View source for Caltrans

{{Short description|Executive department of California, US}}
{{distinguish|Caltrain}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Caltrans
| logo            = Caltrans.svg
| logo_width      = 150px
| logo_caption    = 
| seal            = 
| seal_width      = 
| seal_caption    = 
| formed          = {{Start date and age|1972}}
| preceding1      = California Bureau of Highways
| preceding2      = California Department of Highways
| dissolved       = 
| superseding     = 
| jurisdiction    = [[government of California|California State Government]]
| headquarters    = 1120 N Street, [[Sacramento, California]]
| coordinates     = {{coord|38.574564|-121.493660|type:landmark_region:US|display=inline,title}}
| motto           = 
| employees       = 19,887 (Sep 2020)
| budget          = $17 billion (2021)<ref>{{cite web| url=https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4458| title=Budget and Policy: 2021-22 California Spending Plan}}</ref>
| chief1_name     = Dina El-Tawansy
| chief1_position = Director
| chief2_name     = 
| chief2_position = 
| parent_agency   = [[California State Transportation Agency]] (CalSTA)
| child1_agency   = 
| child2_agency   = 
| keydocument1    = [https://web.archive.org/web/20180224130540/http://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/Statutes/1972/72Vol2_Summary.pdf Ch. 1253, Assembly Bill 69] (1972)
| website         = {{Official URL}}
| footnotes       = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/research-innovation-system-information/documents/caltrans-fact-booklets/2021-caltrans-facts-a11y.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915182529/https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/research-innovation-system-information/documents/caltrans-fact-booklets/2021-caltrans-facts-a11y.pdf |archive-date=2021-09-15 |url-status=live|title=Caltrans Executive Fact Book|date=June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Mac|title=The 2016–17 Budget Transportation Proposals|url=http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2016/3366/transportation-proposals-022316.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005085848/http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2016/3366/transportation-proposals-022316.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-05 |url-status=live|website=Legislative Analyst's Office|publisher=Legislative Analyst's Office of California|access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="Feb 2018 org chart">{{cite web|title=State of California Department of Transportation February 2018 Organization Chart|url=http://dot.ca.gov/orgchart/departmentalorgchart.pdf|publisher=Caltrans|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224124932/http://dot.ca.gov/orgchart/departmentalorgchart.pdf|archive-date=24 February 2018|date=February 2018}}</ref>
}}

The '''California Department of Transportation''', branded as '''Caltrans''', is an [[Executive (government)|executive]] department of the [[U.S. state]] of [[California]]. The department is part of the [[Government of California#State agencies|cabinet]]-level [[California State Transportation Agency]] (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]].<ref>"[http://www.dot.ca.gov/mail.htm Caltrans Mail Addresses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922033827/https://dot.ca.gov/mail.htm |date=2024-09-22 }}." California Department of Transportation. Retrieved on November 19, 2009.</ref>

Caltrans manages the state's [[State highways in California|highway system]], which includes the [[California Freeway and Expressway System]], supports [[public transport]]ation systems throughout the state and provides funding and oversight for three state-supported [[Amtrak]] intercity rail routes (''[[Capitol Corridor]]'', ''[[Pacific Surfliner]]'' and ''[[Gold Runner]]'') which are collectively branded as ''[[Amtrak California]]''.

In 2015, Caltrans released a new mission statement: "Provide a safe, sustainable, integrated and efficient transportation system to enhance California's economy and livability."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dot.ca.gov/mission.html|title=Caltrans Mission, Vision, Goals & Values|publisher=Caltrans|access-date=26 September 2016|archive-date=22 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922033827/https://dot.ca.gov/mission.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Cal Trans District7 HD.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Caltrans District 7 Headquarters]] in [[Los Angeles]], designed by [[Thom Mayne]].]]
[[Image:Sb dt state 001a.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Caltrans District 8 Headquarters in [[San Bernardino]]]]
[[File:1120 N Street.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Caltrans headquarters in [[Sacramento]]]]
The earliest predecessor of Caltrans was the Bureau of Highways, which was created by the [[California State Legislature|California Legislature]] and signed into law by Governor [[James Budd]] in 1895.<ref name="ForsythHagwood11">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 11.</ref> This agency consisted of three commissioners who were charged with analyzing the roads of the state and making recommendations for their improvement. At the time, there was no state highway system, since roads were purely a local responsibility. California's roads consisted of crude dirt roads maintained by county governments, as well as some paved streets in certain cities, and this [[wikt:ad hoc|ad hoc]] system was no longer adequate for the needs of the state's rapidly growing population. After the commissioners submitted their report to the governor on November 25, 1896, the legislature replaced the Bureau with the Department of Highways.<ref name="ForsythHagwood12">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 12.</ref>

