Caltrans outlines draft director’s transit policy, aims to meet SB 960 deadline

Caltrans staff presented a draft director’s transit policy and an outline of concurrent implementation planning during the Interagency Transportation Equity Advisory Subcommittee meeting on Aug. 25, saying the department will review public comments and aims to deliver the policy by December to comply with a Jan. 1, 2026 statutory deadline.

The department’s Office of Transit Planning described the policy as a high-level blueprint to guide how Caltrans incorporates transit priority facilities and complete-streets elements into the state highway system. Josh Polverman, chief of the Office of Transit Planning, said the policy rests on three pillars — planning, projects, and data and technology — and is intended to “provide fundamental direction for the department’s activities.” He told the committee the policy is being coordinated with an implementation plan that will contain the more detailed, actionable steps and that Caltrans will seek to align that plan with recommendations from a separate Transit Transformation Task Force.

Why it matters: Senate Bill 960 requires Caltrans to adopt a transit-priority policy and establish four‑year targets for incorporating complete streets and transit priority facilities into the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP). Committee members pressed Caltrans staff for specifics about implementation, asset ownership and maintenance, and how the department is ensuring historically marginalized groups and people with disabilities are represented in policy development.

Polverman said Caltrans held multiple statewide workshops and more than 23 regional meetings and that the department’s public comment period closed Aug. 18. He said staff are reviewing submitted comments and will brief Caltrans and California State Transportation Agency executives before submitting the draft to the director’s office for formal review. “We do anticipate releasing the policy by December, in compliance with SB 960,” Polverman said.

Committee members asked detailed implementation questions. Randy Torres Van Blucke, a member of the committee who has worked on local transit projects, urged Caltrans to include “inline stations” and centerline transit facilities, bus-on-shoulder operations and lane‑conversion analyses among the items the implementation plan will address. Polverman said those questions are appropriate for the implementation plan and noted Caltrans is reviewing pilot programs and district experiences with bus-on-shoulder operations and other measures.

Members also asked who participated in the workshops and which internal Caltrans divisions informed the blueprint. Martha Armas Kelly, chair of the Equity Advisory Committee, told staff: “I think that we need to be more transparent in discussing who these partners and allies are that are helping develop the policy.” Polverman said the policy development included internal divisions such as traffic operations, design, sustainability, equity and tribal affairs and that he would follow up with a participant list for the committee.

On maintenance and ownership, Polverman said there are existing sites where a transit stop sits in state right-of-way but the local agency operates or services the stop. He described those situations as requiring formal agreements to clarify maintenance responsibilities. “We have to have some sort of partnership, or some sort of agreement in place for who will do the maintenance,” he said.

No formal action was taken on the policy at this meeting. Committee staff agreed to follow up by providing the committee with the workshop participant list and to return to the subcommittee in November to continue discussion of implementation concerns.

The committee also approved its June meeting minutes before the presentations; the motion passed by roll call.

Caltrans contact information and links to the policy materials were shared with committee members during the presentation, and staff invited members to provide written comments that Caltrans will consider as it develops the implementation plan.

(For context: Caltrans staff said they will crosswalk their implementation actions with recommendations expected from the CalSTA‑led Transit Transformation Task Force report, which staff said is anticipated in October.)