts. Next slide.
The only thing I really want to add and emphasize on this, we put out a call to action about a couple
of weeks ago to DBEs and to industry. And we are really committed to help DBEs through this process.
So I just want to make sure that they hear us that we are here. We've launched our website.
We have a number of webinars. We've got a lot of tools online and we have our staff standing by
to support, uh, with any information that's needed. Next slide. To share today highlights
Caltrans recent progress in supporting the development of California's middle mile broadband
network. As a quick reminder, um, Senate bill one 56 signed by governor Gavin Newsom in July of 2021
launched this effort to expand equitable high speed broadband access across the state.
Since then Caltrans has partnered closely with the California Department of Technology.
We are working on issuing encroachment permits that allow CDT's builders to construct broadband
infrastructure within the state highway system. I'm pleased to report that over the past few months
we've seen significant increase in the number of permits issued. Of the 3,337 miles of broadband
plan within the state right of way. Caltrans has now issued permits covering 38 percent,
more than 1,300 miles. Permits issued in January and February alone account for 225 of these
miles. I'm incredibly proud of our team's help to CDC partner builders that made this
real measurable progress and we are looking forward to really completing this alongside
with CDT. Just to give you a scale of the sense of the scale, we are looking at of those
1300 miles that are presented, they are presented 424 applications. So it's quite a number of
applications to get to those miles. We look forward to continue working with CDT to deliver
all the miles to meet our broadband initiative. Next slide. And I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you.
Thank you, Director Alta-Wansi. Before we go to questions and comments from the dais
and public comment, I just wanted to take a moment to recognize Senator Cortezi who
is online. Thank you, Senator, for joining us at our hearings today. Okay. We do have
have a public comment speaker slip from Mayor Victor Gordo with the City of Pasadena. Welcome
here.
Thank you, Madam Chair and congratulations to you. It really is poetic that you take
the seat this month when we celebrate women throughout the country and the world. Victor
Gordo, mayor of the city of Pasadena, a city that as many of you know, has been through
and rain and actually even ice. On the fire and rain storms I'm here to say
thank you to particularly director L. Twansi and director Roberts for their
partnership and their assistance. I'm also here to update you and say you know
what we've gone through so much at Pasadena we continue to move forward on
the 710 project. And we have made tremendous progress. And again, thank you to Director
El Tuanzi and Roberts for that progress. And when we also prepare for the Olympics,
and we hope that you will come and join us in the city of Pasadena, not just for the
Olympics, but we're hoping to host the commission's one day in the city of Pasadena leading up
to the Olympics while we can't offer the Pacific Ocean, Commissioner Mann will tell you that
Pasadena does have a lot to offer and we welcome your attendance in the city of Pasadena and I
extend that invitation. So thank you for your hard work all of you and welcome as the new chair and
And to my good friend, Jill,
congratulations on being Vice Chair.
Thank you so much, Mayor.
And we will note your invitation
and appreciate the partnership through the years
as it relates to the 710 work
that we've all been doing together.
So thank you.
Any comments from, well, actually, my apologies.
Any other public comment requests?
Thank you, Chair.
There's no other request from the public.
Comment on the item.
Okay, thank you, Justin.
Any questions or comments from the dais?
Okay.
Vice Chair Cruz, has their hand raised.
Okay, welcome vice chair.
Hey, good afternoon.
Sorry I couldn't hear you.
In present, but I wanna congratulate you first and foremost,
Madam Chair on your position,
and we're excited about the future
and we're excited about your leadership.
I also wanna thank the mayor, Victor Gordo for his work
over the past few years,
especially in light of some emergencies in Pasadena.
He's been a stalwart, not just in his capacity as mayor,
but also in his capacity at just the economy,
lifting people up and also representing working families
in the Los Angeles area.
So I wanted to say that, and thanks again for the time.
Thank you, Vice Chair.
Great to hear from you.
All right, anyone else from the dais
or virtually that would like to speak or have a question?
Okay, all right, then we will move forward.
Next item is update from FHWA.
Doug Hickox, are you here?
Oh, thank you.
Welcome.
It's great to be here with you.
I'm joined today by Federal Highway Administration's
Acting Director of Field Services for the West,
Ms. Alyssa Conove.
On behalf of everyone
in the Federal Highway Administration's
California division,
I wanna thank you for helping us
to keep America's roads safe.
Safety is a responsibility we all share
and the strength of our ongoing partnership
with Caltrans is key.
Given the tragic crash that took place
not far from here last December,
as well as another tragedy that took the lives
of Pepperdine University students two years earlier,
it's gratifying to know we share the same goal,
a safer road system for all Californians.
We appreciate the attention you were giving
to the ongoing need for greater safety
along the PCH corridor,
and we'll do everything we can to support your efforts.
We are at the halfway point for FY2026,
and we are making great progress
in obligating more than $5 billion
for highway projects across the state.
We're also preparing for August redistribution,
which estimated at $8.5 billion
will be very large this year.
We're working closely with the Caltrans financial team,
as well as MPOs and local agencies
to make sure California can fully obligate
its estimated share of that redistribution,
which is estimated at just a little over $678 million.
For clarity's sake, the August redistribution
is an annual process of redistributing
the current year's obligation limitation
that would otherwise lapse on September 30.
Simply put, this helps states make full use
of annual highway funding.
We wanna do our best to ensure that California
maximizes its use of highway funding
and is well-positioned to take advantage
of additional funding through this process.
I should also add that the Federal Highway Administration
just hours ago announced more than $21 million
in grant awards for 84 tribal road projects nationwide,
including five right here in California.
Funds will go to the Yurok tribe, the Bishop Paiute,
the 29 Palms Band of Mission Indians,
and two, for the Blue Lake Rancheria.
So congratulations to all of them.
We look forward to making sure
that those funds are used wisely and well.
A surface transportation reauthorization bill
is in development currently in Washington DC,
which will set the funding and programs
for the Federal Highway Administration
and other federal DOT modes over the next several years.
Our current authority expires at the end of September
and we'll provide any updates on reauthorization developments
as information becomes available.
The Federal Highway Administration is working to improve safety and mobility on more than
4.2 million miles of public road, including 49,000 miles of interstate, 624,000 bridges,
and 580 tunnels nationwide.
But our success depends on blending innovation with a back-to-basics mentality, which will
streamline the design, construction, and maintenance of the nation's highway system to ensure that
America's roads are the safest in the world.
To that end, Caltrans is helping the Federal Highway Administration to build better, bigger,
and faster than ever, and has taken our Every Day Counts, or EDC, initiative to heart.
Now in its eighth round, Caltrans is building on the successes of previous years and promoting
everything from smarter nighttime work zone practices to high reliability data sharing
tools.
Caltrans is also exploring alternative project delivery methods to deliver projects faster,
smarter and with better long-term outcomes.
They are pioneering connected corridors
to help states work in a coordinated shared approach
while ensuring that each agency retains control
over its own data and platforms.
From integrated digital project delivery
to subsurface utility engineering,
our EDC program is paving the way
to a safer future for all road users,
especially here in California.
Under the leadership of Director Al Tawansi,
Caltrans is doing a great job.
She's got a great team.
For example, Diana Campbell and her asset management team are finalizing the state's
quadrennial transportation asset management plan.
It is on schedule to be completed in the next couple of months and is an important part
of the financial future for California's highways, bridges and tunnels.
It's a pretty heavy lift, but our team and the Caltrans team are working very well together.
They are keeping this important accountability project on track.
Similarly, Caltrans has embraced our Safe Roads initiative and is highlighting several
projects, such as the Avalon Boulevard Safety Project in LA, which is a data driven application
of our proven safety countermeasures. We are sharing it with our headquarters team in Washington,
DC as one of the many examples, one of the best examples of innovative and forward leaning
road safety efforts happening right here in the Golden State. Working together with Caltrans,
CalSTA, and with this commission, the Federal Highway Administration will continue working
toward the goal of safer roads in cities, in rural towns and townships, and on tribal lands.
Above all, we will continue our work to keep everyone on our roads safe.
Everyone deserves to get home safely, and with your help, they will. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Haycox. Any public comment, Justin?
Chair, there was no request to comment from the public on the item. Thank you.
Okay. Any questions from the dais, we have virtually Commissioner Elliot online.
Thanks very much. Good afternoon. Sorry, I'm not there with you in person. Thanks for the
presentation, Mr. Haggox. I have a question for you. And the question pertains, it's a general
question. It's on my mind because of an item that we have on our agenda, which we'll probably get
to tomorrow. It's a director's deed for Lemon Grove for an excess site. I'm not going to
ask about that item in particular because we will deal with that item as regular commission
business. But I do have a question for you on behalf of the FHWA. Before I was on the
transportation commission, I worked in the state government for a number of years. And one of the
things that we did was try to prioritize excess land for socially beneficial uses,
specifically for helping to house the homeless in California,
which I know is a priority that the Federal Administration shares.
I recall in my time,
a number of below market leases that the Federal Government,
through various administrations,
including the previous iteration of this administration,
approved below market leases so that
the state could more effectively serve its needs around homelessness.
I can think of a couple.
There's a huge implementation in Oakland that I visited,
the community cabins.
There was one in San Francisco Division Circle,
which I personally worked on both when I was in the city
and at the state.
So I know this issue,
I've a lot of familiarity with this issue.
My question for you is not specifically about Lemon Grove
because that's an item that will take up
as commission business.
I don't want to go out of order.
My question for you is one that's more in general.
Is the Trump administration and this FHWA inclined
to support states and specifically California
with below market lease approvals for homeless facilities
or is the position changed
and the federal government is no longer going to support
California with below market leases.
In this particular case,
which I don't want to talk about specifically,
it's costing San Diego a million dollars.
A million dollars they can't spend on public safety.
A million dollars they can't spend on cops and sheriffs.
A million dollars they can't spend on outreach.
We'll deal with the particulars of that case
when we get to the item.
My question is, one, about general policy of FHWA.
So I'll turn the mic over to you
if you want me to expand on my question.
I'm happy to, but I don't want a filibuster.
Okay, thank you for the question.
It's a good question.
I'm happy to follow up with you later,
but in the meantime, I will simply point out
that our hands are guided by the 23 CFR rules,
23 CFR 710.409, as well as the ongoing federal,
state stewardship and oversight agreement
we have with Caltrans. There are some things that we are a little limited by, but as you say,
we share a similar goal. So I look forward to talking with you further, find out where we can
find some happy medium, if possible, and we'll do the best we can, but I appreciate the question.
Thanks. I would like to follow up in whether it's appropriate for me as a commissioner to do that,
or whether it's through Caltrans or CTC staff. I'll leave that to Paul to think through. I don't
want to be inappropriate in my engagement here. If we find common ground, that's wonderful.
If we don't find common ground and the policy shift of the Trump administration is to deny
California its ability to serve its homeless population, that's going to be a real problem
for me. So I do hope that we can find common ground here, even if I'm not part of those
conversations, because I shouldn't appropriately be. I'll leave that in Paul's hands.
Yeah and Commissioner Elliott's staff will follow up with FHWA staff and Caltrans on this.
Thanks. I'd like to request at our next commission meeting that we have an item on this and whether
I have to propose that during commissioner comments or however whatever the proper process is but I
like to have a specific item on this specific question which is the FHWA's evolving denial of
below market leases. Thanks. Thank you for bringing this up Commissioner Elliott and thank you Mr.
Mr. Hecox? Is there any other comments or questions from the dais or virtually?
Actually, I have one, Madam Chair.
Okay, Vice Chair Cruz, please proceed.
Just to piggyback on Commissioner Elliott's comments, I appreciate Mr. Hecox's time,
but obviously considering where we're at, as far as meeting our affordable housing and
homelessness issues in California, you know, public planning is scarce and a valuable resource
obviously, and decisions about its use should be to reflect the community needs, and chief among
them is access to safe, stable, and affordable housing, first and foremost. And, you know,
as we move forward, I'd like to see some safeguards in place that would ensure these outcomes and the
public benefit is first and foremost a number one objective as we make decisions both on the
federal and state level. So being part of that conversation would be important to me as well.
Thank you for your comments, Vice Chair, and noted as well. So we do have some follow-up with you,
but we appreciate your update and I guess more to come in these conversations. So
okay, before we get to Louis Sal, I know that you're itching to come up to the podium. We do have
our host, Joe Ervin, who is City Manager of the City of Malibu, I understand, is here
to do the Welcome to the Region. So thank you for having us at your wonderful City Hall.
Thank you very much for making the trip to Malibu and holding the California Transportation
Commission meeting here. We're grateful that you chose our community. Before we get started,
I'd like to acknowledge that the land we gather on today is traditional lands of the Chumash
people. We would like to pay our respects to the elders both the past and present and to the
Chumash communities who continue to be stewards of this land. As you all know Malibu is globally
famous but its transportation reality is highly specific. We are a wildland interface community
and like many coastal towns across California we're facing the perfect storm of constrained
road networks, climate impacts, and an urgent safety mandate. To understand why transportation
requires such an intense interagency teamwork, you first have to look at our dual identity.
Our permanent population is approximately 10,000 people. However, travel demand isn't driven by
residents alone, there's many visitors, millions who are seeking out peace and enjoyment at the
beach who travel here year-round to visit beautiful Malibu beaches. The seasonality of our heart,
this seasonality is the heartbeat of our economy. July through September, we generate approximately
20 percent more in sales tax than any other quarter and the transportation system is the
lifeblood of our local economy as well as a safety network for our residents.
Pacific Coast Highway State Route 1 is the city's main street. On average 40,500 vehicles travel
this stretch each day totaling over 1.2 million a month. When you combine that volume with the road
that must simultaneously serve driveways, school buses, surfers, cyclists, and emergency responders,
you get a safety profile that becomes incredibly complex. 19 signals across 21 miles of Malibu
coastline see an average of more than one collision a day, which goes on to show the high speeds
and heavy congestion have potential life and death consequences here for our residents.
It may surprise you to hear that nearly 15% of those collisions are linked to parking maneuvers.
This makes parking policies not just an exercise in convenience but one of public safety.
Furthermore, we can't hear or car our way out of this situation. Our transit options are limited.
Metro Route 134 is a vital link to Santa Monica, but it doesn't run at night and it doesn't serve
neighborhoods like Point Doom. And this is something that we want to focus on trying to
find ways to connect to our neighboring communities, whether over the hill or further down south with
more extended hours. We do have the dial ride program and that's great for our residents that
need that and that is an essential service that we appreciate. The high-risk environment
of the weather, wildfires, mudslides, tsunamis, our evacuation planning efforts, with one
corridor and a few mountain outlets, lend itself for very little room for error. And
we don't have the luxury of trial and error during an emergency, so we need pre-coordinated
playbooks ready to go. I've been City Manager here now for this is my third week and I've gotten the
chance to meet my team and the people that serve this community are extremely talented and they
are second to none when it comes to emergency response and being prepared. But it's integral
that our partners from the region are aligned with us on those preparations and those plans
that we want to make to make Malibu safe as possible for us who live here and for those
who come and visit to enjoy our beautiful place. I'd like to highlight some of the projects that
state, city, and regional partners have worked on together to implement here. Our 19 million dollar
award-winning signal signalization project is now live. That's a huge exciting project for our
community. This allows Caltrans to manage 12 smart corridor signals in
real time. This is going to be a benefit to our community we appreciate
partnership. Caltrans is also investing 149 million dollars through 2030 on
rehab to our roads while adding bike lanes, sidewalks, ADA compliant transit
stops as well. In close partnership with Caltrans district 7 we're working on
finalizing our PCH master plan, which outlines strategies for solutions in the short term,
mid term, and long term. Following the 2025 Palisades fire, we were actively and continue
to actively engage with Caltrans about slope stabilization projects and retaining wall work
to prevent the bottlenecks that occur when the earth meets the road in unplanned situations.
Um next City Council meeting is March 23rd and we are planning to present the automated speed cameras project. This is a very exciting project as well. That'll help to manage speeding in the city limits.
Last night we had an appeal that Council voted to deny the appeal request.
And this was involving the PCH quick build roundabouts at El Matador and Ensignal Canyon.
This is a pilot project that's helping to be funded by a Supervisor Horvath's office.
And we will continue to have outreach to our community and a public hearing with our council
to further discuss the project.
But last night was a first step.
As you continue your work today, I invite you to look at Malibu as more than just a beautiful
meeting venue.
We're really a real world example of policy questions you wrestle with every day.
How do we deliver complete streets on narrow streets?
How do we adapt to climate change issues?
We're eager to explore opportunities with Metro to expand route 134 and other routes
associated with that.
We believe this integrated multimodal approach is the future for California coastal communities.
I thank you again and all of our partners at Caltrans and Metro for coming to Malibu
today.
I hope you'll see that Malibu is not just a system under pressure, but a place where
we are proving that collaboration and innovation can build safer, more resilient California
together.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Ervin, and congratulations on your new role.
We have any public comment on Mr. Evans comments?
No, there was no request to comment on the item.
Okay, any comments or questions we do have?
Okay, Commissioner Lugo.
Thank you for the presentation
and the warm welcome to Malibu.
So I'm one of the commissioners who lives here in LA
and Malibu is so beautiful, such a pleasure
to have a reason to come out here.
