CTC strategic plan draft prioritizes safety, equity and partnerships; EAC members press for deeper engagement

Consultants contracted by the California Transportation Commission presented a preliminary three-year strategic plan to the Interagency Transportation Equity Advisory Committee on Dec. 4, proposing a shortened mission and six goals that emphasize safety, community voice, environmental health, efficient movement of people and goods, partnerships and internal staff development.

Eileen Jakobowitz and Selena Polston of California State University, Sacramento said their environmental scan included interviews with commissioners and executive managers, two staff focus groups and an anonymous staff survey. Jakobowitz summarized the proposed mission as “to invest in the transportation that improves communities, the environment, and the economy.” She and Polston outlined six goals and associated objectives, including investing in projects that reduce fatalities and injuries, elevating community voices through meaningful engagement, advancing greenhouse-gas reductions and multimodal transportation, coordinating with land-use and housing partners, and strengthening internal human-resource functions.

Members praised the concise mission but asked for clearer connections between goals and measurable equity outcomes. Member Anna Gonzales said the commission could use the plan to bring labor and environmental justice advocates together rather than allowing those interests to work at cross purposes. “We need more buy in from community stakeholders,” she said, and suggested a standing roundtable to avoid siloed decision-making.

Several EAC members asked to be more directly involved in the strategic-planning process rather than receiving a late-stage briefing. Member Connie Stewart told the consultants the committee has been asked to review the plan after many interviews were already complete and urged deeper consultation: “If the CTC commission really wants equity included, then after you've already created the goals, you've already done all the interviews coming to us and saying, well, here we've given you a presentation, it9s not meeting what the intent of including equity is.”

Consultants and commission leadership said they would integrate feedback. CTC executive staff committed to follow-up: the plan will be revised with committee and commissioner input, published early next year and then implemented by CTC staff. Jakobowitz described the next step as integrating feedback, producing the published plan and supporting CTC staff in implementation over the three-year plan horizon.