On Tuesday, March 22, WTS-LA welcomed California State Transportation Agency Secretary, David Kim during a virtual event attended by more than 50 people. Participants learned about the agency’s plans to address pandemic challenges and meeting the needs of a growing and diverse population in California.

The California State Transportation Agency or CalSTA is a relatively new agency. Created in 2013, CalSTA came about through a reorganization of the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency into an entity solely focused on transportation. Secretary David Kim oversees the following divisions that comprise CalSTA:  

• Board of Pilot Commissioners 
• California Highway Patrol 
• California Transportation Commission 
• Department of Motor Vehicles 
• Caltrans 
• California High-Speed Rail Authority 
• New Motor Vehicle Board
• Office of Traffic Safety 

During the program, Secretary Kim discussed some of the challenges the agency has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including developing transportation policies to keep  goods movement (trucks, ports, airports) and supply chains moving throughout the state, as well as mitigating impacts of DMV closures by adding easy-to-use online services for high-risk groups and extending expiration dates of drivers licenses.

Although the last year has been challenging to say the least, CalSTA looks forward to moving California forward with the Climate Action Plan for Transportation (CAPTI). This plan details how “the state recommends investing billions of discretionary transportation dollars annually to aggressively combat and adapt climate change while supporting public health, safety and equity”. Secretary Kim shared all facets of the plan from zero-emission vehicles and expanding transportation plan management to eliminating transportation burdens for low-income communities of color, people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups. For more information on CAPTI, please click here.

At the conclusion of the event, Secretary Kim fielded questions on prioritization of projects, funding, balancing policy with mobility innovation, alternative project delivery and public-private partnership, shared autonomous vehicles, equity, and long-term transportation-related impacts from the pandemic.