And I was wondering if the city has explored,
I think you mentioned something about air access.
If you all have looked at urban aerial mobility technologies,
it really has seemed to me looking at
our state transportation system
that some of our coastal zones
where there's limited road access
and where we have repeated mudslides and challenges
to that road access seem like good candidates
just on paper for getting some, you know,
actual air taxi kind of stuff in place.
Is that something that the city of Malibu
has looked at at all?
So there's air and then I was also wondering about water
in terms of ferries and connecting down
to further down in Santa Monica Bay.
Thank you very much for the question.
Commissioner Lugo, great.
Happy to meet you and know that you're in our area
representing us.
I have not heard anything about aerial transit as of yet,
but there have been a couple meetings I've met with some
in the Chamber of Commerce,
as well as a couple other transportation groups
that were talking about this item called the Blue Line.
And it's a network of ferry systems.
The city's not the lead entity there,
but we're participating in those meetings
to gain more information,
to see how we could be one of the stops
there was to be a ferry system put up and down Santa Monica Bay connecting the cities.
All right, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else on the dais? Okay, very interesting comments,
Commissioner Lugo, especially given the tour that we had yesterday with Caltrans District 7,
Sharing the projects and the interplay of challenges
in the city, doing its work in the recovery efforts
as well as Caltrans, and so it's very delicate.
And so the suggestions are quite interesting
given the topographical and geographical
or geological challenges in this area.
And so appreciate that and maybe some food for thought
for innovative ideas.
One thing I wanted to mention, we couldn't escape me
is the surfboards.
And the yellow bolt on one of the surfboards
as a longtime San Diegan just saw that and thought very
nostalgically about the chargers.
But anyway, sorry, I couldn't help.
I'm like, oh, that was a trigger there.
Again, you know we we really appreciate, you know the the emphasis that your city and Caltrans is is focused on safety
Particularly in PCH and we saw those challenges and the very narrow opportunities that
are available to
You know to proceed with complete streets and safety measures and so it's not easy work
of course it draws some questions from the community.
But the focus on safety is really important
given incidents that have happened in the near past.
And so we are willing partners in this commission,
especially when it comes to communities and safety.
And so appreciate again, the work that your city is doing
and the partnership that you have with the state
in managing some very delicate areas of projects
and continuing to serve your community.
So thank you for being here
and for hosting us at your city hall.
Thank you.
All right, now Mr. Zhao can come up
for regional agency update.
Good afternoon, Chair Falcone, Vice Chair Cruz,
Deputy Executive Director Golozsky, Senator Cortese,
Director El Tawansi, Undersecretary Hacker,
and commissioners, it's a lot to say.
My name is Louis Zhao
with the Orange County Transportation Authority,
and I'm serving as this year's RTP moderator.
First, I'd like to express my sincere appreciation
for Doug Remedios from the CTC,
and Brittany Sallamaw from the city of Malibu
for helping a secure space yesterday for our meeting.
I know it took a lot of coordination
and I truly appreciate their efforts.
So thank you.
My update today is brief
and I have a few items to highlight.
First, I want to revisit the previous toll credit issue
that I discussed in the last two meetings
as it continues to present challenges
for many transmission agencies.
By way of background,
many agencies rely on toll credits
to maximize federal funding for projects
and transit agents depend on them
to fully leverage federal transit operations funding.
Toll credit availability has become critically low.
Recent estimates indicate significant impacts
to transportation projects,
as current projections show that regions may exhaust
any of the remaining toll credits very quickly.
Additionally, our rural transit operators
could face budget impacts,
which would significantly impact their transit operations
and funding availability
in some of our most critical areas of the state.
The regions will continue to work with Caltrans and FHWA to advance toll credit requests and
evaluate next steps.
The RTPAs would like to express support for both the 2026 SHOP and 2026 STIP staff recommendations.
These programs include multimodal, high-priority projects that improve mobility, support economic
growth and enhance safety.
I'd like to sincerely thank staff at both CTC and Caltrans, particularly Laurie Waters,
Sheila Einz, John Pray, Casey Moore Gutierrez,
Tim Sobelman, Teresa Favela, Juan Guzman, Diane Campbell,
and Rich Stone for their efforts in supporting the regions
and program development leading up
to the staff recommendations you see today.
It was truly a collaborative effort.
RTPS would also like to express support
for the approval of the Federal Transit Administration
5310 Programmer Projects, providing needed funding
to support our seniors and persons with disabilities
in our rural and small urban regions.
It's a sincere thank you to Kat Kim for her support.
That concludes my remarks.
I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you, Louis.
Any public comment, Justin?
We do not receive any requests to comment on this item.
Okay, thank you.
Any questions or comments from the dais or virtually?
Next, we've got Aaron Hoyt
with the Rural Counties Task Force.
Good afternoon, Chair Falcone, Vice Chair Cruz,
Commissioners, Undersecretary Hacker,
Director El-Tawansi, Senator Cortese,
and Chief Deputy Director Golosowski.
Thank you again.
My name is Aaron Hoyt,
Chair for the Rural Counties Task Force.
And I just wanna share a few updates
that the RCTF last met with your staff,
the CTC and Caltrans on March 13th,
where we heard a number of informative updates
on the AB 251 Vehicle Weight Study, legislative updates,
SB1 competitive programs,
and the Caltrans coal credit policy,
which we do echo some similar concerns
as mentioned by Louis Al.
But with respect to today's and tomorrow's agenda,
I wanted to highlight a few things.
We'd like to thank Anya Allenbacher,
Aleeka Changizi and Jayden Gales for their tireless work
on engaging the regions in open and transparent process
and updating the 2027
active transportation program guidelines.
We do support the adoption of those.
I'd also like to thank Lori Waters and her team
of Sheelanus, Casey Moore Gutierrez,
for their work in stitching together
the regional transportation improvement programs
and the inter-regional transportation improvement program
into this 2026 State Transportation Improvement Program.
I'm gonna have to rely on acronyms after this
because that's a mouthful.
So, although the RCTF member county's shares
of the RTIP are relatively modest.
For example, in Nevada County, it's $5 million
over the course of the STIP share.
Those monies are very critical
in leveraging other state and federal funds
to deliver a diverse portfolio.
And what I can't underscore enough
is high priority projects in our regions.
So for that reason, we urge the adoption of the 2026 STIP
and the regionally identified priorities.
And finally, we support the 5310 program of projects
that will enable the operators to maintain a state
of good repair on their fleets
as well as deliver important programs to community members.
So in closing, I just wanna say that the RCTF
is always thankful and appreciative of your staff's time
and Caltrans time and engaging us on topics
that are currently going on
and those that are coming down the pipeline.
So I just wanna thank you again
for the opportunity to speak today.
Thank you, Erin.
Any public comment, Justin?
No, there was no request to comment from the public.
Okay, thank you.
Any requests from Zabdias or virtually?
Okay, all right, thank you for your partnership
and good to see you.
Yep, yep, okay.
Okay, we will not be hearing from Self-Help Counties
this hearing, but we do have, let's see,
Okay. Thank you. And tab 14 equity initiatives update with Sequoia. Thank you, Chair. Good afternoon.
Commissioners have 14 features are standing equity initiatives update. I will provide some brief updates focused on our interagency equity advisory commit committee initiatives and outcomes and following my updates newly elected committee chair on a Gonzales.
And then we will receive our virtual EAC member spotlight presentation from EAC member Naomi
Iwasaki.
We have a lot to share today.
I'll start by providing an update on the committee's recent efforts during the inter-agency equity
advisory committee met on March 4, 2026.
During that meeting, members elected on the Gonzales as Chair and Andres Ramirez as Vice
Chair for the 2026 term.
The committee received and provided input on several key items, including the draft
vehicle weight safety study report to the legislature, an update on the zero emission
vehicle equity action plan from the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development
discussions on the 2026 Interagency Committee work plan. The committee has
continued to provide early substantive input on key commission priorities and
next I will provide a few updates on recent advisory recommendations that are
part of today's meeting. First I'll provide an update on feedback and
questions related to findings from the Assembly Bill 251 vehicle weight safety
City Task Force. On December 12th, 2025, Commission staff presented the draft
findings to the Planning and Program Guidance Subcommittee of the EAC. Feedback
on the task force findings were incorporated into the draft vehicle
weight safety study report to the legislature, which will be presented to
the Commission later on in this agenda. And the draft report was also presented
to the EAC at our March meeting and staff captured feedback during that
meeting to inform the final report. Next I will provide an update on member
involvement and updates to the state transportation improvement program
guidelines. In summer 2025 members were provided an opportunity to review and
provide input on the draft guidelines and in response to member feedback staff
included the addition of a glossary of terms, which have been incorporated.
Additionally, members have had an opportunity to review and provide input on the 2027 draft
active transportation program guidelines, and members highlighted the importance of
incorporating more inclusive language to encompass all active transportation users, which are
proposed for adoption today.
These updates will also be added into the application questions and scoring rubrics,
now referencing walking, biking, and rolling instead of just walking and biking, which
was used previously.
The committee is also actively engaged in the development of the Senate Bill 1, Cycle
5, Funding Program Guidelines and Equity Supplement updates.
Through this work, members are providing recommendations on how the commission can strengthen equitable
outcomes and enhanced community engagement within SB1 program policies.
Participating members are helping shape how approximately $1.5 billion in funding is prioritized
and awarded across major program areas including rail, transit, highways, active transportation,
congestion relief, and freight within the framework of existing statutory requirements.
Overall, these efforts reflect the committee's continued role in providing actionable, equity-centered
input at key decision points and helping to inform both policy development and funding
outcomes.
So that concludes my remarks.
I'll now turn it over to committee chair Ana Gonzalez to provide brief remarks.
Thank you, Ana.
Hi.
Good afternoon, everyone.
As it was mentioned, my name is Ana Gonzalez.
I'm a resident of the city of Rialto in San Bernardino County, which is under Caltrans
District 8.
I also represent unceded land of Uhabitam and Tongva peoples, and I am just very honored
to be here in presence.
I want to first congratulate and uplift Chair Falcone.
We are so excited to have you and just, you know, work alongside this year with you and
and all the efforts that we're working on.
I am humbled and honored to serve as your new EAC chair.
I want to also uplift the people of the Inland Empire
where I serve in the worst air quality in the nation.
And I know we can move forward
to do so much better work for their justice.
I want to express my deepest gratitude, again, to serve.
It is a privilege I do not take lightly.
This is not just a title for me.
It is a commitment to each and every one of you
and to all Californians who look up to our work
and create a more just and equitable transportation system.
Is that body okay?
Okay, I'm just hearing, all right.
And as I serve in this role, I also wanna advocate
for sustainable and equitable transportation solutions.
Today, as you deliberate on the funding proposals
for various projects across our great state,
I urge you to consider the long-term impacts of our choices,
not just for today, but for generations to come.
For far too long, California has poured billions of dollars
into expanding our freeway system, highway system,
with the misguided belief that more lanes, expansions,
will reduce traffic congestion.
But what we have seen time and time again
is that this approach only exacerbates
the very problems it seeks to solve.
The increased traffic not only results in smog choked air
and rising greenhouse gas emissions,
but also leads to the displacement of families,
harms our communities, and countless accidents on our roads.
Recent studies show that California drivers
are losing on average nearly three and a half days
each year due to traffic congestion,
costing them approximately $1,700 in wasted fuel.
This is not just a statistic.
It represents real hardship for families
trying to make ends meet.
It is time we shift our focus from an outdated model
of transportation that prioritizes cars over people
and instead invest in the future of our communities.
The choice before us is clear.
We can either continue to fund a failing system
that degrades our quality of life,
or we can invest in smart, sustainable solutions
that uplift our communities, such as complete streets.
Let's choose to fund green safe projects
that foster inclusivity, accessibility
and environmental health.
Let's create a California
that embraces active transportation modes
and supports public transit ensures that everyone,
regardless of their background or income,
has the opportunity to thrive.
Let's not forget about our community with disabilities
who have been a huge voice in our committee
over and over again.
I urge each of you to vote against funding
for highway expansions and instead prioritize projects
that reflect the needs and aspirations of our communities.
I know we can do better for all Californians.
We can create meaningful difference
in our transportation landscape
and create a greener, healthier California for all.
Thank you so much for your time
and I look forward to working
with each and every one of you.
Thank you, Chair Gonzalez.
So to round out today's item, committee member Naomi Iwasaki,
who's joining us virtually,
will share reflections of her experience.
She's on my, good, and on the EAC.
A member of Iwasaki serves as Vice President
of California Planning at STEER
and brings extensive experience advancing equity
across transportation planning.
Turning it to you now, member Iwasaki, thank you.
Thank you Sequoia.
Can everyone hear me okay?
Or please interrupt me if you can't hear me, I guess.
Yes, we can hear you.
Thank you.
Thank you again to Sequoia and really all of the
inter-agency staff at Caltrans, CTC, and CalSTA
who are truly the engine behind the equity advisory committee
and allow us to meet and discuss and advise
the three agencies on transportation policy and programs.
and congratulations again to Chair Gonzalez.
Very excited and confident in her leadership
to lead the EAC this year.
As Sequoia mentioned, my name is Naomi Iwasaki.
I am a member of the EAC.
I just finished my first year with the committee.
I am based in District 7 here in Los Angeles,
also on unceded Tongva and Chumash land.
I'm very excited to be with all of you today.
It has been an amazing year with the EAC, not only to have the opportunity to advise
agencies but to meet advocates and workers and just subject matter experts from across
the state representing our beautiful California who are just committed and dedicated and bring
all sorts of perspectives and great ideas to make our state even better.
I had previously also served this year as the Chair of the Data Implementation Subcommittee,
and I'm very excited for the opportunity for our subcommittees to continue to dive deeper
into some of our state's transportation policies and programs to really center marginalized
communities and identify opportunities to embed equity in our decision-making and outcomes.
I have a presentation that just covers some of the work that I
do personally here in Southern California through my day job.
I am a transportation consultant by trade.
I'm currently with Steer, but some of these projects
were from a previous consultancy that I worked with called HDR.
So we can go to the next slide, please.
Oh, sorry, I forgot about this.
But I think everyone can perhaps relate to the past year.
of really trying to adapt to what feels like sometimes an onslaught of uncertainty in our
news feed and in our surrounding communities. But I think whenever the going gets tough,
what we find is that through community and through finding shared values with each other,
we can all persist through adversity and come together to collaborate and coordinate
across communities as well. Next slide, please. This first project I want to highlight is just
up the road from where those of you in Malibu are now in Ventura County at the Port of
Wainome right next to the cities of Oxnard, City Port, Port Wainome and the Channel Islands.
It's a smaller port than some of the other ones in southern California that get a lot
of attention, but they are doing amazing things around workforce development and decarbonization
and clean energy along the port, and really have emerged as a community resource for the
residents and workers in the local area. If you're not familiar with that part of the
Central Coast, it really is a microcosm, I think, of California, where you have beautiful
sandy beaches, also a superfund site, and you have wealthy retirees, and you have people
who are workers, everyday laborers, and also work in agriculture feeding not just our region,
our state, but also the country and the world. And so the port really has identified itself
as an opportunity for economic advancement through jobs and contracts and union membership
and has really put forth efforts to be not just a maritime facility that brings
and exports goods from our country, but also a local resource through local higher initiatives
and commitments for the community. This photo is of their annual banana festival, which is
sponsored by some of their vendors at Chiquita and Del Monte. And despite the ongoing rates
that Ventura County and those neighborhoods are seeing from ICE, there still were a lot of folks
who came out who wanted to be in community and joy with each other this past fall. Next slide,
please. This project is called the Rosewood Complete Corridor Vision Plan, and Rosewood is
a mashup of two streets names, Rosemead Boulevard and Lakewood Boulevard, who are two different
street names but comprise a singular corridor that stretches from the foothills of the San Gabriel
Mountains in Los Angeles County, down south all the way to the city of Long Beach and the ocean.
So it really is a regional connector
that connects some of the most iconic geographies
of Southern California, which are the mountains and the sea.
This project is identifying the southern portion
of the corridor through what we call the Gateway
of Southern California to identify opportunities
for best rapid transit, active transportation improvements
and transit oriented development opportunities.
It's a 16-mile corridor that traverses six cities,
Pico Rivera, Downey, Bellflower,
Paramount, Lakewood, and Long Beach.
And anybody that ever tries to coordinate
across jurisdictions knows that deciding
on one street design may not always happen,
but there are opportunities with treatments
like bus rapid transit to have varying levels
of robust transit separation from the rest of the street.
And so BRT is a great test case
for providing multimodal options along a corridor,
but at the scale that individual jurisdictions
are comfortable with redesigning
and repurposing their streets in public space.
It's an exciting project,
not only because of the opportunity
to increase opportunities for multimodal transportation
And safety, but we utilized a lot of engagement with cities with elected officials and of course, with community members to identify specific spots for transient development along the corridor and really make this a regional regional corridor where there is currently a transit gap going north and south.
Next slide, please.
So I'll close out with a little bit about my service
on the board of Little Tokyo Service Center.
LTSC is a 45-year-old nonprofit organization
based in Little Tokyo,
which is a over 130-year-old neighborhood
next to downtown Los Angeles
and one of the last three remaining
Japan towns in the United States.