Due to the state's weak fiscal condition and corrupt politics, little progress was made until 1907, when the legislature replaced the Department of Highways with the Department of Engineering, within which there was a Division of Highways.<ref name=ForsythHagwood11/> California voters approved an $18 million bond issue for the construction of a state highway system in 1910, and the first [[California Highway Commission]] was convened in 1911.<ref name=ForsythHagwood11/>  On August 7, 1912, the department broke ground on its first construction project, the section of [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]] between [[South San Francisco, California|South San Francisco]] and [[Burlingame, California|Burlingame]], which later became part of [[California State Route 82]].<ref name="ForsythHagwood13">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 13.</ref> The year 1912 also saw the founding of the Transportation Laboratory and the creation of seven administrative divisions, which are the predecessors of the 12 district offices in use {{Asof|2018|lc=y}}.<ref name=ForsythHagwood12/> The original seven division headquarters were located in:<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ellis |first=W.R. |year=1913 |title=Division Engineers – Office Addresses |journal=California Highway Bulletin |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=2&3 |publisher=California Highway Commission }}</ref>
* [[Willits, California|Willits]]<ref group="note">Willits was the northernmost [[California Coast Range]] city connected to the national rail network when the headquarters were established there.</ref> Mercantile Building for [[Del Norte County, California|Del Norte]], [[Humboldt County, California|Humboldt]], [[Lake County, California|Lake]], and [[Mendocino County, California|Mendocino]] counties
* [[Redding, California|Redding]] C.R.Briggs Building for [[Lassen County, California|Lassen]], [[Modoc County, California|Modoc]], [[Shasta County, California|Shasta]], [[Siskiyou County, California|Siskiyou]], [[Tehama County, California|Tehama]], and [[Trinity County, California|Trinity]] counties
* [[Sacramento]] Forum Building for [[Alpine County, California|Alpine]], [[Amador County, California|Amador]], [[Butte County, California|Butte]], [[Calaveras County, California|Calaveras]], [[Colusa County, California|Colusa]], [[El Dorado County, California|El Dorado]], [[Glenn County, California|Glenn]], [[Nevada County, California|Nevada]], [[Placer County, California|Placer]], [[Plumas County, California|Plumas]], [[Sacramento County, California|Sacramento]], [[San Joaquin County, California|San Joaquin]], [[Sierra County, California|Sierra]], [[Solano County, California|Solano]], [[Stanislaus County, California|Stanislaus]], [[Sutter County, California|Sutter]], [[Tuolumne County, California|Tuolumne]], [[Yolo County, California|Yolo]], and [[Yuba County, California|Yuba]] counties
* [[San Francisco]] Rialto Building for [[Alameda County, California|Alameda]], [[Contra Costa County, California|Contra Costa]], [[Marin County, California|Marin]], [[Napa County, California|Napa]], San Francisco, [[Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara]], [[Santa Cruz County, California|Santa Cruz]], [[San Mateo County, California|San Mateo]], and [[Sonoma County, California|Sonoma]] counties
* [[San Luis Obispo]] [[Union Bank of Delaware|Union National Bank]] Building for [[Monterey County, California|Monterey]], [[San Benito County, California|San Benito]], [[Santa Barbara County, California|Santa Barbara]], and [[San Luis Obispo County, California|San Luis Obispo]] counties
* [[Fresno]] Forsythe Building<ref group="note">The Forsythe Building was shared with the original [[Gottschalks]] department store.</ref> for [[Fresno County, California|Fresno]], [[Inyo County, California|Inyo]], [[Kern County, California|Kern]], [[Kings County, California|Kings]], [[Madera County, California|Madera]], [[Mariposa County, California|Mariposa]], [[Merced County, California|Merced]], [[Mono County, California|Mono]], and [[Tulare County, California|Tulare]] counties
* [[Los Angeles]] [[Union Oil]] Building for [[Imperial County, California|Imperial]], [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles]], [[Orange County, California|Orange]], [[Riverside County, California|Riverside]], [[San Bernardino County, California|San Bernardino]], [[San Diego County, California|San Diego]], and [[Ventura County, California|Ventura]] counties

In 1913, the [[California State Legislature]] began requiring vehicle registration and allocated the resulting funds to support regular highway maintenance, which began the next year.<ref name=ForsythHagwood13/>

