California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency. Caltrans is headquartered in Sacramento.
Caltrans manages the state's highway system, which includes the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is involved with public transportation systems throughout the state. It supports Amtrak California and Amtrak's Capitol Corridor.
In 2015, Caltrans released a new mission statement: "Provide a safe, sustainable, integrated and efficient transportation system to enhance California’s economy and livability."
History
The earliest predecessor of Caltrans was the Bureau of Highways, which was created by the California Legislature and signed into law by Governor James Budd in 1895. This agency consisted of three commissioners who were charged with analyzing the state road system and making recommendations. At the time, there was no state highway system, since roads were purely a local responsibility. California's roads consisted of crude dirt roads maintained by county governments, as well as some paved roads within city boundaries, and this 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.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. 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. On August 7, 1912, the department broke ground on its first construction project, the section of El Camino Real between South San Francisco and Burlingame, which later became part of California State Route 82. 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. The original seven division headquarters were located in:
- Willits Mercantile Building for Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino counties
- Redding C.R.Briggs Building for Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity counties
- Sacramento Forum Building for Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Sierra, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba counties
- San Francisco Rialto Building for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and Sonoma counties
- San Luis Obispo Union National Bank Building for Monterey, San Benito, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties
- Fresno Forsythe Building for Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, and Tulare counties
- Los Angeles Union Oil Building for Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties
In 1921, the state legislature turned the Department of Engineering into the Department of Public Works.
The history of Caltrans and its predecessor agencies during the 20th century was marked by many firsts. It was one of the first agencies in the United States to paint centerlines on highways statewide; the first to build a freeway west of the Mississippi River; the first to build a four-level stack interchange; the first to develop and deploy non-reflective raised pavement markers, better known as Botts' dots; and one of the first to implement dedicated freeway-to-freeway connector ramps for high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
In late 1972, the legislature approved a reorganization, suggested by a study initiated by then-Governor Ronald Reagan, in which the Department of Public Works was merged with the Department of Aeronautics to become the modern California Department of Transportation.
Administration
For administrative purposes, Caltrans divides the State of California into 12 districts, supervised by district offices. Most districts cover multiple counties; District 12 is the only district with one county. The largest districts by population are District 4 and District 7. Like most state agencies, Caltrans maintains its headquarters in Sacramento, which is covered by District 3.Districts
| District | Area | Headquarters |
| 1 | Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino | Eureka |
| 2 | Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity; portions of Butte and Sierra | Redding |
| 3 | Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo,Yuba | Marysville |
| 4 | Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, | Oakland |
| 5 | Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz | San Luis Obispo |
| 6 | Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Kern | Fresno |
| 7 | Los Angeles, Ventura | Los Angeles |
| 8 | Riverside, San Bernardino | San Bernardino |
| 9 | Inyo, Mono | Bishop |
| 10 | Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne | Stockton |
| 11 | Imperial, San Diego | San Diego |
| 12 | Orange | Santa Ana |