Since 1980, LTSC has provided crisis support
and helped the Japanese-speaking and API community
navigate various systems and issues,
ranging from immigration, education, traffic crashes,
illness, drug abuse, relationships,
and intimate violent crises, and other emergencies,
including providing support for fire survivors
during last year's Eden and Palisades fires.
They incorporated an affordable housing development portfolio
in 1987 for low-income residents and seniors
of all backgrounds in Little Tokyo,
as well as across Los Angeles County,
and are working with partners to address
the affordable housing and homeless crisis
that plagues our city as well as many others in this country.
And last year, their most recent
affordable housing development, Umea Village,
transformed an old Japanese rice cake factory
that was on the border of Little Tokyo and Skid Row
to develop 175 deeply affordable housing
and permanent supportive housing units
with community commercial and service provider ground floor space.
So I know that this committee understands the deep connection between affordable housing
and transportation to develop equitable and healthy communities.
So I hope that it's heartening to hear that there is some progress being made, even in
Los Angeles.
And lastly, this photo on the top on the right is one of our co-executive directors, Peter
And on the left is City of Los Angeles Council Member Isabelle Gerado of the 14th district,
which is where Little Tokyo is.
And this is at a demonstration denouncing the ICE raids that have been taking place
for now almost a year throughout Southern California.
I am a Japanese American, and Little Tokyo Service Center serves the Japanese American
community.
multi-generational community who, during World War II,
over 120,000 of our now grandparents, uncles, and aunties
were interned in incarceration camps across the Western US.
And so to come from a community where one day
the federal government determined us to be enemies
and federal agents came and took community members
and our family members from their homes and businesses
To see that playing out again in an echo
of what the federal government can do
when it determines a community to be an enemy
is something that we cannot stand for.
And so I'm very proud to be a board member
of an organization that stands up to what is happening
to terrorize communities, families,
and people and residents who are working
for a better life here in Los Angeles.
With that, thank you very much for your time
and allowing me to share my update
and some of the stuff that we're up to here in Los Angeles.
I'm happy to answer any questions.
And if not, have a great rest of your meeting and week.
Thank you, Member Iwasaki,
and I appreciate you bringing up the projects
that you're working on and the passion that you bring
to your community in Little Tokyo.
It's an area that my children
and I used to frequent quite a bit.
and look forward to seeing some of the progress
as you laid out, particularly relating
to the affordable housing projects.
And congratulations to Chair Gonzalez.
I look forward to partnering with you
as fellow women chairs in this space
and when I uplift the work that you
and your colleagues do at the EAC.
It's important and you've heard through the years
from commission comments and questions
and just participating in your meetings
that we're very passionate about the work
that you do as well.
Without any public comment, Justin?
There was no request to comment on this item.
Okay, thank you.
Any comments or questions from the dais or virtually?
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Sequoia.
All right, next we've got tab 15,
state and federal legislative matters, Justin Barents.
Good afternoon, commissioners.
Tab 15 is the report on state
and federal legislative matters.
This is a brief update today.
The deadline for bills to be introduced
was February 20th, and since then commission staff
have identified about 35 bills
that we are actively tracking
pursuant to the commission's bill monitoring policy.
Those bills are included with the book item
as attachment A.
Committees in the Senate and Assembly
begun to meet to hear bills and those hearings are expected to continue through April, but staff is
not recommending the commission adopt the position of any bills this time. Staff continues to meet
with bill authors and committee staff to offer technical assistance on those bills. Committee's
are also meeting to consider proposals from the governor's January budget and the May revision of
the budget is expected to be released shortly before the commission's next meeting and staff
will provide an update on the revised budget at that time. And that concludes my report.
Thank you, Justin. Any public comment? No, there was no request to comment on this item.
Okay, thank you. Any questions or comments from the dais or virtually?
Okay, I think we need a beach break pretty soon here, everyone.
All right. Back at you, Justin, for the budget and allocation capacity.
Commissioner's tab 16 is an informational item. Keep Duncan from Caltrans Budgets is here virtually
and will present the update on budget and allocation capacity. Keith. Thank you, Justin.
Madam Chair, commissioners, good afternoon. Happy Thursday. As mentioned, Keith Duncan, Caltrans
Budgets, and I'll be providing the presentation for tab 16, the budget and allocation capacity
update. Next slide, please. As noted in your agenda material and the slide before you,
And then through January, the
commission has allocated $4.6
billion onto 548 projects across
all programs within your purview.
That still leaves about $6.7
billion still to allocate for the
rest of this year and looking at
the January, over $800 million for
your consideration, so it's good
to see additional monies
potentially being invested in.
Next slide, please.
As we try to do, we try to just
you can see the redish orange line of the unit of measure for this slide is percent allocated, and you can see so far this year, the trends are much higher than we've seen over the last few years. So that's a great trend there. Next slide, please.
And here this the unit of measure is the total dollars allocated. And unfortunately, we're a little below where we were two years ago, but we are higher than we were last year. So trending in the right direction in that regards.
for the first time in a few
minutes. So we will see how
this works. Next slide, please.
Next, just wanted to kind of
just to show how each of the
respective programs within your
purview are being allocated
through the year. You can see
obviously the shop is to
continue to be a focus of ours
at Caltrans as well as with
commission staff in relation to
the allocation plan and I'll
we're monitoring them just to see what projects are gonna be planned to be allocated for the
rest of the year just to evaluate what any fiscal risks and if we do see any fiscal risk we will
plan to provide that update to you at the upcoming commission meetings. Next slide please. In relation
to various other budgetary fiscal updates from a federal funding perspective specific to fiscal
management the formula funds that we California receives through the federal highway administration
and those are the funding source for our core programs that go through the commission,
those funds continue to come to us uninterrupted. So we continue to be able to allocate funds,
continue to be able to obligate the funds, so we're not experiencing any funding issues
in that regards there. As noted earlier by the acting FHWA administrator Doug Hickox,
August redistribution, it seems kind of odd to be talking about August when we're in the middle of
March, but we are continuing to look in the head to see what we can do to maximize any available
federal funds so both the state and the local agencies are digging in so we can try to make
sure that we maximize use everything that's given to us so then we can try to maximize that August
redistribution delivery. So fingers crossed we'll be able to continue to recover a lot more for that.
The other item when it comes to federal funds is the discretionary and competitive grant funds.
We continue to see some delays, additional call for projects, issuance of grant awards,
even issuance of grant agreements. Continue to see delays in that happening at the federal level.
We've seen that happen at least over a little over a year now that it's been delayed. One of
the challenges or one of the issues that does grow concern is that we are getting closer to the end
of the five-year Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act. So as we get to the end, if these grant awards
aren't awarded and the funds aren't obligated, that's risk of those funds no longer being
available to grant awardees. So we are monitoring that closely, don't have any specific details yet
but as we get more we will share more through the Commission and upcoming meetings. The next item
I think was a hot topic, we had a hot topic of discussion at the January meeting and that's the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration penalty. We do know that the Department of Motor
Vehicles continues to work to align to meet federal requirements when it comes to the issuance of
commercial driver's licenses but we have not received any further updates in relation to the
penalty that was announced. The good thing is that the penalty wouldn't be assessed until next
federal fiscal year so there's still time to work through some of those challenges but as we get
more information regarding the penalty and whether that penalty will continue to be
considered for the upcoming fiscal year we'll definitely let you know because we are keeping
open communication lines with our friends at the Federal Highway Administration but also with our
friends at DMV and then working through USDOT as well. And the last item on the slide here is just
a shop allocation plan update. We continue to monitor the allocation rate and the projects
coming forward within the shop. Caltrans, we do continue to see bid savings and award current
year. It is trending much higher than we've seen last fiscal year. I believe through the month of
February, we're already exceeding what we saw all of last year, almost by 60 to 70%. So that bid
savings does provide us a little bit of flexibility or a little more comfort when it comes to fiscal
availability within the shop. We continue to monitor emergency spending. The weather's great
outside, but we also know that the risk of emergency, so we continue to monitor potential
emergency projects that are coming in. And then as you will see or as at least you may have noticed
in your agenda material all of the shop allocation capital allocations that are here over the next
two days for your consideration they do meet the allocation criteria that we presented to you back
in December. Next slide please. Looking ahead when it comes to May we are in the middle of the fun
budget process when it comes to the upcoming fiscal year of 2026-27. As we look forward to
May, that'll be the release of the May revise by May 14th. And as part of the May revise, we'll
also include updated revenue forecasts and that's both for the general fund as well as for our
transportation revenue. So we'll be monitoring that quite closely. And then looking ahead to June,
that's the budget it is anticipated to be approved by the legislature by June 15th
And signed by the governor by June 30 so we can fingers cross having an enacted budget in place
by July 1st. And then at the June commission meeting we will be presenting you the draft
2026-27 allocation capacity. Basically here's next year's funds that you get to allocate onto
new projects. So next slide please. Now again I know you've asked that I no longer show
pictures of clips but I do want to be able to highlight that this is a behind the scenes or
I guess you can say above the scenes of the great work that our maintenance forces do above
Pacific Coast Highway there. I'm just showing again showing off some of the great work that
we don't always see. But I do want to offer my thanks to CTC staff, our Caltrans financial
programming team, as well as our Caltrans budgets team, as I say all the time and it can be never
understated. It takes a team and a village to manage the billions within transportation. So I
I think everyone's helped and I'm available
for any questions you may have.
Hey, thank you.
Keith, that was a great photo.
I'm glad it wasn't a symbolic photo of a cliff.
Okay, any public comment on Mr. Dunn's presentation?
Chair, there was no request from the public
to comment on the item.
Okay, thank you.
Any questions or comments from the dais?
Okay, thank you.
Thank you for your presentation.
Okay. With that, we are going to take a quick break
and we will resume with tab 17.
Thank you.
How many minutes?
About 10 minutes, everyone.
All right, everyone.
We are going to get started again.
We've got our, the rest of our agenda today is quite full.
All right.
Let's all settle down, please.
All right.
For tab 17 and 18, we were going to do this together.
For our presentation of the 2026 state transportation improvement program with staff recommendations, which is an information item and then we will move swiftly to tab 18 the adoption of the 2026.
State transportation improvement program and we have Sheila and us and if I can ask the doors to be closed please.
All right, thank you.
testing. Oh good. Perfect. Thank you. All right, Sheila. Go ahead. Thank you.
Commissioners tab 17 is an information item. This is a presentation of the 2026
state transportation improvement program, also known as the STIP. Next
slide please. The STIP is a five-year statewide program that funds capital
transportation improvements across California. These projects improve
mobility, safety, and access for people and goods throughout the state. The STIP
is updated every two years. Each update adds new funding commitments while
maintaining projects approved in prior cycles. Projects are nominated by
regional agencies and Caltrans through their respective transportation
improvement program, and the Commission then adopts a STIP as a statewide
program. The STIP is structured at 5% of the funds supports the regional
improvement program while 25% supports the interregional improvement program
which is managed by Caltrans. Next we'll look at the objectives that guide the
regional and interregional programs. Next slide please. These through their
our tips and by Caltrans through the ITIP based on priorities identified in the
regional transportation plans and the interregional transportation strategic
plan. The STIP does not create or suggest projects for funding instead it programs funding
for projects that have already been identified through these long-range planning processes.
Unlike the Commission's competitive programs, STIP proposals are not scored. Instead they
are evaluated to ensure they comply with statutory requirements and program guidelines. The eligibility
requirements for proposals are shown on the right side of the screen. Projects must align
with adopted state or regional priorities.
Each project must have a completed project study report
or equivalent document confirming scope,
cost and readiness.
Each proposed project or a phase of a project proposed
for funding has a complete funding plan commitment.
And then all projects must be consistent
with the relevant regional transportation plans
and where applicable, the applicable planning documents
that I had previously mentioned.
So for the R-TIP, it's the Regional Transportation Plan
or Sustainable Community Strategies, if applicable.
And for the I-TIP,
it's the Inter-Regional Transportation Strategic Plan.
Next slide, please.
This TIP is a five-year program
that is updated every two years.
The 2024 TIP covers fiscal years 2024 through 2028,
as shown on the slide.
When the Commission began preparing the program
update for 2026. We did not start a completely new program. Instead, the final three years
of the previously adopted STIP carry forward. In this example, the years 2026, 2027, and
2028 of the 2024 STIP carry forward into the 2026 STIP. These carryover years typically
include projects that have already been approved and remain programmed in the STIP. And because
As these commitments are already in place, the early years of a STIP cycle often have
limited capacity for new programming.
At the end of the program shown here as 2029 in 2030, and this structure maintains continuity
for projects already underway while allowing new projects to be added.
Also within this program structure, the commission prepares a fund estimate that determines how
much funding is available for new programming in each STIP cycle.
the fund estimate is updated every odd year,
typically in the year before a STIP update.
In a broad range of transportation improvements
across the state.
This slide highlights some examples
of the types of projects funded through the program.
The Regional Improvement Program or RIP
focuses on projects that improve transportation
within a region.
The Inter-Regional Improvement Program or IP
focuses on projects that facilitate
the interregional movement of people
and goods between regions.
Next slide please.
Review the funding and program capacity
for the 2026 STIP cycle.
Next slide please.
As previously mentioned, the commission adopted
the 2026 STIP fund estimate in August of 2025,
which identified approximately 951.6 million
in new programming capacity.
The Commission received 59 proposals, 58 R-TIPS from the region and one I-TIP from Caltrans.
In total, these proposals requested approximately $965 million, which exceeded the available
capacity.
To bring the program within the available capacity, staff worked with agencies to make
adjustments, and in some cases, this included shifting proposed funding to later years of
the program.
And I'm totally approximately 950 million which fits
within the available capacity.
Next slide please.
Of the 2026 STIP staff recommendation.
Next slide please.
All 59 proposals, staff is recommending again
approximately $950 million total.
And this includes 913.8 million for new projects
and new phases of carrier over projects.
And of that amount, $344.3 million
is for rail and transit projects.
$141.7 million is for active transportation projects.
And $427.7 million is for highway
and local road improvements.
And then finally, $36.7 million is for carryover projects
with cost increases or decreases,
as well as planning, programming, and monitoring,
or PPM funds.
It's important to note that of the 950 million
being recommended for new projects,
only 7%, which is about 64 million,
is dedicated to general purpose lanes
on the state highway system.
And in addition, projects within the highway
and local road category also include approximately
80 million in complete street elements.
Next slide, please.
The 2024 STIP, the 2026 program reflects a shift
and how funding is distributed across modes.
Rail and transit continue to represent
a significant portion of the program
while active transportation investments
make up a slightly larger share than in the previous cycle.
Highway investments represent a smaller overall share
than in 2024, reflecting fewer major expansion projects
in this program.
Overall, the program continues to support a mix of transit,
safety, freight, and multimodal improvement across the state.
Next slide, please.
In this next section, I'll highlight examples
of projects included in the 2026 step
that demonstrate how the program supports rail
and transit investments,
safety and freight corridor improvements,
and community and climate investments.
Next slide, please.
Among the rail investments in the 2026 step,
I'd like to highlight the east side transit corridor
phase 2A project in Los Angeles County.
This project will extend light rail service
from Atlantic Pomona in East Los Angeles
to Greenwood and Montobello
by building a 4.7 mile extension
of the Metro E commuter rail line.
The project includes approximately three miles
of underground alignment, one mile of aerial structure,
and 0.7 miles at street level,
along with one relocated station and three new stations.
The extension will improve access
to high capacity transit for East Los Angeles communities
and represents the initial operating segment
of the planned nine mile extension toward Whittier.
And I just read that.
So the illustration on the left hand side of the screen
depicts light rail service in the community.
And the map on the right shows the existing Metro network
with the proposed alignment highlighted in orange.
It's really difficult to see.
The STIP investment for this project is $133.8 million.
Next slide please.
In freight corridor investments in the 2026 dip,
I'd like to highlight the state route 58
truck climbing lane project phase two in Kern County
near the city of Tehachapi
that will construct approximately 3.1 miles
of truck climbing lane
and other operational improvements to enhance safety
and freight reliability along a key goods movement corridor
connecting the Central Valley
with Southern California freight routes.
Truck climbing lanes on steep grades
separate slower moving heavy trucks from passenger vehicles,
reducing collision and congestion
while supporting efficient goods movement
and helping reduce emissions
along this important freight corridor.
The photo on the slide shows a typical view
of the State Route 58 corridor
as it reaches the Tehachapi Pass.
The STIP investment for this project is $25.4 million.
The 26th step also includes investments that improve safety and mobility within local communities
while supporting the state's broader climate and sustainability goals.
One project that reflects the program's community and climate investments is the Marysville
Boulevard Vision Zero Safety Project between Interstate 80 and Arcade Boulevard in Sacramento.
This corridor is located within a disadvantaged community and with a Cal Enviro screen score
in the mid 80th percentile.
The corridor was identified by the city of Sacramento
as one of the city's highest injury corridors.
I'm hoping we'll now play a short video clip
from KCRA News that highlighted this project
in September of 2025.
In a busy Sacramento corridor safer,
the city of Sacramento wants to make Marysville Boulevard
less dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians.
