Major changes are coming to California’s public transit system after the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) restored the Division of Mass Transportation, established a new deputy director for transit and rail programs role and released the first iteration of the Director’s Policy on Transit.
The Division of Mass Transportation will oversee plans to integrate transit into the state’s transportation system, focusing on projects that make public transportation convenient and sustainable. The division will collaborate with the California Transit Advisory Committee, the Division of Rail and other partners to achieve these goals.
The deputy director, alongside the restructured Division of Mass Transportation, will prioritize building up transit services across the state in the department’s effort to exemplify coordinated, efficient, fast and reliable transit and rail services. The deputy director will be responsible for transit and rail programs, with the goal of accelerating project delivery efforts that make public transportation more efficient and accessible.
With parts of Caltrans’ executive leadership and agencies restructured to focus on public transit, the Director’s Policy on Transit will have the support and wherewithal needed for effective implementation. The policy serves as the framework for Caltrans’ efforts to support public transit on the State Highway System, cultivating a world-class transit and rail network emphasizing connectivity and accessibility.
Key components of the policy will revolve around building transit priority facilities, including but not limited to dedicated bus lanes, signal priority, queue jump lanes at intersections, managed lanes and transit-only lanes. Policy implementation will also prioritize improving air quality through expanded public transit availability, reducing car numbers on roadways and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
Caltrans is currently developing an implementation plan with steps and strategies needed to realize the Director’s Policy of Transit. The department anticipates releasing the plan in fall 2026.
Photo by 4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
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