In 1921, the state legislature turned the Department of Engineering into the Department of Public Works, which continued to have a Division of Highways.<ref name="ForsythHagwood32">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 32.</ref>  That same year, three additional divisions (now districts) were created, in Stockton, Bishop, and San Bernardino.<ref name="ForsythHagwood32" />

In 1933, the state legislature enacted an amendment to the State Highway Classification Act of 1927, which added over 6,700 miles of county roads to the state highway system.<ref name="ForsythHagwood32" /> To help manage all the additional work created by this massive expansion, an eleventh district office was founded that year in San Diego.<ref name="ForsythHagwood32" /> 

The enactment of the Collier–Burns Highway Act of 1947 after "a lengthy and bitter legislative battle" was a watershed moment in Caltrans history.<ref name="ForsythHagwood72">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 72.</ref>  The act "placed California highway's program on a sound financial basis" by doubling [[Road tax|vehicle registration fees]] and raising gasoline and diesel [[Fuel taxes in the United States|fuel taxes]] from 3 cents to 4.5 cents per gallon. All these taxes were again raised further in 1953 and 1963.<ref name="ForsythHagwood72" />  The state also obtained extensive federal funding from the [[Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956]] for the construction of [[List of Interstate Highways in California|its portion]] of the [[Interstate Highway System]].<ref name="ForsythHagwood73">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 73.</ref>  Over the next two decades after Collier-Burns, the state "embarked on a massive highway construction program" in which nearly all of the now-extant state highway system was either constructed or upgraded.<ref name="ForsythHagwood73" />  In hindsight, the period from 1940 to 1969 can be characterized as the "Golden Age" of California's state highway construction program.<ref name="ForsythHagwood74">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 74.</ref> 

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

In 1967, Governor [[Ronald Reagan]] formed a Task Force Committee on Transportation to study the state transportation system and recommend major reforms. One of the proposals of the task force was the creation of a State Transportation Board as a permanent advisory board on state transportation policy; the board would later merge into the [[California Transportation Commission]] in 1978.  In September 1971, the State Transportation Board proposed the creation of a state department of transportation charged with responsibility "for performing and integrating transportation planning for all [[Mode of transport|modes]]." Governor Reagan mentioned this proposal in his 1972 [[State of the State address]], and Assemblyman [[Wadie P. Deddeh]] introduced Assembly Bill 69 to that effect, which was duly passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Reagan later that same year.  AB 69 merged three existing departments to create the Department of Transportation, of which the most important was the Department of Public Works and its Division of Highways.  The California Department of Transportation began official operations on July 1, 1973.<ref name="Karner">{{cite journal |last1=Karner |first1=Alex |title=Multimodal dreamin': California transportation planning, 1967–77 |journal=The Journal of Transport History |date=June 2013 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=39–56 |doi=10.7227/TJTH.34.1.4|s2cid=108503981 }} Available through [[ProQuest]].</ref>  The new agency was organized into six divisions: Highways, Mass Transportation, Aeronautics, Transportation Planning, Legal, and Administrative Services.<ref name="ForsythHagwood128">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 128.</ref>  

Caltrans went through a difficult period of transformation during the 1970s, as its institutional focus shifted from highway construction to highway maintenance.<ref name="ForsythHagwood127">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 127.</ref>  The agency was forced to contend with declining revenues, increasing construction and maintenance costs (especially the skyrocketing cost of maintaining the vast highway system built over the past three prior decades), widespread [[Highway revolts in the United States|freeway revolts]], and new [[United States environmental law|environmental laws]].<ref name="ForsythHagwood127" /> In 1970, the enactment of the [[National Environmental Policy Act]] and the [[California Environmental Quality Act]] forced Caltrans to devote significant time, money, people, and other resources to confronting issues such as "air and water quality, hazardous waste, archaeology, historic preservation, and noise abatement."<ref name="ForsythHagwood128" /> The devastating [[1971 San Fernando earthquake]] compelled the agency to recognize that its existing design standards had not adequately accounted for earthquake stress and that numerous existing structures needed expensive [[seismic retrofitting]].<ref name="ForsythHagwood129">Raymond Forsyth and Joseph Hagwood, ''One Hundred Years of Progress'' (Sacramento: California Transportation Foundation, 1996): 129.</ref>  Maintenance and construction costs grew at twice the inflation rate in this era of high inflation; the reluctance of one governor after another to raise fuel taxes in accordance with inflation meant that California ranked dead last in the United States in per-capita transportation spending by 1983.<ref name="ForsythHagwood129" />  During the 1980s and 1990s, Caltrans concentrated on "the upgrading, rehabilitation, and maintenance of the existing system," plus occasional gap closure and realignment projects.<ref name="ForsythHagwood129" />