Staff say this stretch of road sees some of the most deaths
in the city as KCRA 3's Denson Cortez reports,
It's all a part of a safety project
that will permanently change the road.
Tonight, a major roadway in Sacramento
is set for big changes.
We see the number of crashes,
the most number of crashes in the area.
The makeover on Marysville Boulevard
looks to improve safety
on one of Sacramento's deadliest corridors.
So by narrowing those lanes,
by adding bike lanes,
by paying our crosswalks nice and big,
we can help slow down traffic by design and create safer conditions for everybody
the city looking to improve the stretch of road in quick building increments as the full 18 million
dollar project would take years to complete the goal that city council is aware of ensure the
safety of residents and businesses in the area we have shops in the in the area so we have people
walking because that or turning in and out of driveways uh but but we want to make the street
safer for people who are pedestrians and for cyclists.
Business owner jolton Yeggins has been here since 2023 and is no stranger to
the danger striving around his shop. People flying 100 miles plus through
red lights. I mean, people crossing our path right here getting into not
wanting to wait for a light. So they just run over her signs. Actually, you
know, we've gone through multiple signs on this corner. Yeah, there's a lot of
neighborhood that the city is
working on is trying to make
sure that people aren't
speeding up a lot. We know there
are a lot of core businesses
along Mary'sville Boulevard,
and so we want to make sure
that people aren't speeding
near those really important
zones that people travel to a
lot. And all this a part of the
larger Mary'sville Boulevard
project and the city finding a
lot of public concerns when it
came to crosswalks crosswalk
visibility and speeding. The
city's trying to get on this
much quicker before it gets too
late in Sacramento. That's the
with a center turn lane and bike lanes as making a busy sacramental court
presentation for tab 17 i will uh transition to tab 18 action item for the adoption of the 2026
state transportation improvement program please note attachment c d and e are included as yellow
and pink items as well as available online staff is recommending approval of the 2026
step as presented in the book item. We're also recommending that the commission
authorize staff to forward the adopted 2026 step to the governor's office and
the legislature by April 1st, 2026 as required by statute. Before I turn it
back over I wanted to give a quick thank you to Lori Waters, Teresa Favilla, Juan
Guzman, Caltrans Division of Programming and Budgets, district staff, and
especially our regional agencies for their collaboration in developing the
staff recommendations. Thank you. Thank you, Sheila. And I just want to acknowledge your
work as well as Lori Waters and Teresa Favela who came out of retirement and didn't want
to retire and came back for this. So thank you very much. And then I see James Anderson
over there. I know that you've been collaborating quite closely with Caltrans as well as my
colleague Commissioner Mann who chaired the South Hearing in San Diego. So, and for commissioners
that were involved with those hearings.
Thank you.
With that, we have a number of public comment.
I think we're gonna take public comment first from online.
So Justin, are there folks waiting to speak?
Yes, thank you, Chair.
We do have a number of attendees online
looking to comment on the item.
I'd like to first call on Michael Okehi.
Thank you.
Thank you, Commission Chair, Vice Chair Cruz,
Commissioner Gardino and members of the Commission.
I, good afternoon, I'm Council Member Michael Mulcahy,
representing District Six in the beautiful city of San Jose
and a member of the Valley Transportation Authority Board
as an alternate.
I urge your adoption of item 4.4,
the 2026 State Transportation Improvement Program.
As part of this item, your action will approve
a critical $35 million investment in the Bascom Avenue complete streets project located in
my district in San Jose. The project will add much needed pedestrian and bicycle facilities
to a heavily utilized and major roadway in West San Jose that connects San Jose City
College Valley Medical Center, our largest main public hospital with small businesses
and residential communities up and down the economic spectrum. The project will bring
sidewalks, protected bikeways, safer pedestrian crossings of raised median, transit islands,
street trees and lighting on a three-mile stretch of Bascom and sets the stage for new
and necessary economic development. These improvements will transform local roadway
that currently has the size and appearance of a highway
into one that welcomes residents
and encourages green, healthy, active modes of travel.
Thank you all for your time and consideration.
I respectfully request your adoption of this item.
Thank you.
Council Member Mokehi,
I just wanna thank you for all that you do
in the city of San Jose and beyond its borders
for active transportation
and the role that you and your wife Kimberly
have played in civic life for decades in Silicon Valley.
Thank you, Commissioner.
Up next, we have Sophia Ravikova.
Hello, good afternoon, Commissioner Sophia Ravikova
with the Coalition for Clean Air.
Thank you so much for this opportunity
to comment on the 2026 step.
I'll say, we were very excited to see
a lot of active transportation projects being proposed.
but at the same time, there are still a number
of proposed highway projects in the STIP
that are gonna overshadow these active transportation
projects and to put it into perspective,
a one mile of highway is estimated to meet more GHG
missions over 50 years than can be reduced
by 240 active transportation projects.
I'll also say we appreciate the staff pointing out
the uh some of the uh great transit and active and safety projects uh just now but I will comment
that the LA Metro project is actually being proposed to be cut by the CTC staff by 1.2 million
and that funding to be pushed back a year and the Marysville project is also being proposed to be
pushed back a couple years, so additionally we submitted a letter to the CTC requesting
that we outlined eight regions where widening projects could be substituted in an equal amount
of active transportation projects and to give an example in Kern County the residents of Bakersfield
have long complained about high collision relates in the lack of shade along the monitor street
quarter which is located next to nine schools and that project received an 89 percent of 99
score on its ATP application but was still not competitive enough for funding and despite all
this current county chose to instead propose a new truck climbing lane project that's worth a
similar amount of funding which will only serve to increase nearby air pollution and traffic.
We cannot afford to fund both widening and active transportation projects which have opposite effects
on local air quality congestion levels and climate emissions. We urge the CTC to consider
how projects approved today online. All it is your time is expired. Thank you.
Up next we have Jeannie Ward-Waller. Hello, good afternoon Chair and Commissioners,
Jeannie Ward-Waller here representing the Climate Plan Network. I want to echo my colleague Sophia
in her comments and just to add on to say that, you know, we really commend the Caltrans,
all of the counties and commission staff for the really, you know, impressive slate of rail
transit and active transportation projects that are included in the STIP and particularly the
ITIP. We're very pleased to see how much of the of the STIP, this cycle, is going towards those
projects and it really represents a big step forward. However, as Sophia said, I think we're
still concerned at the level of funding that is going primarily to highway capital projects
and particularly those GP lane expansion projects which so many of our programs no longer fund
because we know those really aren't serving us. And while we're making incremental progress,
we are not making progress at the speed that we need to see and just I want to particularly
highlight you know the SACB published two very compelling articles this week highlighting the
cost of not investing in active transportation and you know we have a queue of I think two and a
half billion in requests that you received last cycle of very important projects many at locations
where children have been killed near schools. We know those are incredibly high need and you were
able to fund so few in the last cycle. So we're just you know really investing in this massive
pipeline of sustainable transportation projects and we really urge you know particularly for those
agencies that are devoting their STIP still almost entirely to highways to include those
projects and and the CTC to encourage that as well so thank you for your time. Up next we have Abby
Power. Hello my name is Abby Power I'm with Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability
and I would just like to comment on funding for the Tularey Six Lane and Page interchange project
which is included in this program. The California State Transportation Agency the CTC and Caltrans
have made have all made commitments to address climate change by reducing transportation related
emissions, increasing multimodal transportation options, and by improving health, social,
and equity in disadvantaged communities. As the CTC considers carrying over an increasing funding
for the St. Larry's Six Lane and Page Avenue interchange project, we ask the CTC to condition
the approval to require Caltrans District 6 to work with the Metheny Tract Committee, a
a disadvantaged unincorporated community
to collaboratively develop a transportation management plan,
enforce all mitigation measures,
but particularly to incorporate design measures
and infrastructure that promote safe and efficient use
of alternative modes of transportation,
which could be neighborhood electric vehicles,
bicycles, pedestrian access,
and better public transportation.
Such measures include the incorporation
of the electric vehicle charging stations, bike lanes,
bicycle-friendly intersections
and bicycle parking and storage facilities.
And consider as well funding allocation
for drainage studies to mitigate stormwater runoff impacts
which would jumpstart the process
towards implementing pedestrian facilities
to and within Matheny tract.
It is essential to mitigate the cumulative air quality impacts
from VMTs and greenhouse gas emissions,
especially from heavy duty trucks moving through the area
with genuine actions that provide a substantial benefit
the community as community members have consistently raised concerns over the projects anticipated
impacts on their health and well-being. Thank you so much for your time today.
Up next we have David Martinez. Hello, Madam Chair, members of the commission. I am David Martinez
with Streets For All. I, like the public commenters before me, want to share that quite simply funding
of highway widening does not work, and it has never worked. The problem of induced demand is
well known, and I'm sure many have explained it to you before, so I would encourage you all to not
further that problem. Instead, we should be putting our money towards things that will actually help
transit. More active
funding. And by instead wasting it. On this project on the five. We are not getting any of the safety benefits or any of the traffic benefits that our cities need. So I would encourage the commission to look at. Less funding for the widening of highways, which does not work and more funding for rail and active transportation.
And, and, and, and.
And transportation, which does work.
Thank you.
We have.
Hi, thanks so much to the commission.
I wanted to start by saying thank you for the overall package of the
step. As many have said,
we're really trending in the right direction.
And I imagine that is due to a lot of hard work by a lot of people.
In the room. So thank you for that.
under this step, which is highway 101 in San Mateo County.
I have a perspective of living on the segment
just south of this segment, which has already been widened.
I live within a half mile of the freeway,
and in fact, of a major freeway exit.
And I just wanted to highlight the impact
that these local highway widenings have on communities.
Really what they do is they move congestion
on two local streets.
So the freeway is as congested as ever,
but there are more cars there.
Those cars all cut through neighborhoods
when the freeway gets backed up.
The traffic getting off the freeway is so bad
that we've had to redo our local light cycles
so that the folks getting off the freeway
get much more time than everything else,
which backs up the rest of our city.
These backups lead to people speeding through our
neighborhoods where people are at walking dogs,
children are walking and biking to school.
Our city of 30,000 people has been unprepared
to accommodate the increased traffic,
either through enforcement or through street design.
And we've had three pedestrian fatalities
in the last three years.
There's a little business trip that I live along
that's being choked by traffic.
So people are regularly hit by cars crossing the street
get from one side of the street to the other. The head of our business district has explained
that we don't have the foot traffic to sustain the kind of local businesses like bakeries
and dry cleaners that are the cornerstone of these kinds of strips. And the businesses
have-
Leslie, your time is expired.
Thank you.
Up next, we have Chris Roberts.
Chris Roberts, you're agreed on.
You can make a comment.
Sorry. Hi, I'm Chris Roberts from San Diego. I'm a member of San Diego 350. We're part of the climate plan network. And it's appreciated that transit, rail and active transportation projects make it more than 50% of the STIP projects being funded today, but there are still too many highway widening projects being funded.
And while there are no San Diego County widening projects
in the STIM in Orange County, as previously mentioned,
the I-5 managed lanes project will add at least one HOV lane
in each direction.
Even though this is a restricted lane,
it will involve collecting tolls
from single occupancy vehicles,
and that will result in increased vehicle miles traveled.
So it will result in more traffic,
more greenhouse gas emissions, and more pollution.
The main driver of this widening project
is to relieve traffic congestion.
And while this may be achieved initially,
it will be short-lived because of induced demand
or induced traffic.
The level of congestion will certainly increase over time
and in a few years, the traffic will be as bad as it was
before spending all the money and time
on this misguided project.
Please do not approve this project
and instead spend the money and time on rail transit
and active transportation projects in Orange County.
And thank you for all the work
to put together the 2026 STIP.
Up next, we have Wes Rudeman.
Good day, commissioners and staff.
Wes Rudeman on behalf of Active San Gabriel Valley.
Active SUV serves communities not too far
from where you presently sit.
We're just inland, where it's a lot hotter today
and we're exposed to some of the worst levels
of air pollution in the state,
due in part to the heavy truck traffic
from the ports of LA and Long Beach.
Organizational, we really appreciate CTC's leadership
towards a cleaner, safer transportation system.
It's great to hear staff highlight
the Metro Eastside Rail Project
as well as the makeover of Maryville in Sacramento.
Yet we are not doing enough to address traffic violence.
In our county, like most across the state,
the number one cause of preventable death
for young people is traffic collisions internationally.
Our rates of pedestrian deaths are among the worst
across the OECD countries.
And as reported by CalMatters last week,
The state's primary vehicle to fund just basic safety projects has acceptance rates
comparable to the most selective universities in the country.
So should securing Safe Routes to School funding be as competitive as admission to Stanford?
What if the CTC committed to helping local jurisdictions address the public safety crisis
on our streets first?
There is no shortage of will at the local level, I can assure you and as others have
spoken to and there are many lives at stake. Californians especially young people and their
families deserve safe sidewalks and crossings before adding more lanes to heavily polluting
highways. Active SUV urges the Commission to please redirect funding from highway widenings
and towards more local safety and transit projects. Thank you. Up next we have Keanu
to the staff. Thank you. Thank
strategic highway improvements. Transportation California did some polling last year that I think
reflects what Californians are asking of the CTC and of its transportation leaders and that
is for continued investments in all modes of transportation. Time after time Californians are
are communicating through polling data
that filling potholes and repaving highways and freeways
and addressing congestion and reducing traffic
is a priority of theirs.
When asked recently about whether you would like to see
their limited transportation dollars go to transit
and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure only
versus investing in all modes,
there was only 14% support for that.
So Californians are asking for investment
in all modes of transportation,
which the proposed 2026 STIP does.
And so we urge your approval of the STIP
as presented today.
Thank you.
Jordan Moldau.
Hi, my name is Jordan Moldau.
I'm a resident of San Jose
and a constituent of Senator Cortese.
I'm also the chair of the San Jose
Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
speaking on my own behalf today.
I'm glad to see that the Bascom Avenue Project is funded.
Council Member Mulcahy went into all the great benefits
of that project.
It'll be very transformative.
And I'm glad to see that other good projects like that
are also funded.
I support the comments from the Climate Plan Coalition
about how we need to put even more funding
into active transportation and public transportation.
And we can still spend money on certain highway projects,
but we shouldn't be spending them on highway projects
that add more capacity to the highways.
There's better projects out there
in my own Santa Clara County.
There's a Milpitas Safe Routes to School project
in your list that could be funded, but currently isn't,
as well as the Pruneridge Avenue bicycle
and pedestrian improvement project,
which could also be funded, but currently isn't.
Those projects could be just as transformative
as the Bascom project that council member Mulcahy
talked about.
Whereas adding extra lanes to US 101 in San Jose,
it's not a transformative project.
At best, it will shave a few minutes of driving time
for a short period of time until induced demand
fills up the highway again.
As other people have spoken to,
this will also increase congestion on the local streets,
which will make our surface street transit improvements
less effective because the buses will get stuck
in the traffic that you're generating.
The express lane, the new lanes that will be added
will also increase the number of people
living in San Veneto County and driving
in single occupancy vehicles to Silicon Valley for work,
which is not what we want, we want denser living.
So please, more transit improvements,
less highway widening.
time has expired. Up next we have Betsy Magus. Thank you. Betsy Magus, resident
of the City and County of Santa Clara. I am the current chair of the Bicycle
and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for the City of Santa Clara, also speaking
today on on my own behalf. I applaud the Transit and Active Transportation
investments that are in this list today, and I would like to echo the comments of
many previous speakers to please prioritize transit and active
transportation over extending or increasing car capacity. I see a lot of
projects go through that are kind of tacked on to, you know, active
transportation is tacked on to a car capacity improvement or extension. And I'm watching
lately as my neighbors fret about high gas prices, and the thing that does not seem to
be occurring to any of them is to get anywhere by not driving. And I think that's a shame.
I think that we need to be providing very high quality options that get people out of
their cars.
That is the way to reduce congestion, not expanding car capacity.
Thank you.
Okay.
We have Jared Sanchez.
Hi there, Jared Sanchez, policy director at CalPike.
Just want to join the designing chorus to rethink how we spend our transportation dollars,
especially expanding highway capacity is a dead end.
As mentioned previously in shifting
that to more sustainable uses is the most efficient way
to use the funding.
So hope to recommend that the commission rejects this
just for all the expanded lane capacity.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I have a lot on in Davis.
Hi, my name is Abby.
I'm the transportation policy manager for transform.
transform helps community fight against climate chaos.
California always presents itself as a climate leader,
yet we continue to invest in highways.
Yes, California is, they don't want congestion,
we all know this, but investing more money
into highways and expanding lanes,
it doesn't help with congestion,
it actually adds more congestion.
And one project that I wanna talk about specifically
is the 101 highway in San Mateo,
where not only are they trying to expand a highway
that will not help solve congestion.
But San Francisco County has already said
that they will not do any expansions up into their county,
which means that this project would just move congestion
all around the county,
not solving the problem in the first place.
Not only that, but in working with people
who live in the community,
they've talked about how continuous widening
have increased asthma in their community and pollution.
And many of these are communities of colors
who always bear the burden of environmental racism.
So we asked the CTC to please reject this recommendation
and please put more money towards active transportation.
Thank you.
That concludes our request from our virtual attendees.
Thank you to those who called in for public comment.
