Kern COG executive director outlines regional transportation role, funding and projects

Jay Schlosser, executive director of the Kern Council of Governments (Kern COG), told the Ridgecrest City Council on Oct. 1 that Kern COG serves as the federally designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) and the state regional transportation planning agency for Kern County, and outlined the agency’s planning, funding and advocacy roles.

"We are the federally designated metropolitan planning organization and the state designated regional transportation planning agency," Schlosser said, summarizing Kern COG’s mandate to do long‑range transportation planning for all of Kern County. He described the regional transportation plan (RTP) as the agency’s major recurring product and said staff maintain a traffic model that covers more than 3,000 centerline miles of roadway.

Schlosser told the council that Kern COG allocates and manages state and federal transportation funds for the county and acts as a regional liaison with agencies such as Caltrans, the California Transportation Commission, the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration. He listed several regionally significant projects that have relied on Kern COG funding or coordination, including widening on U.S. 395 and State Route 14, the Highway 58 truck‑climbing lanes project (which he said is a roughly $257,000,000 program with a first segment scheduled to start in 2027) and State Route 46 widening work.

Schlosser also described Kern COG’s role in the state Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process, which assigns long‑range housing targets to the county and its cities. "The state tells each county how many houses it thinks will land in the next 30 years," he said, and Kern COG facilitates a negotiated allocation among local agencies. He said the recent RHNA cycle directed most new housing to Bakersfield because of the statewide push to increase multifamily housing where it can occur at scale.

Council members asked how Kern COG predicts where housing and industry will locate. Schlosser said the allocation is a negotiated process informed by state projections and local input; Kern COG convenes the county’s agencies to divide the statewide total and refine assumptions.

Schlosser noted that the RTP is on a four‑year cycle and that Kern COG is preparing the 2026 update. He asked for public feedback on priorities such as transit, bike facilities and road pavement, and said the agency is soliciting comments from member jurisdictions. He also said the Metropolitan Bakersfield area receives the majority of funds simply because it contains most of the county’s population but that Kern COG advocates on behalf of all member cities, including Ridgecrest.

Council member comments thanked Schlosser for the overview and raised local issues including storm drainage and coordination on specific corridor needs. Schlosser said Kern COG performs advocacy in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., and that he had recently met with U.S. and state representatives about East Kern transportation matters.

Kern COG provided a short list of local streets it has helped resurface and Schlosser estimated Kern COG had funneled "just under $10,000,000" to the city of Ridgecrest in the past 10 years for various projects.

Why it matters: Ridgecrest is part of Kern COG’s countywide planning and funding system. The council received an operational briefing that identifies funding sources, the 2026 RTP timeline and points of contact for project requests and public input.

Schlosser said he was available to answer follow‑up questions and encouraged Ridgecrest officials and residents to provide feedback on RTP priorities as the 2026 cycle proceeds.