Caltrans outlines transit policy and implementation plan; committee presses for stronger accessibility and funding clarity

At a meeting of the Equity Advisory Committee's Transportation Subcommittee, Caltrans deputy division chief Hannah Walter briefed members on a new state transit policy and the department's plan for implementation.

"We're committing to building transit infrastructure on the state highway system in partnership with our stakeholders," Walter said, describing district transit plans as the vehicle to assess needs, prioritize projects and develop solutions. She said district transit plans will continue into 2027 and the department aims to finalize the director's policy by 01/01/2026 to meet statutory deadlines.

Walter listed the policy's goals as reliability of service, access, customer experience, resilience and sustainability, and equity. She said Caltrans is identifying eligible funding sources and examples of transit priority facilities that could be implemented on the state highway system, including transit-only lanes, queue-jump lanes, traffic-signal priority, bus pullouts and bus-on-shoulder lanes.

Committee members focused their discussion on accessibility and funding. Member Peggy Martinez, who identified herself as blind, said accessibility too often appears as a last item in policy lists and urged Caltrans to "elevate" disability access in both policy language and implementation. "A lot of times ADA is the last thing mentioned," she said. Walter replied that accessibility language is included in the draft policy and that a previous Caltrans director's policy related to ADA is referenced, but she acknowledged that much implementation detail will be developed separately in implementation plans and focus groups.

Members also pressed Caltrans on funding and enforceability. Michelle Rousey asked whether the department has accounted for the cost of implementing accessibility and other policy elements; Walter confirmed there is no large, new appropriation tied to the statute she referenced, noting "SB 960 didn't allocate additional funds for transit," and said most Caltrans funding available now is for planning rather than project delivery. Walter said Caltrans will use the district transit plans to create initial project lists and produce cost estimates while searching for eligible funding sources.

Walter invited subcommittee participation in a series of focus groups planned for January through March on topics such as the encroachment permit process, performance metrics, funding, maintenance and design. She said some implementation detail was moved out of the director's policy during legal review because director's policies are intended to be high-level visions; the implementation plan is intended to document how those visions will be carried out.

The presentation also included public-outreach figures: Walter reported 175 public comments from 39 organizations during the public comment period and an internal review that generated 249 additional comments.

The subcommittee did not take any formal action on the policy at the meeting. Walter said Caltrans policies are usually approved by the Caltrans director and that additional opportunities for input will be available in early 2026 as focus groups and implementation planning proceed.