We do now have public comment from folks in the room
that have requested to comment.
So first we have Robert Phipps with Fresno Cog.
Chair, members of the commission,
Robert Phipps, Executive Director
with Fresno Council of Government,
echoing the comments of a balanced approach to the STIP
and the level-headedness of the staff and the regions
in the submission of the projects that have been submitted
and encouraging you to approve the STIP
as recommended by staff.
And also to demonstrate our appreciation
to the staff, to Sheila, Teresa, to Lori,
everyone who has worked with us so closely
in developing the STIP to date.
We really appreciate the effort
and encourage you to adopt it.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Next we have Jackie Mata with SP CAG.
Commissioners, my name is Jackie Mata.
I'm a senior transportation planner
at Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.
We strongly support the CTC staff recommendations
for the 2026 STIP.
And we thank commission staff for their collaborative effort
to work with Caltrans
and the regional transportation planning agencies
on our submittals to the CTC.
And as part of the Central Coast Coalition,
we also submitted a joint support letter for your review.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next we have Jillian Guizado with RCTC.
Good afternoon Madam Chair, Vice Chair Cruz,
Commissioners, Senator, Director and Deputy Director.
My name is Jillian Guizado.
I'm representing the Riverside County
Transportation Commission.
The beauty of this step is it is the ultimate display
of representative democracy.
Each nominating agency's board must adopt
the regional program before it's submitted to CTC
on December 15th.
In Riverside County, all 28 cities
and all five county board of supervisors had a voice
in how the limited $32.7 million of STIP funds
should be utilized by the region.
Our county is larger than many states and has diverse needs.
As we often say, one size doesn't fit all.
and we believe the proposed 2026 step
is a clear demonstration of that.
From a grade separation
to continuing the growing managed lanes network
to signal synchronization,
our county's residents diverse needs
and might I add expectations
are represented in the proposal you are considering today.
I respectfully urge your support
of staff's recommendation.
Thank you.
Thank you, Jillian.
Next we have Jose Luis Casadas,
and then after him will be Kenneth Cowell.
Hello, Chair Falcone, commissioners,
Chief Deputy Director, I'm gonna say it right, Kaslowski.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak on the 2026 STIP.
My name is Jose Luis Casadas.
I'm the Director of Programming for Stancok,
the Stanislaus Council of Governments.
We support the adoption of the 2026 STIP.
I wanna briefly speak about our region's experience.
Feel sort of weird following Jillian
because our region is even smaller.
The STIP was once a meaningful source
of funding for Stanislaus County
as both the MPO and RTPA,
we're responsible for planning
our region's transportation future,
but the resources available to deliver that future
continue to shrink.
As you noted Chair, resources are constrained
and we are feeling that constraint directly.
This year's STIP fund estimate is 2.7 billion.
And that sounds like a lot.
It's actually less than the roughly 3 billion
that was available back in 1998.
Adjusted for inflation,
that 98 money would be $6 billion today.
More than double the current level.
SB1 has been critical
for transportation funding in California,
and we appreciate the investment.
However, those revenues have not increased the STIP.
The STIP is one of our region's primary tools
for constructing major transportation investments.
So this year for the first time,
STIP includes no projects for Stancock, none.
We didn't submit any
because we don't have enough funding
to do the major sorts of projects that we're working on.
We're banking it.
We will be programming those funds eventually.
But for our region,
this is a clear sign of how constrained
the program has become.
We appreciate the commission's work
and we respectfully urge continued attention
to the long-term sustainability of the STIP
and approval of this year's STIP.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Kenneth, with MTC,
and after Kenneth, Louisa.
Good afternoon, commissioners.
I'm Kenneth Cowell
with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
representing the nine Bay Area counties.
I'm here in support of staff recommendation.
I did also want to take this time to continue
to thank your staff who have worked very closely with us
on this kind of puzzle piece of a funding program.
So I think they did wonderfully
as well as the retired new edits and Caltrans.
Our program of projects for the STIP
is all of those projects
are in our regional transportation plan
and sustainable community strategies and taken as a whole.
They all advance our original goals of safety, livability
and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
So I did wanna again, thank your staff
and continue to support staff recommendations.
Thank you.
Thank you, Kenneth.
And Louis, apologies for saying Louise.
I'm from San Diego, we say that a lot.
I've heard Louis, Louise, I've heard it all.
You know, the falcon and falcon,
it's tomato tomato, it's very fancy.
Good afternoon, Sheriff Falcon, Vice Chair Cruz,
Executive Director Taylor, Deputy Director Golozewski,
Senator Cortese and commissioners,
I'm Louis Jell with the Orange County
Transportation Authority.
We appreciate the CTC staff's work
and strongly support the staff recommendation
for the 2026 State Transportation Improvement Program.
This recommendation reflects a thoughtful,
balanced approach that aligns with regional priorities
and advances shared state goals related to mobility,
safety, and sustainability.
OTA serves as Orange County's
regional transportation planning agency,
delivering a balanced transportation system
that includes transit, highway, local streets and roads,
and active transportation to meet the needs
of residents, workers, and businesses.
OCTA's STIP program includes 151 million investments
across eight high priority multimodal projects
with strong emphasis on delivering existing commitments
while advancing improvements in ride share transit
and active transportation.
The staff recommendation supports critical investments
so maintain and enhance our transportation system
and build on the 2024 STIP investments previously approved
by this commission.
investments include the reliability of the coastal rail corridor through projects such as the PCH
coastal rail bridge replacement, advancing the final HOV segment on the I-5 to complete
the HOV network across Orange County, and supporting regional and inter-regional mobility,
closing key gaps in our active transportation network to improve safety and connectivity into
Los Angeles County. Together, these investments support a resilient multimodal system that promotes
economic vitality, facilitates goods movement, and improves access to opportunities across
Orange County and the broader region. We appreciate the commission's continued participation and
respectfully request your support of the staff recommendation. Thank you, Louis. Next we have
Patricia Chan with LA Metro and then Blake Dunford with San Joaquin. Good afternoon commissioners,
Chair Falcone welcome, Director El-Tawansi, Chief Deputy Director Paul Goloszewski,
and all the important staff here today, so many. I'm Patricia Chen with LA Metro and I want to give
a special thanks to the Caltrans and CTC staff that work together to develop the STIP recommendations.
I would like to express our support for the recommendation and especially the future shares
to help us move forward with the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 and the ITIP funding
for the Los Angeles River Bike Path. I think this is the first time we've received any
kind of STIP funding for an active transportation project and this one's really a great one.
When everything is all together it'll be 51 miles from the headwaters to the ocean and
in between it will have a connection to the Pacific Surfliner. I just want to add that
Our R-tip is one part of the multi-modal
Southern California Association Government's
regional transportation plan.
Our R-tip will work together with those
of our partner counties to provide mobility, safety,
safety, sustainability, and other important benefits
to residents and visitors like many of you today
to our area, to our region.
So thank you very much,
and thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Thank you, Patricia.
Madam Chair, commissioners, my name is Blake Dunford.
I'm a senior planner
with the San Joaquin Council of Governments.
Thank you for the opportunity
to speak about our projects in the 2026 stip.
As Sheila's wonderful presentation showed,
the stip is made up of the regional art tips,
each of which have their own project selection
and public review.
Our projects were chosen after a rigorous public process.
Our two proposed projects, the 99120 Connector Phase 1B
and the I-205 Managed Lanes Project,
both represent the highest priorities
of our region for this program.
These projects offer a wide array of benefits.
For the 99120 Connector, this is a safety project
on what is the most dangerous interchange in our region.
We are eliminating a dangerous bottleneck
to prevent traffic from backing up onto the 99 main line.
We are also working to move trucks off of local roads
where they pose a safety risk to active transportation users
and generate a necessary idling emissions
in the city of Bantica and Ripon.
The I-205 managed lanes project
will provide traffic flow improvements
over one of the most congested routes
in the Northern California mega region.
The new managed lanes will not only provide priority access
to transit service, but will also preserve right away
for future regional transit expansion,
be that a fixed guideway or a heavy rail transit system.
We would like to thank the commission staff
further recommendations, which we believe will help to address
a wide array of co equal state and regional goals. And a
special thank you to Laurie, Sheila, Teresa and one. Thank you
again for the opportunity to speak today.
Thank you, Blake. Next, we've got Carter Ruben with NRDC as
well as Eli Lipman following
commissioners and staff. I'm Carter Ruben with NRDC. We
appreciate the opportunity to provide public comment on this
this is one of the programs we've been tracking
for several cycles.
When we first did our deep dive into the 2022 STIP,
we found that about 44% of the program
was going to multimodal projects
that would help Californians get around
and rely less on their automobiles,
which would save families money and clean the air.
That was before the climate action plan
for transportation infrastructure had fully kicked in.
And now that it has, this cycle we're seeing
that those investments are increasing,
it's closer to 50%.
and so we appreciate that it's moving in the right direction.
Though we will continue to encourage counties and the CTC
to leverage transportation investments
to support clean and affordable transportation even further,
especially with the alarming ramp up and gasoline prices.
The statewide average price per gallon of gas
has increased a full dollar in just one month
from 460 to 560 gallon and the line seems to keep moving up.
That price increase means a Californian
driving an average amount of miles in an average gas car
would see their annual gas costs increase over $400 a year.
And I think that number is just gonna keep going up
as the price of gas goes up.
This would be a great opportunity for CTC to show
we're meeting the moment by investing in affordable options
that help Californians navigate these uncertain times.
I'd like to offer particular praise
for LA County transportation leaders,
the county I call home,
for putting forth a slate of programming requests
comprising complete streets, mobility hubs,
light rail and zero mission buses and chargers.
and that's the kind of investment.
We think could be a model for what STIP can be.
Thank you.
Thank you, Carter.
My name is Eli Libman.
I'm the executive director for Move LA and Move California.
And like Carter, I wanna congratulate the staff
and the CTC for having close to 50%
of this year's STIP projects
as transit rail and active transportation.
It's moving in the right direction
and trending slowly in the right direction.
However, we think that it should trend faster.
So we hope to see in next year's even more additional funding
for those projects.
And I too would like to give some props to LA County
for a really strong project list.
In particular, the Zero Emission Bus Program is fantastic.
We're really excited to see that roll out.
It's great to see Soto Street, complete streets in there,
and Moringa, the mobility hub, really excited about that.
But I want to talk about two projects in particular.
I live off of the E-line in La Brea,
and that project goes all the way out to East LA,
and this phase two east side transit corridor extension
would mean a one-seat ride from my neighborhood
all the way to Whittier, where two of my staff members live.
So we could actually go and visit each other on the train,
and it's on the most congested and clogged freeway
in Southern California, the 10th freeway,
where people spend hours and hours of their lives.
So I'm disappointed to see that you push the money back
a year and reduce the amount.
I'd like you to restore it to the original staff proposal,
please.
And then I also, if you could do that right now,
that'd be amazing, please.
Come on, motion.
I'm waiting.
OK, so I have time.
And then the LA River bike path, we've
been working on this project with LA Metro.
We actually want to create a joint powers authority
to deliver this project 51 miles from Long Beach
all the way to the West San Fernando Valley.
This is a project that's critical
for Olympic connectivity,
where you would not have to see a car
and could travel from the Olympic venues in Long Beach,
all the way out to the San Fernando Valley,
where they're gonna have several half a dozen events
at the Sibulva Basin.
So this is our challenge.
Thank you so much for the funding it, thanks.
Okay, thank you Eli.
Next we have Kathy Ramirez with MOVE LA,
as well as Raquel Pacheco following Kathy.
Hello, my name is Kathy Ramirez organizer with move LA slash move, California
Thank you commissioners chair and staff for the opportunity to provide comment
I'd like to echo the comments made by streets for all coalition for clean air climate plan and NRDC as well as
executive director of move LA who just spoke Eli Lippmann
Just wanted to echo, you know that we appreciate the funding for transit rail active transportation
that make up close to 50% of this year's STIP projects
as a resident of LA County
and specifically living in unincorporated part in South LA.
I really commend you for your effort
for the strong step project list in our region.
And these are projects that,
there are also projects that to be approved today
that will have negative impacts on other communities
that I'm here to remind you of who couldn't be here
or because for many reasons, whether it's working,
take care taking for a number of other reasons.
That includes from Imperial County
Forester Road Improvement Project,
which proposes to turn Forester Road
from a two lane road into a four lane expressway
to San Joaquin County.
And the one 205 managed lanes project
will widen the freeway from six to eight lanes.
please do not disregard the comments made
by community advocates and organizations.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Chair Falcone and commissioners.
Kerncog is aware of the importance of partnerships
with both the CTC and Caltrans
and appreciates those partnerships.
Kerncog hosts formal meetings and informal workshops
to allow for the most stakeholder public feedback.
thank you to CTC staff for highlighting the State Route 58 truck climbing lane
phase 2 project which is the region's number one project reflecting the wishes
of our local communities. The project will support safe, efficient, reliable and
sustainable freight flow by removing the queuing delays of freight trucks. Trucks
on this rural state route are growing dramatically. Without this
project the safety hazard will continue to endanger local disadvantaged
community residents. This project is a major safety project and is considered
an exempt air quality project. Kern Cog continues to leverage federal funding
on several projects due to the continued partnerships again with the state. Kern
Cog prioritizes bicycle facilities. By 2024 the Kern region completed 90%
of the bicycle facility mileage that was planned for by 2042.
In February, the Kerncock board approved 4.5 million
in congestion mitigation and air quality program funds
for the Bakersfield Monitor Street
safety improvement project.
This is in fiscal year 26, 27,
well ahead of the first new fiscal year available
and the state transportation improvement program
fiscal year 2930.
The city of Bakersfield is expecting to also receive
three million in congressional validayo
through the congressionally directed spending
for the Monitor Street project.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak
and thank you to CTC and Caltrans
for your efforts in prioritizing
the current region's safety needs.
Thank you.
Your time is expected.
Thank you, Raquel.
Finally, we have Marlene Flores from ICTC.
Madam Chair and members of the commission,
my name is Marlene Flores
and I'm a senior transportation planner
for the Imperial County Transportation Commission.
I would like to speak in support of the Forest
or Rural Project that we have submitted under the 2026 STIP,
which is a longstanding priority for the Imperial County,
one that we have been working towards over a decade.
As a small and rural region, we strategically program
and save multiple years of STIP funding
to deliver projects of this scale and importance.
Forrester Road is a critical 18 mile corridor
connecting Interstate 8 to State Route 7886.
It currently operates as a two lane rural roadway,
but plays a much larger role
in our regional transportation network.
It serves as a key bypass to State Route 86,
helping divert traffic away from our local communities
and is heavily used for agricultural operations
and goods movement, both of which are essential
to our local and state economy.
This corridor is also highly constrained.
It runs alongside power infrastructure, canals, drains,
and includes multiple canal bridge crossings.
These conditions create operational challenges
and safety concerns for all users,
especially for heavy trucks and agriculture equipment.
The proposed project improvements are focused
safety and efficiency. These include intersection improvements at key locations such as Evan
Hughes Highway and Ross Road. This project is not just about mobility, it's about safety,
good movement, and supporting the rural economy that plays a vital role in California's agricultural
production. I want to I want to emphasize that this project reflects years of planning.
Coordination and commitment from our region are partnerships with Caltrans and has been essential,
particularly in the development of the project study report,
and we are grateful for their continued collaboration.
As a small region, partnership like those with the CTC
and Caltrans are critical to our ability
to deliver impactful projects like the Forester Road.
We respectfully ask for your support
to move this long-standing forward.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any more public comment virtually, Justin?
Okay.
I've not seen any other requests online.
thank you, all right, that concludes public comment.
Open it up to questions or comments from the dais.
Okay, Commissioner Tiffany.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
That sounds good, doesn't it?
I'm getting used to it.
I don't think there's surprise anyone
who's been to any of these meetings,
but coming from a rural area, the central coast,
I am a strong proponent of the approach
in transportation that one size doesn't fit all.
Especially in a state as diverse in population
in geography as California is.
Just to demonstrate that there are 58 counties in the state
and yet the 30 least populated counties
only make up just over 5% in population of the entire state.
And then there's of those other 28 counties
are some very wide open expansive areas
that are extremely rural as well.
Bottom line, unfortunately, this means that often residents
from some of these rural areas have to drive great distances
to get to their jobs because they have no alternative.
So with that, ultimately what that means is that,
once again, in my mind,
has to be a balanced approach in transportation in our state, including active transportation
projects, transit and rail projects, and where necessary and appropriate, especially in rural
areas, highway projects. With that all being said, I specifically want to give a shout out
to a rail and transit project that is part of the step that's being proposed today that's in
in my backyard in the central coast.
This is a project that is,
if I can get my phone here.
It's a project,
Pajaro Watsonville rail hub, rail and transit hub,
that's in border Monterey and Santa Cruz County.
And this is a project that's gonna serve Caltrain
and transit throughout the region.
And ultimately the hope is that we will be able to expedite
as part of this overall tri-county area,
we will be able to expedite a Caltrain extension
from Gilroy to Salinas.
And someday I would like to see,
although probably not in my lifetime,
I would love to see Caltrain extend down to Hollister
so there doesn't have to be so many people
that commute by car.