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

==Districts==
[[File:CalTrans District Map.svg|thumb|250px|right|Caltrans district map]]
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!District<ref name="districtoffices1">{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.buildcalifornia.org/html/caltrans_district_offices.html
 |title        = Caltrans District Offices
 |access-date   = 2010-02-13
 |publisher    = California Department of Transportation
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100211193159/http://www.buildcalifornia.org/html/caltrans_district_offices.html
 |archive-date = 2010-02-11
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref> !!Area (Counties) !!Headquarters
|-
|1 ||[[Del Norte County, California|Del Monte]], [[Humboldt County, California|Humboldt]], [[Lake County, California|Lake]], [[Mendocino County, California|Mendocino]] ||[[Eureka, California|Eureka]]
|-
|2 ||[[Lassen County, California|Lassen]], [[Modoc County, California|Modoc]], [[Plumas County, California|Plumas]], [[Shasta County, California|Shasta]], [[Siskiyou County, California|Siskiyou]], [[Tehama County, California|Tehama]], [[Trinity County, California|Trinity]]; portions of Butte and Sierra ||[[Redding, California|Redding]]
|-
|3 ||[[Butte County, California|Butte]], [[Colusa County, California|Colusa]], [[El Dorado County, California|El Dorado]], [[Glenn County, California|Glenn]], [[Nevada County, California|Nevada]], [[Placer County, California|Placer]], [[Sacramento County, California|Sacramento]], [[Sierra County, California|Sierra]], [[Sutter County, California|Sutter]], [[Yolo County, California|Yolo]], [[Yuba County, California|Yuba]] ||[[Marysville, California|Marysville]]
|-
|4 ||[[Alameda County, California|Alameda]], [[Contra Costa County, California|Contra Costa]], [[Marin County, California|Marin]], [[Napa County, California|Napa]], [[San Francisco County, California|San Francisco]], [[San Mateo County, California|San Mateo]], [[Santa Clara County, California|Santa Clara]], [[Solano County, California|Solano]], [[Sonoma County, California|Sonoma]] ||[[Oakland, California|Oakland]]
|-
|5 ||[[Monterey County, California|Monterey]], [[San Benito County, California|San Benito]], [[San Luis Obispo County, California|San Luis Obispo]], [[Santa Barbara County, California|Santa Barbara]], [[Santa Cruz County, California|Santa Cruz]] ||[[San Luis Obispo, California|San Luis Obispo]]
|-
|6 ||[[Madera County, California|Madera]], [[Fresno County, California|Fresno]], [[Tulare County, California|Tulare]], [[Kings County, California|Kings]], [[Kern County, California|Kern]] (west) ||[[Fresno, California|Fresno]]
|-
|[[Caltrans District 7 Headquarters|7]]||[[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles]], [[Ventura County, California|Ventura]] ||[[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]
|-
|8 ||[[Riverside County, California|Riverside]], [[San Bernardino County, California|San Bernardino]] ||[[San Bernardino, California|San Bernardino]]
|-
|9 ||[[Inyo County, California|Inyo]], [[Mono County, California|Mono]], Kern (east) ||[[Bishop, California|Bishop]]
|-
|10 ||[[Alpine County, California|Alpine]], [[Amador County, California|Amador]], [[Calaveras County, California|Calaveras]], [[Mariposa County, California|Mariposa]], [[Merced County, California|Merced]], [[San Joaquin County, California|San Joaquin]], [[Stanislaus County, California|Stanislaus]], [[Tuolumne County, California|Tuolumne]] ||[[Stockton, California|Stockton]]
|-
|11 ||[[Imperial County, California|Imperial]], [[San Diego County, California|San Diego]] ||[[San Diego, California|San Diego]]
|-
|12 ||[[Orange County, California|Orange]] ||[[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/d12/news/News%20Release%20D12%20Move%20to%20Santa%20Ana%20October%202016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221183527/http://www.dot.ca.gov/d12/news/News%20Release%20D12%20Move%20to%20Santa%20Ana%20October%202016.pdf |archive-date=2016-12-21 |url-status=live
|title=News Release D12 Move to Santa Ana October 2016 (PDF)}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|California}}
* [[Transportation in California]]
* [[State highways in California]]
* ''[[California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]]''
* [[United States Department of Transportation]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110629070931/http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/hseb/products/Named_Freeways.pdf Named Highways, Freeways, Structures, and Other Appurtenances in California] (PDF)

{{U.S. State Departments of Transportation}}
{{California state agencies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:California Department Of Transportation}}
[[Category:California Department of Transportation| ]]