But again, a balanced approach is what I believe we need.
And I celebrate the fact that STIP reflects that
with many projects in a variety of different approaches.
Thank you.
Thank you, Commissioner Tiffany.
Any other comments or questions?
Yes, Commissioner Mann.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Madam Chair, and congratulations again.
So excited for your leadership and wonderful
as others have shared to have you have your first meeting
that you're chairing during Women's History Month.
So thank you so much.
And then congratulations to Vice Chair Cruz again,
looking forward to your leadership as well.
And then I also want to thank,
and you did such a beautiful job earlier
of thanking past Chair Grigsby
and all of the work that he has done.
So it has been such an honor and a privilege
to serve on this commission,
especially under such incredible leaders.
So thank you all.
I really appreciated all the comments
and the varied comments
that were just provided around the STIP.
And I wanna just highlight a couple of them.
One of them really spoke to the multimodal nature of this
and the fact that there has been improvement
and that there is a trending in the right direction.
and so I appreciate that, of being able to understand
where we were and where we're going.
And I'm sure partners will continue to be involved
in the process into the future
and sharing their comments with the regional transit agencies
and then coming again before the commission
and being able to share our comments here.
I also just want to acknowledge like the amount of work
that staff has done.
I did as Madam Chair, as you were pointing out earlier,
I was able to chair over one of the hearings.
And so I did hear the back and forth
that happens between the regions,
the work that happened after those hearings
for the staff team to go back and really figure out
how do you go from having overextended the budget
to being within the budget?
And that takes a lot of work and energy
and effort on all parties.
And so thank you so much for putting in all that effort
so that you could present a package today
That was more comprehensive and was within our means
in terms of what can be provided for.
I also just want to, I know that there was comment about
one of the projects and needing it to be pushed out a year,
which I think is the Metro project.
I don't know if staff wants to speak to that
in terms of the balance that's reached
in terms of figuring out the budget,
but I wanted to just provide that opportunity
in case you wanted to comment.
Sure, thank you for that.
So we did move out a couple projects with agencies
into later years, one because the first three years
of the STIPR fiscally constrained.
And so we had to have that balance among all five years.
So when we did move out a project,
we reached out to the agencies to also work with them
so that they were aware of the move.
And there are also options where if we did,
for instance, I think it was a Marysville Boulevard project
that was mentioned as well.
We moved construction out to fiscal years.
So, and worked with the city of Sacramento on that,
or Sacramento County, excuse me.
So, if they are ready sooner,
there are options within the STIP
that they can come back in and ask for either in advance
and we'll work with them there,
just depending on what works best for them.
So, there weren't very many moves made.
there were a few moves but we did work
with the agencies on that as well.
Great, thank you so much for all of that work
and what does appear to be this collaborative process
to be able to present like a full package.
So thank you.
For the clarifying question.
Any other comments or quite,
oh, we do have a hand up,
Commissioner Eager wants to make a comment or question.
Okay, perfect, Commissioner, you hear?
Can you hear me?
Yeah.
Okay, good, thank you, Chair Falcone.
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all of the work
that goes into a STIP program.
Our staff, Caltrans, the people out in the regions,
I'm sure everybody in this room,
I'm preaching to the choir here,
know how much work goes into this,
that they have to make sure that they follow
all of the rules that are attached here.
They go out and speak to the public,
to the people in the different communities
and the different regions,
making sure those priorities are the ones
that they put forward to us.
The folks in the regions work with our staff
to make sure that what they're putting forward
meets all of the requirements
to ensure that we're getting the best that we can get
for a little bit of money that we have.
So I just wanted to say an extra thank you
to all of the collaborative work that goes on
behind the scenes before it comes to us
to be able to vote on this.
So thank you.
Thank you for letting me praise everyone in this process.
Thank you, as always, Commissioner Eater
for your perspective.
Okay, when we have Commissioner Brown-Hines
that wanted to make it-
Just a quick question.
This is my first step.
Process and.
Welcome.
No, I do appreciate the balanced approach.
And I actually appreciate Commissioner Tiffany's comments
as well.
I come from one of those regions where it's the fastest
growing in our state.
A lot of housing, a lot of people moving there,
and the infrastructure is not there for it.
So we're building as we grow.
My question was, in regards to the kind of process,
and I know we get the packages from the regions,
so our tip comes through and they give us their priorities.
And I did hear from, I think it was a gentleman
from San Joaquin and someone from Kern County,
woman from Kern County about the kind of rigorous
public process that happens at the regional level.
And I was just curious to know a little bit more about that.
Is that something that happens across all of the regions
where they make sure we have kind of strong public comment
and a public voice that goes into what we finally get
from them?
And that was just in part because this is the first time
that I've been a part of this process.
But I was just curious a little bit about that.
Who from staff would like to address it?
Okay, Sheila.
As far as community engagement that goes on.
So I'll review.
So typically that's obviously led by Caltrans
and the regional agencies.
And then the commission's role
is to ensure those processes have been followed
as far as the art tips are concerned.
So rather than conduct or manage engagement directly,
we don't do that, but did you want to add?
I was just going to remind you about
that all of the projects are in their RTPs,
which undergoes an extensive community process
and engagement process.
Thank you.
Regional transportation plan, sorry.
We should have our TPs, there you go.
Before I hand it over to Commissioner Guardino,
it really speaks to how important it is.
Our regional partners are really there on the ground up,
creating these plans.
And so appreciate those regions that provided their RTPs
in a timely manner so that we can compile
all these projects again in these constrained environment.
It's really important to have these RTPs to us.
And so we appreciate those regions that really hustled
and got their RTPs to us on time.
So I just wanted to include that as sort of a punctuation
to your question.
With that, I am going to turn it over to Commissioner Gordino.
Thank you.
I love that you mentioned this is your first step.
This is my 20th year.
And it's amazing how much I learn every meeting
and every step cycle.
So I want to thank our amazing professional staff
and the work they've done with all of our regions
and communities to bring us this document.
We're 428 cities, 58 counties, nearly 40 million of us,
such diverse rural, tribal, suburban, and urban areas,
where safety, the environment, the economy all play
such an integral part of our mutual success.
And over these 20 years,
how much our STIP has evolved over time
to look at all modes of transportation.
I wanted to appreciate the comments
from the Kern County representative
as we look at that Highway 58 truck climbing lane
and the safety that that brings to a community
that is an agriculturally-based community
that depends on goods movement for lives and livelihood.
And it shows the balance of improvements
that we're trying to bring into play
as we move our state forward.
If it's appropriate for the chair,
I'd like to go ahead and make a motion then
that we adopt this dip, or are you waiting for?
Yes, we'll get back to you on the motion.
we do have Commissioner Lugo that wanted to make a comment
and then we'll get back to you.
Forgive me Commissioner Lugo, I didn't see your light.
Yeah, no problem.
And I'll second your motion when we get to that.
I just wanted to speak to the challenge
of community engagement in terms of
Commissioner Brown-Hines's question
and knowing both of that,
there's been tremendous shift at the regional agencies
toward wanting to include more active transportation projects
in what's being programmed,
that's why the active transportation program
is so competitive and oversubscribed.
That actually is a sign, as I've learned in my time
as a commissioner that agencies are wanting
to build more of these projects.
So we need more funding.
So that's one piece.
But in terms of that community engagement challenge,
certainly some regions have very sophisticated
and ongoing ways of ensuring that local residents
and in particular members of marginalized communities
are getting into the process.
And some agencies don't have as much of that focus.
One of the huge challenges with transportation
and public engagement is this is a really tough field
to wrap your head around.
And it's easy for these massive investments to happen
without anyone in the local area,
who's gonna be impacted really even knowing about it.
So I wanna really thank the advocates who have spoken
on this item for their hard work
in trying to help agencies and help Caltrans districts
with making that connection with local residents.
It is extremely challenging
and there's a lot of good work happening in transportation
and we have a lot more work to do.
But to that point,
it's tough being on the commission
and hearing this really good feedback
and knowing that it would have been great
if that feedback could have had an impact years
further back in the process.
And the STIP is only one of our funding programs.
We have many funding programs.
They all go through cycles that include guideline updates
and then the competitive process.
And I would love to speak with staff about what we can do
to help get more information out to the public
about where in the process there are opportunities
to have more of a shaping role
in what projects regional agencies
and Caltrans districts bring forward.
Cause I'm a commissioner, I've been listening for four years
and I still have a tough time keeping the timeline straight.
So I think there's more good work we can offer
in support of public engagement
to be able to help people navigate the timelines
and knowing where to go and who to talk to and when,
so that, you know, we're not the first body
that's been active listening to concerns
about these projects.
Thank you for the very thoughtful comments,
Commissioner Lugo, and just really for the robust
conversation from my colleagues.
The great thing about being where I'm at
is I get to be last and so I don't really need to say much
because a lot of what my thoughts have been churning
in my head, I've been already articulated by all of you
in your wonderful comments and very thoughtful questions.
And I just wanna uplift your comments,
Commissioner Lugo, particularly as it relates
to community engagement and by the time it gets to us,
you know, there's not too much that we can do on this dais
and all of the very robust work has already been done.
And so appreciate as well the comments that have been made
by the regions as well as the advocates
and those that are in the ground really working
on cultivating these plans and these projects.
It's not easy working and really designing these things
and managing and balancing all of the different
of that.
And thank you so much for your
understanding of that.
Thank you again for that.
I'm going to turn it back over
to Commissioner Gourdina to make
the motion.
Thank you, Chair Falcone.
And Commissioner Lugo, thank you
again for your comments.
Those were outstanding.
I noticed when I said 20 years
that a lot of people thought I
could see the expression in your
face.
How could that 34-year-old
in your face. How could that 34 year old young man have served on the commission for 20 years?
Well, just don't think about it for too long. It's a delight to thank our team and our regional
partners and our stakeholders to make this motion that we approve the 2026 state transportation
improvement program. Okay, motion made by Commissioner Gordino and second by Commissioner
Luego. All right. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstentions. Okay. The 2026
dip has been approved. Thank you. Okay. Now we have item 19, the 2027 act of transportation
program fund estimate and we have an adoption. Uh, Justin Barrens.
Commissioners, uh, tab 19 is an action item. Garrett Franklin from Caltrans Budgets will
present the 2027 active transportation program fund estimate for your approval.
And upon presentation of the fund estimate, staff recommends your approval.
Good afternoon commissioners. Garrett Franklin, Caltrans division of budgets.
I'll be presenting the proposed 2027 active transportation program fund estimate.
So, the primary assumptions for the fund estimate were first shared as part of the discussion
in the January meeting, and essentially, this is what establishes the program capacity for
the four-year cycle, and in the case of this fund estimate, that's going to begin in fiscal
year 2026-27.
It includes stable state resources over that four-year period.
For the applicable federal funding, it was based off the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act, and it was escalated annually at 1.8%.
The ATP-eligible portion of that redistributed TIFIA funding was included in year one of
the fund estimate.
And like all prior cycles, it accounts for the previous programming, as well as an amount
that set aside for the next fund estimate cycle.
And all of that to be said,
there's no changes from what was shared in January.
Next slide, please.
So this summary table identifies the resources,
adjusts, sorry, nets for adjustments
and results in approximately $620 million
in programming capacity over the four year period.
The distributions underneath parse out that 620 million between the urban regions, small, urban, and rural, and the statewide competitive elements. Next slide please.
So as mentioned, this cycle will provide $620 million in programming capacity.
The department has worked closely with commission staff throughout the development of the fund estimate.
right. Seeing that this is a
action item. The department is
recommending approval of the
20 27 active transportation
program fund estimate. And
similar to January. This will
be followed by an item for the
guidelines for this cycle. Next
slide, please. Answer any
questions. Thanks, Garrett. Any
Any questions or comments from the dais
Yes, Commissioner, Cordino. Thank you chair Falcone and this takes me back to the step and my appreciation that
Out of the step cycle, which again is underfunded as a whole as we've all lamented
141 million in the step cycle is for active transportation program funds because I
it's just a shame that we have less than six hundred and twenty million over over four years for for this
active transportation program cycle when it's a program where of Lori, what do we fund maybe
20%
25% of
Projects that meet our criteria. It's less than 20%
And now you've made me more depressed. Thank you for that. Yeah
So, I don't know what we do in our annual report next year in our individual and collective
advocacy with the legislature and the governor, but this number used to be a lot more robust
and it'd be nice to see us get back to that point.
Yeah.
No.
Thank you for the pointed comments.
And yeah, noted, and it really speaks to the need and the continuous work that, again,
local and regions and Caltrans partners dedicate towards trying to really expand the opportunities
for different modalities in our infrastructure. And so it is sobering that we have a constrained
amount of funding to work with. So with that, any other comments or questions on this item?
Okay. This is an action item. If anybody wants to make a motion. Make a motion. Okay. Commissioner
Tiffany and second by Commissioner man. All in favor. All right. And he knows abstentions.
Okay, that passes. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next is item 20. And this is airing
on the 20 27 active transportation program guidelines on Yeah. Good afternoon commissioners.
This hearing is to obtain final public comment on the 20 27 active transportation program
guidelines before they are adopted. The proposed 20 27 active transportation program guidelines
are included as attachment be under tab 21. The 20 27 active transportation program guidelines
describe the policies, standards, criteria, and procedures for the development, adoption,
and management of the Active Transportation Program.
Staff presented the draft 2027 Active Transportation Program guidelines to the commission at the
January meeting.
Since that presentation, no substantive changes have been made to the guidelines.
The guidelines were developed in close collaboration
with our partners through 10 public workshops.
Overall, commission staff proposed minimal policy changes
to the 2027 active transportation program.
We have worked closely with our many partners
across seven cycles to streamline the program
and ensure consistency.
By minimizing major changes,
applicants can focus on improving their projects
based on community feedback
and improve the application narratives
based on evaluator feedback
rather than completely reworking their responses.
There are a few noteworthy changes to the guidelines
compared to last cycle.
We added the restrictions put in place by Senate Bill 1216.
We removed two currently unavailable federal tools
to identify disadvantaged communities
that were used last cycle.
We ended the quick build pilot program
in the statewide and small urban and rural components,
but we're continuing it
in the Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO component.
And we added a new appendix that provides guidance
for non-infrastructure projects.
Together with the development of the guidelines,
commission staff provided technical assistance
to potential applicants around the state
from September, 2025 through March, 2026.
Our efforts included one-on-one time with applicants
to debrief on their cycle seven applications.
Staff discussed the evaluators comments
and provided feedback on how to improve their application
for cycle eight.
In total, staff met with 54 agencies to debrief on eight.
applications. We also hosted three virtual technical assistance workshops
that we called branch workshops, providing a forum for potential
applicants to ask questions and discuss region-specific challenges. Staff
provided basic information on the active transportation program and we walked
through the application questions to give tips and suggestions for writing a
successful application. In total over 300 people attended these workshops. One on one time to
discuss projects with commission staff through virtual site visits. Staff toured 97 projects
across 33 counties and upon request, commission staff provided an in-depth analysis of past
performance in the program to 20 cities and counties. All of this work is a team effort.
I in no way did it on my own. I had two amazing team members that I'd like to take a moment to
thank. Alika Chingizi and Jayden Gales. I just want to thank them from the bottom of my heart
for all their hard work during this process. I could not have done it without them.
and three waters for her support and guidance and for her trust in me.
Many of you know the active transportation program was her program for a long time
and I really appreciate the trust. So that concludes my presentation and Chair Falcone,
I will hand it back to you to open the public hearing.
Thank you Anya and congratulations. This is your first cycle leading the ATP project and
and for Lori for leading the STIP team as well.
I didn't acknowledge that earlier,
so I just wanted to highlight that.
So, well done.
Okay, we are gonna open up now
to public hearing on the ATP guidelines.
First, we'll have folks online who wish to speak.
Justin?
Great, thank you, Jerry.
I'd like to first call on Jeannie Ward-Walter.
Hello again, commissioners.
I thank you for another chance to speak.
I wanna really appreciate the staff's work
on the 2027 A to B guidelines.
I'll just keep my comments really brief,
but I wanted to jump back in to particularly thank
Commissioner Gordino for his comments.
Climate Plan and our partners have been working hard,
advocating to the legislature
for more funding for this program.
This year we're asking for a 200 million increase.
we would really love support of the commission
and all the agencies in the room
in helping to urge the legislature
to increase funding to this program.
We will continue our advocacy.
We've asked them every year.
We, you know, this is one of our highest priority
and we think one of the most valuable programs in the state.
So just really appreciate the commissioners
for, you know, their comments in support of ATP
and seeing the need for more funding for this program
that is so highly oversubscribed.
So thanks so much.
I'll see any other virtual attendees
with their hand raised looking to cover.
Thank you, Justin.
Now we have a couple of comments from folks in the room.
First, we have Jackie Mata with SB CAG.
Good afternoon commissioners.
My name is Jackie Mata representing
Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.
And we strongly support the adoption
of the 2027 Act of Transportation Program guidelines.
CTC staff has held a very clear and transparent process,
and we appreciate the minimal changes to the guidelines
so that our local partners
can focus on updating their applications
rather than learning a new application process.
We thank CTC staff for their work on these guidelines
and the open line of communication throughout the process.
work in this community. Thank
you. Thank you. Next we have
Carl Anderson with M T. C. Thank
you, Chair. Good afternoon,
Commissioners. I'm Carl
Anderson, the Metropolitan
Transportation Commission, and I
just want to provide my thanks
and gratitude to the C. T. C.
and Caltransact for
transportation teams. For
another seamless ATP development
process. M T. C. Always
appreciates the level of
MTC supports the draft guidelines, and I also wanted to thank staff in the CTC for advanced
consideration of MTC's regional guidelines under tab 23.
We're eager and excited to deliver another successful cycle of the state and regional
act of transportation programs.
Thank you.
Thanks, Carl.
Okay.
That, unless there's any other comments that have popped up, Justin?
No, no one else is going to comment on the item at this time.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you, Commissioner. So tab 21 is an action item to adopt the 2027 active transportation
program guidelines. Upon adoption, the 2027 active transportation program call for projects
will officially open. And staff recommends adoption of the 2027 active transportation
guidelines as proposed in attachment B. Great, thank you Anya. Any comments or
questions from the dais on this item? Okay, so this is an action item and I just
want to thank you again. Ten workshops and office hours I am sure and virtual
visits and tours, and I appreciate all of your work in getting to this point with Cycle
8 of the ATP. So well done. With that, I will take a motion from the dais. I see Commissioner
Mann wanting to make the motion. Second? Second. I think I saw. Sorry. I saw. I saw Commissioner
Gordino. Got you next time. All right, got a motion and a second. All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
All right, any opposed? Abstentions? Okay, that measure passes. Or measure, I'm sorry,
tab. This is not the legislature's getting ahead of myself. All right, next item,
Advancing education and encouragement in the active transportation program through non-infrastructure projects. Back to Anya.
Thank you. Commissioners tab 22 is an information item. We are presenting this item to you today to help demystify one aspect of the active transportation program that you may have heard us talk about from time to time.
I will give you a brief overview of the types of projects we fund under non-infrastructure
projects, and I will then introduce our guest speaker, Jim Schaman, who will give some real-world
examples of the difference this type of funding makes.
Non-infrastructure project is the overarching term that we use to refer to education and
encouragement programs and activities.
The Active Transportation Program has always funded these types of projects, but they often
take second place to infrastructure improvements in our talking points.
Applicants to the ATP can apply for a non-infrastructure project in two ways.
Either they can apply only for an education or encouragement program, or they can apply
for a combination project, which is a capital improvement with a complementary education
and encouragement program. Examples of this are holding how to ride a bike classes or hiring
crossing guards at schools and educating drivers on safely navigating the new pedestrian and
bicyclist safety improvements. Most well-known are Safe Routes to School programs and I'm not going
to dive into details on these types of programs because our guest speaker will focus on that on
his presentation. But other examples are we projects that we funded our bicycle opportunity
and safety projects. An example is where regional maps of bike trails were created and distributed
or food and bike tours are hosted. We've also funded safe routes for seniors projects which
encourage seniors to walk and bike through events like family-friendly bike tours, participation
in a walkability survey, and transit outings. And finally, we've funded active transportation
demand projects where after analysis of existing routes and key destinations, businesses, schools,
and tourist destinations are enlisted to help encourage and facilitate travel behavior change.
When it comes to active transportation infrastructure, for the most part, when you build it, they
will come.
But to make an impact that causes mode shift and changes people's minds, that is, their
first thought is to walk or bike to their destination instead of using a car.
Sometimes I put to you a little bit of education encouragement is needed to move things along.
So I'm keeping my notes very brief on this
because I'm really excited to introduce our guest speaker,
Jim Shaman.
Jim is the founder and executive director of Walk & Rollers,
a nonprofit organization that specializes
in Safe Routes to School programs.
And I will turn it over to you.
Thank you, Anya, I appreciate the introduction.
Greetings, Cheryl Falcone and CTC.
I am the founder of, oh, is that working?
I'm not close enough.
There you go, is that better?
There you go.
I am the founder and executive director of Walk and Rollers
and I'm very excited to be here
for the opportunity to present today.
It's an honor representing all of us
in reactive transportation throughout the state.
There are dozens of groups like us
and hundreds of practitioners.
So today's presentation is aimed at providing a snapshot
of what active transportation is
and what its value to California is.
It is impossible to overstate the value
that the funding brings.
Next slide, please.
So who we are, a little bit about us.
So we are a nonprofit.
We're based out of Los Angeles.
We are celebrating our 14th year this year.
We work in four different counties, LA, Ventura, Riverside,
and Orange County.
Our partners include cities, school districts,
government agencies, and transportation planning agencies.
And the programs that we offer are safe routes
to school programming, pedestrian bicycle safety,
education, and community workshops.
And also as full transparency,
I also will add that I serve on the Caltrans District
and Complete Streets Advisory Committee.
So I'm deeply involved in this work.
Next slide, please.
So a little bit about what Safe Routes to School is,
because I'm not sure if everybody in the room knows,
or perhaps even those on the commission
just kind of demystify it.
It's basically an ideology or a methodology
that began in Europe back in the 60s,
when Copenhagen realized a lot of kids
were dying on the way to school.
So they enacted a Safe Routes to School program
to develop their streets to be safer for kids
and their mortality rate dropped by 40%.
So they realized they were on to something.
So at the time we were going heavily car-centric over here,
they went the opposite direction
and we have what we have today.
Here in the States around 1985 is when the United States
started to embrace the ideology
and in the non-infrastructure world,
that came in with force in about 2005 or so.
So it's relatively young in the whole scheme of things.
And why is this so important?
because in the 19, this actually says 1979,
but technically it's 1969.
No, I apologize, this is 1979.
About half of our kids walked and biked to school back then
and now it's about 18%.
So things have changed dramatically.
And along those lines, obesity has risen,
heart-related problems like asthma have risen
and congestion around the schools have risen.
So the work that we do is vital to reducing those numbers
depending about the clock, so to speak.
I mean, I will also note that traffic crashes
are one of the leading causes of death
amongst children 15 and under.
So spotlighting this work is essential
for us to pivot away from a car-centric society.
Next slide, please.
And so, State Future School is generally based on
what we call the six E's.
That's education, encouragement, equity,
engagement, and engineering and evaluation.
When we first started,
we were only involved in education and encouragement,
but over the years,
we've become involved in all of these aspects.
We don't do engineering in-house,
we work side by side with our planners and engineers to ensure that what they're actually
building is kid focused and kids first. We learned a long time ago that the work that
we do at the elementary school level is great for building encouragement and getting people
excited to walk to school but doesn't really shift the needle as much as we'd like. But
it does lay the groundwork for kids to build confidence and parents to build confidence
in the work they do. So when they get to middle school and beyond, they have viable options
on how to get to school.
Next slide, please.
So a lot of the theme of what we're going to be talking about today is planting seeds
because the work that the funding that comes from Caltrans and the work that we do sometimes
is only the foundation of what cities build the programming on.
And so I brought four case studies to sort of illustrate how all of that works.
These projects are examples of not only our work that are recently completed, but also
some that are ongoing and it really kind of identifies the breadth of the socioeconomic
spectrum that we find here in California. So to get started, we're going to start locally.
Go ahead and next slide, which is Culver City. Culver City is our longest running project. It's
also where I live, so having a Safe Routes to School coordinator living in the midst is quite
rare. There are very few of us around the country, so to have a robust program is pretty unusual.
It started in 2013 with a $500,000 grant through the ATP, I believe.
And when that grant was fulfilled, and this is the key part, is the city decided to continue that
work, and they have for 10 years since. So they determined that not only was it important for what
they're doing in their schools, but it's important for the future of the city. So again, planting
those seeds and developing a program that continues on was essential. At the time, the school district
and the city, like in so many communities, really didn't jive very nicely, but this sort of tied it
all together so we built a collaborative process. In fact, the school district partially funded
this for several years until very recently. That in itself is quite rare. Next slide.
And so what is the program actually involved? So it involves walk to school days and originally
included 32 individual tasks. It was quite the robust program. Walk to school days included
zipper tag that helps us identify how many kids actually walk to school so we can track the
progress of the program, middle school specific programs that tie in transit as well, pedestrian
safety assemblies and a whole much more including group rides and group walks and community outreach
programming. We reach roughly eight schools and about 5,000 students each year and it
continues to grow. Last year we had an open streets event specifically for the most popular
corridor in the school district and this year we've added a bike bus to the programming as well.
Next up is Oxnard.
Oxnard received grant funding
for a two-year Safe Roots of School program.
This would be the first of their kind in their community.
So it was very exciting for us to be able to come on
as a team and introduce Safe Roots of School
to the community.
Six months into the program,
they recognize the value of the program
and how many schools were being connected to,
but more importantly, how many were not.
So they found additional funding in their general fund
and they decided to fund it for an additional two years.
So again, planting the seeds with the key funding
that allowing the city to find their own funding
to continue and expand the program was essential.
We're all focused on education and encouragement.
And I'm gonna go to the next slide
and show you a little bit of what that looks like.
So these were walk to school days.
The school in that top left corner,
they hosted their very first ever walk to school day
and it had over 200 kids participating.
So they knocked it out of the park
and they've continued that every four years since,
that sustainability beyond the scope
of not only the grant funding, but also the city funding.
We brought bicycle education in conjunction with the PD
to all the secondary schools as well.
So these kids can learn how to get around safely
and maybe not be quite so hazardous out there
and bring a little bit of sensibility
so that the community recognizes
that this is an important way for the kids to get around
and not to be so quite so upset about the whole thing.
The bikes were causing a little bit of a problem.
Our next slide, Santa Ana.
So this program was not directly funded by grant funding,
but it was funded, oh, excuse me, this one was.
$180,000 for a two-year program specifically
to build on the previous infrastructure programs
that the city had already built.
So we worked with three schools,
and next slide for that's one.
We worked with three secondary schools
where the kids learned essential skills
that included bike safety, bike repair,
community advocacy, group ride and leadership tools.
This was done after school
with a select group of the schools.
So they opted in for the program and lasted for two years.
A lot of the kids did an earn bike program.
So the bikes they actually worked on,
they were able to keep after that,
and that gives them mobility options going forward.
They learned about group ride leadership.
They received helmets, locks and lights,
and the whole idea was to build peer leadership
so that when our program was done,
they would be left behind to encourage their friends
to be able to do the same thing
and take advantage of the infrastructure programs
that had been built by the city.
And lastly, we have Costa Mesa.
So this is a unique city.
Costa Mesa is leading the charge right now
as one of the most bike friendly cities
in the Southern California area.
The program itself was city funded,
but they had built some $13 million of grant programs
for infrastructure that they have built
and are currently building now.
And they recognize that having education components
would be essential to make these programs successful.
It's great to lay down bike lanes and make them separated,
but if nobody's using them,
a lot of people wonder what the point is.
So this whole program was brought in
to change that dynamic.
Next slide.
The program did focus on bicycle and pedestrian safety
education for 20 Costa Mesa schools,
which is only part of the Newport Mesa School District.
The school district jumped in
and funded the programming for the other 11 schools.
So the entire district would receive funding.
And in that process, we built a collaborative process.
It didn't exist before there.
Literally the city and the school district
were not on the same page until this program arrived.
So while our program was necessarily funded
in the way that some of the other ones have been,
The infrastructure projects is what planted the seeds
and caused that inertia to move forward,
which brought us on board,
which brought the school district on board,
and now they're all playing well,
nicely in the sandbox, so to speak.
And they are looking at ways to continue this going forward.
So it's becoming a permanent program in that area.
Okay, next slide.
Collaboration, so a lot of the work that myself
and all my colleagues around the state do
is very collaborative.
We don't do this in silos.
We work with all of our government agencies
in the area in the region, our collaborative partners,
LA Metro, this is our list personally, LA Metro,
the OCTA, SCAG, Riverside University of Health Systems,
various municipalities and school districts,
local organizations and planning agencies.
We're sort of like the glue that holds that all together.
We like to say we're the ones
that bring the fun to the programming.
So while there's engineering happening
and there's analysis that's happening,
we get to do the engaging activities,
but we cross a lot of borders
and it allows families to really rethink
commutes to school by walking, biking, carpooling, using transit. And while those infrastructures get
the spotlight and the attention, it's essential that families learn to use those facilities.
So funding to cities helps ensure that the concrete and paint is utilized to its fullest
capacity, which obviously helps prevent collisions, increase safety, inspire our next generation to be
not to be quite so car-centric. A lot of the skills that our kids learn, of course they learn
that biking and walking to school is good for the environment it's good exercise and it creates
safer streets but it also allows them to learn about traffic safety awareness about making
mindful decisions about not being quite so reliant on the car but also things like
timing and self-management so when they are getting to school when they get to college
they're able to function like adults are supposed to function rather than being living in the back
seat of a car. We have heard studies that took place I believe in Berkeley or some 25%
of incoming freshmen. They're clinically depressed or socially dysfunctional because they spent
so much time in the back seat of a car. They don't know how to way find around campus.
They don't know how to ask for questions. They don't know how to time management themselves
and problem solving is just gone. Our programs solve a lot of those issues. And next slide.
Yes, our programming does do workforce and development
truly on a micro level,
but that micro level magnified by many other agencies
across the state can be significant.
We are a small org to be sure.
We are two full-time people and two part-time people,
but we might step up to as many as 10 or 12
through any event that we have.
Those are instructors that are league cycling instructors
or LCIs.
These are bike mechanics or people that want to learn more
about being involved in bike repair,
which sets them up for internships,
We just literally had a bike shop call us the other day
saying they are now hiring.
Do we know anybody?
Anybody that's gone through our program,
please let them know.
These are opportunities that teenagers don't get.
They're hands-on experiential learning opportunities.
We hire interns.
We're constantly looking for more bodies
to help support our work.
In the big scheme of things,
there would be additional funding.
So specifically, groups like us could populate the state more.
I'm gonna get to that in a little bit,
but it's something to be thinking about
how can we do more of this kind of work on an inexpensive level, but also an incredibly valuable
level. And lastly, my five minutes up here is another minute to go. I was given a very short
window. So in closing, first I want to thank Caltrans and the Commission for providing and
facilitating funds for active transportation. Our work would struggle to happen without it,
but I do have a few asks for you. I hope I've shown just how valuable this programming is and
and how it serves communities of all economic levels.
And the first ask is to find a way to support groups
like us carving out some of that money
so that we don't have to wait for a city
to get their a couple of million dollars in infrastructure
and then compete for those RFPs
so that we can bring a little bit of programming
to the cities somewhere in this world.
There should be a way for a city to ask specifically
on a low level for a minimal amount of money
to bring safe routes to school
or for schools directly to be able to apply
are more important for organizations like us to apply.
We're constantly competing on the big, big bucket,
but there's a micro level there
that I think this commission could work towards solving.
And I think that's something to maybe take up
in the coming months.
Secondly, there is so much work to be done,
but infrastructure takes so long to build, as we all know,
but we needed to continue to encourage residents
to be active.
Literally the work that I do came
because the work takes so long to do.
At a public meeting in Culver City 13 years ago,
I was horrified to find the timeline
from the time they put in a grant,
they actually got a sign in the ground
would be two to three years.
By that time, parents are gone.
They're out of middle school, they're out of high school.
They possibly have even moved out of the area.
So what can we do right now to move this forward?
I would like Caltrans to find ways
to move that needle faster, provide that funding quicker,
whether that's microgrants or organizations like us,
or just creating that pipeline
so that the valuable work that gets done
can get done sooner in months rather than weeks.
Groups like us were connected at the grassroots level.
We can move faster.
We're far more efficient than a government agency,
and we are ready to make this happen.
So at that time, I think I'm done,
but I am happy to answer any questions
that the committee might have.
Thank you, Jim.
The public affairs professional in me
just wants to say that is such a cool name, walk and roller.
So I just wanted to give you kudos on your branding.
Appreciate that.
Your logo there.
So before I open it up to questions and comments
from the dais, any public comment on this information item?
Chair, I'm not seeing any requests
from the public to comment on this item.
Okay, thank you.
Any comments or questions?
Yes, Commissioner Brent-Heintz.
Thank you so much for sharing.
And I was glad to see that you were in my city
as one of your cities, and I live in Riverside,
which made me think I live near an elementary school
and the cars are lined up.
You know, every afternoon, but in part because of where we live,
we live in a rural part of right right on the edge of the county.
And it's not necessarily the safest for kids to.
There's like no sidewalks, right?
For them to
walk or definitely bike from from to school.
So one question was how do you pick the schools was one of just curious about that.
Do you see diversity within, you know, how do you have diversity within the districts?
the school districts or the city.
And then the second thing is,
have you thought about offering it as consultancy
as districts are planning where they're putting their schools
and then we're building new schools
to help consult with districts
as to how they're designing their schools
within the neighborhood
so that it is safer for students to walk or ride?
Wow, those are two great questions.
The first one's easy.
It's just.
So we do do a lot of work in Riverside County
because there's literally nobody else to go out there.
And so we're in Menifee, we're in Lake Elsinore,
we're in Riverside.
We're actually in Menifee later on next month.
So in terms of the planning
and where schools are gonna be scoped
that is way beyond our pay grade.
We would have to be in on the community development
when that city is going through that process
at the beginning.
And we do not have that kind of bandwidth.
The question to what do you do with families
that are in a more rural area,
and they just need to drive for one reason or another.
A lot of what we talk about
is what we call our three block challenge.
So yes, you may have to drive to school
for any number of reasons,
but you don't have to drive to the front door every day,
right?
You can drive door to door every day
is one of the problems we have in every school zone.
So parking a few blocks away solves that.
And that's something that most people can do.
So we like to say that each day
and every block not driven matter.
So it's once a year, once a month, or once a week,
just park a few blocks away and join and walk from there.
And there's the way some schools are built,
especially in rural areas is a true challenge,
especially the afterschool programming, right?
So we haven't quite gotten there yet.
We're too busy on getting people
to be active in the first place.
That three block challenge, as it turns out,
is a really hard conversation to have with most parents
in most school districts.
So thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
And my neighborhood could benefit from that challenge.
Yeah, in terms of, I mean, we do do consultancies
with schools directly, so we are happy to have
an hour conversation with any school
that wants to learn how to get
a walk-to-school program going.
We do have information on our website.
We know it takes a little bit more than that
to actually make it robust and sustainable,
and so that's where the programming comes in,
and that's where our heart and soul really lies.
Thanks.
Thank you for the question, or, yeah, the question.
Okay, Commissioner Lego, and then Commissioner Mann,
and then Commissioner Tiffany.
Okay, well, I am so excited
that we got to hear this presentation.
Thank you so much, Jim.
Thank you so much, Anya, for facilitating.
And we also have to thank Michelle Lieberman
of the Active Transportation Resource Center
for helping to connect the dots.
This area is just my home.
What we are calling active transportation non-infrastructure
also includes open streets,
which is the programming that first connected me
to the whole world of transportation.
And something I want to emphasize,
I'm currently working on research
in the area of workforce and non-infrastructure.
Young people want to do this work.
There are not enough jobs out there
for them to be stepping into.
And, you know, there is an alignment of our need
as a state in terms of supporting more people
in having access to multimodal transportation.
You know, infrastructure clearly
is an important part of the equation.
And in fact, most of our active transportation program
funding goes to infrastructure.
It's infrastructure for biking and walking,
but it's infrastructure,
just like we build infrastructure for driving.
But how do we actually get people to feel
like that infrastructure is something for them
or something that they can use
when we're a state that has preferred driving
and really built our lives around car culture
for generations?
It's not gonna happen just with some changes in the street.
It actually takes culture shift.
It takes peer to peer work and encouragement,
creating fun spaces where you can learn about this stuff.
I had an interview with someone in LA recently
who said, you know, we have to provide handholding
for a skeptical public.
That's what it is.
This is a major challenge
and we just haven't really planned
for how we're going to support millions of Californians
and actually feeling comfortable getting out there
using multimodal transportation.
So even though the name active transportation,
non-infrastructure programming sounds like something
that just zeros itself out, it sounds unimportant, right?
Non-infrastructure, well, that means no jobs, right?
So one of the major challenges I think we have
in providing more resources in this area
is really highlighting that, yes, there are jobs
in this area of work and learning more about them
and showing that, you know, there's a lot of people
who want to be doing this work.
And in fact, California has a very lively network
of active transportation, education
and encouragement organizations and events and traditions.
And it happens to be an area that is very accessible
when it comes to just, you know, as I was saying earlier,
how difficult community engagement is
for transportation planning.
Just regular people who care about their neighborhoods,
they'll get involved in some, you know,
local organization that's doing walks or bike rides.
And that can be an entry point for them to eventually,
you know, end up being engaged
with transportation processes in their city
or even working, you know, as a planner or an engineer
a public servant. So this is a really important pathway that unfortunately we to this point in
time have neglected but I really appreciate you Jim giving us some insight into what's going on
in non-infrastructure. Appreciate that. If I can if I can add on to that just a little bit I think
I skipped right past our Santa Ana project so that was design oh I didn't skip past but
part of what we taught them was advocacy and how to come up with ideas how to view your landscape
how to approach civic leaders and explain to them what it is that you want as youth.
I say often that we're building this not for the users of today, which is partly true, but it's
really for the users of tomorrow. And so if the kids don't have a say at the table, if they're
not involved in that conversation of how they actually move around, we're missing a big opportunity there.
And just a reminder, we, Commissioner Lugo and Commissioner Eder and I, speaking of Costa Mesa,
visited Costa Mesa last month and talked about a certain area of State Route 55
where there are quite a bit of unfortunately accident events in that route and there's a
a concerted effort by the community to really slow things down and provide opportunities
for potential density and housing and activation of community focused activities. So I just
wanted to kind of jog my memory that we had just toured Costa Mesa. All right. Next commission
and I'm sure you'll be able to
and how they're interacting with infrastructure.
And so I'm also curious about how your programming takes
that into account, whether it is about how the other students
are cognizant and aware of those who might have disabilities
or those with disabilities,
how they're able to take advantage of your programming.
And then the last one, and you may have it or not,
you know, I think, at least for me,
so often when we're having these conversations,
It does seem as if there's a bit of assumption
about how many people actually know how to ride a bike.
And so I am curious about like the percentage of students
when you go into schools,
how many of them already know how to ride a bike?
Thank you.
Thank you, those are great questions.
I'll try to remember all of them.
So bike bus, I'll start with that.
There's two things that I mentioned.
One is with our middle school in Culver City
on a middle school specific day
where we teach them bike skills,
how and where to lock up your bikes properly,
how to prepare yourself to be able to ride to school safely.
We ride the motor of the transportation department
where they interact with the transportation department
and the buses, learn how to load their bikes onto the bus,
get them off the bus, how their tap card works
so they can integrate that into the mobility options.
We also have a bike bus, which is completely different.
It's like a walking school bus or we meet at one location
with kids on bikes and volunteers
and we ride them to school down a designated route
so they can get to school safely,
but they're doing it as a group on bikes together.
So we just launched that three weeks ago in Culver City.
Huge success.
We've got about 30 people on the ride so far.
It grows every week, so we're hoping to grow that.
That's actually become kind of a national movement.
It started up in Portland.
And now it's kind of catching a little fire
all the way around the country, which is great.
Just another way for kids to have fun getting to school.
So those are the two buses.
The last one was disability, but there was one in between.
It was disability number two.
Disability is just number two.
And then the last one was the percentage of students
on average, if you have that, who know how to ride bikes?
Yeah, so for disability, that's a great question.
What we typically do when we're on school
is we fold the disabled children's right into our program
with whatever device they have.
We don't have the capacity to bring
adaptive devices to all of our events.
So we're generally incorporating them.
So if they're in a wheelchair, for example,
or if they have, they struggle with walking,
they'll walk through the course
instead of riding the bike,
but we do want them involved as much as possible.
In terms of the infrastructure and how that works,
We tend to be one of the voices for that
because we know when it's safer and easier
for people to access them,
if they have disabilities, that works for everybody.
And so that's often a voice that's not in the room
during the planning conversation.
So we try to make sure that gets lifted up and elevated.
And then, I'm sorry, remind me of the third question.
Yeah, should have brought notepads with me.
That's okay.
The, when you go into school.
Oh, right.
Yeah, the percentage you don't know how to ride bikes.
So, you know, that's really interesting
because when we do our PE programming,
which is bike skills,
We bring bikes and scooters for the kids
that can't ride a bike because we don't have time
at those sessions to teach them how to ride.
And we have a whole conversation about that.
If you don't know how to ride, that's okay.
Someday you may learn.
For today, use a scooter,
so we make sure that they get incorporated into that.
The percentage varies with every school
and every classroom.
Sometimes it's 50% or more, and sometimes it's five kids.
So it's, and it's not even, it's not even regional.
It's literally everywhere we go,
we don't know what we're walking into.
So it's a good question.
We do do a lot of learn to write classes in community,
so we hope to get as many people writing as possible.
But the actual percentage,
I don't have an answer on that one for you.
Sorry, welcome.
Thank you for the questions.
Okay, Commissioner Tiffany.
Thank you, Chair Falcone or is it Falcon?
It's translatable.
Okay, thank you for your fascinating presentation Jim.
It's refreshing to hear about a program that doesn't involve millions of dollars and I
really appreciate your comment also about the idea of micro-funding.
We often are involved in projects that are years, two or three years, that's short time
frame, we're talking 20 years or whatever so I appreciate that.
really interesting why it is that people don't walk or ride to their bikes. I mean part of it
why they don't know how to ride bikes in some cases. We have been a car-centric
community culture for generations and yet a generation go when I was a kid everyone walked
to school and rode their bikes. So something has changed. And, and I don't know whether it's
an issue of safety. Does the infrastructure have to come first in order people feel comfortable to
ride their bikes or walk to school? I suspect it's not really so much that it's more a cultural
change. And even if you have the infrastructure, you've got to educate them, which is what you're
trying to do. So I'm just curious more about whether you've really dug into that issue
and how do you change people's habits because, you know, as you were saying, you know, in
our community, we have just massive amounts of cars just lined up around every school.
a huge safety issue. And just to try to get people out of
those, you know, other cars and walk or ride their bikes would
be, you know, would be great. You even see it at the college
level. When I was in college, everyone rode their bike. Now I
don't think anyone does. It's not cool, I suspect. But anyway,
I'm old. But anyway, I'm just curious if you would comment on
that. Thank you.
I'd be happy to, so we have looked into that and in terms of why and there's some very definitive things that have happened over the last 50 years or 40 years that have changed that dynamic.
online for them, but also the infrastructure plays a role, but not quite as much as you might think.
I'll start with in today's world, the number one reasons we hear from people not wanting to walk or bike.
are generally not the infrastructure that's down on the list if it's there they'll use it but if
it's not they survive it's the traffic volume and the speed of cars those are the two biggest
reasons people don't want a walker bike why the solution to that in their mind is to get in the
car and add to that problem i do not know but that seems to be their solution to that especially
when you layer on that it's one of the traffic crashes are one of the biggest causes of accidental
death for young people, the dynamic just doesn't make sense. But going back in time, in 1979,
a little boy named Eaton Platts was abducted on his way to school. And why that's important
is he was the first kid on a milk carton. So for the first time, the entire country knew that
abductions happened, which are very rare. I just want to be very clear about that. They're
extremely rare and something like 98% of them are family related. So that kind of abduction does not
happened very often, but that got people on alert. Follow that up with CNN and 24-7 news where
people just need to, they don't have enough news to fill the cycle, so they're repeating these
tragedies over and over and over. Follow that up with the wealthy periods of the 80s, when people
had excess money and they bought really nice cars and they wanted to show them off, so driving to
school became kind of cooler. Follow that up with the internet, and every horror story becomes
populated everywhere instantaneously. And you get this dynamic and this perception that
getting to school outside of your car is extremely dangerous, which if you talk to most of law
and most local law enforcement, they'll tell you that's not quite the case. Those, those
kinds of street crimes do happen, but it's not the primary reason for people not walking
or biking to school. How do we change that dynamic? That's the million dollar question.
It's by trial. It's by error. It's by demonstration. It's by getting the folks that are willing
to adapt to adapt and then building from there. We know that there's a handful of families that
will do this no matter what's out there. There's a bigger handful that will try it if there's some
encouragement programming. There's a smaller portion that will never do it no matter what,
but there's this big chunk in the middle that will happily do it if we can just push them a
little bit harder and that's where the education and encouragement come in. So I showed that it's
about 18% now that are biking and walking to school in today's world. When I started this it
it was 15%. So we're making progress. We're far away from 50%. But we're getting there.
And the only way to do this is to do more of it. So we're working on a handful of projects.
But there's 88 cities in Los Angeles County alone, and we can't get all of them. I'd love
to be able to. How do we do that? Not quite sure yet. But we're working on it.
Well, at any rate, I applaud you for your efforts. And hopefully this can be expanded
into other areas, other districts. I'd love to see it come to San Bernardino County. But
anyway, I applaud you and keep at it. And when we don't have enough funds for
active transportation projects, this is a, you get a lot of bang for your buck. So this is a
great program. So thank you. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. And a reminder,
there are dozens of groups like us around the state. There are hundreds, if not thousands
of practitioners doing it on their own as volunteers, you're absolutely right that this is,
in terms of funding, this is the low hanging fruit. It does not take much to get a walk to
school program going into school, $5,000 or less. So think of the difference if other groups could
be populated and encouraged to develop or even just sprout if they've already begun,
your dollars could go a whole lot further to changing the dynamic than paving another highway.
thank you for the time. Thank you Jim and thank you for just such an engaging conversation. It
definitely stimulated a lot of ideas and comments from from my colleagues and it really speaks to
how important community-based organizations like yours and really working with grassroots and
and you know the strategy of of schools as we're talking about culture change it really starts with
with students and really creating that mindset of alternative modes of transportation and really
enjoying it as well and really approaching it in a way where we don't have to necessarily depend on
infrastructure-heavy methods. And so, you know, organizations like yours, you're right, are up
and down the state. We have quite a few in San Diego as well and we do a lot with schools,
bike rodeos, safety, safety workshops, et cetera. And so really, as we're looking at, you know,
a robust system of transportation in our state, it really has to include innovations that come from
CBOs and real work in the community where you're waiting for the infrastructure, what can you do
in the meantime, right? That's not heavy on the infrastructure, right? So thank you for the work
that you do and for the work that your colleagues up and down the state do and for really engaging
in a great conversation with us. Thank you. You're very welcome and thank you for all
the questions. That was fantastic. Thank you. All right, and with that, yes.
All right, everybody's awake now. I love it. Okay, tab 23. Adoption of the 2027 active
transportation program regional guidelines for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Is it going to be a Lika or Anya? There is a Lika. Hi, Lika. Go ahead.
Good afternoon, commissioners. Tab 23 is an action item to adopt the 2027
active transportation program regional guidelines for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Senate Bill 99 and the 2027 active transportation program guidelines allow the 10 large
metropolitan planning organizations to develop guidelines outlining their regional project
selection process and the MPO component of the active transportation program.
Regional guidelines must be consistent with state guidelines, but the MPOs do have discretion in
certain areas, such as issuing a supplemental call for projects and adjusting project selection
criteria and waiting. By developing regional guidelines, MPOs can encourage applicants
to propose projects that advance regional priorities. Regional guidelines must be approved
by the Commission. Most MPOs will come forward for regional guidelines adoption at the June
Commission meeting. However, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission requested early
approval of their guidelines so that their regional call for projects could be released
concurrently with the statewide call for projects. This streamlines the application process for
applicants as they know both state and regional priorities as they develop their cycle 8 applications.
The Metropolitan Transportation
Commission guidelines are included as attachment B in the book items.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission's regional guidelines
highlight several regional priorities that
will be factored into project selection, including additional scoring
criteria focused on transit agency coordination,
consistency with regional priorities, and planning efforts,
as well as approved housing elements and local road and safety plans, consistent with the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Complete Streets Policy. Commissions staff reviewed the
2027 active transportation regional guidelines for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission
and find them consistent with the 2027 active transportation program guidelines.
staff recommends approval and adoption of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's
2027 active transportation program regional guideline. Thank you. Any public comment,
Justin? No, no request to comment at this time. Okay. Any questions or comments from the dais?
Yes. I'm ready to make a motion if you're ready to hear a motion. I am ready, go ahead.
I move that we move forward in adopting the 2027 active transportation program regional guidelines for the MTC Thank you, Commissioner Gordino. Do I hear a second.
Okay, second by Commissioner man all in favor.
Opposed.
Abstentions.
Okay, that tab passes. Thank you, Lika.
All right.
Now we have, I'm going to jump down to.
Tab 90, shop amendments for approval.
We have John Pray.
All right, all the way down to 90.
Yeah.
Tab 90 is an action item to approve amendments
to the 2024 shop.
We need to take action on these
before we adopt the new 2026 shop,
which was gonna be the next agenda item,
but may not be the next agenda item.
But regardless, we need to take action on these
before the 2026 shop.
These amendments will add 23 new projects
and revise two projects in the 2024 shop.
Of the 23 new projects, 22 of them are emergency projects
coming from the major damage reservation.
And one is a new mitigation project
related to a bridge preservation project.
And two projects that are being revised
are making minor changes to the project descriptions
to align their description
with their respective environmental documents.
And all 25 of these projects in this item
will not be carried forward into the 2026 shop,
which is why we're taking this item
prior to the 2026 shop item.
So with that, staff recommends approval of tab 90.
Thank you, John.
Any public comment?
No, there's no request to comment on this item.
Okay.
Any questions or comments from the dais?
Oh, Commissioner Tevani.
Oh, it's going to make a motion.
Okay, we'll make a motion-
Since Carl's not here,
I'm gonna be good.
All right, okay, we have a motion
by Commissioner Tiffany to approve.
Second, anyone?
Okay, second by Commissioner Brown-Hines.
All in favor?
Aye.
Aye.
Can you pose?
Abstentions?
Okay, that measure pass,
measure tab passes.
Can you tell that I listened to a lot?
I know, no, I do not wanna be a politician.
Okay, well, I think we are going to conclude today's hearing
and we will resume tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.
We do have to vacate this room right at five o'clock
and with that, I will see you tomorrow.
Thank you.
Good job, Chair Falcone.