Caltrans – California Globe

California ‘DOGE’ Proves State Government is Too BIG and Unaccountable

December 18, 2024 3:10 amDecember 18, 2024 3:58 pm

“Waste and Inefficiency, Improper Hiring, and Other Improper Governmental Activities” is the subtitle of the California State Auditor’s latest “Investigations of Improper Activities by State Agencies and Employees.” There are some real doozies. I have for years recommended cutting the...

Gov. Newsom Vetoes Bill to Require Caltrans Study Top Crash Locations on State Highways

September 25, 2024 3:30 amSeptember 25, 2024 3:31 am

Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed Senator Kelly Seyarto’s (R-Murrieta) Senate Bill 936, which would have tasked the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with publishing a study that identifies the top 15 locations in the state highway system with the highest...

People First: One California City and One Agency Eschews DEI

July 30, 2024 5:30 amJuly 30, 2024 5:31 am

The astute reader may have noticed that over the past year or so, the California Globe has been running a periodical series called “Hidden in Plain Site.” The premise is simple: review government websites for what they are saying in...

California’s Latest Tax Idea: Charge Drivers by the Mile

June 12, 2024 12:30 pmJune 12, 2024 12:30 pm

California has the highest income tax rate in the country (top tier of 14.4 percent), the highest statewide sales tax rate (7.25 percent, plus local sales taxes), and the highest gas tax rate ($0.78 per gallon). Yet it ranks third...

New Caltrans Audit Finds Agency Failed To Give Adequate Inspections Of Freeways

June 6, 2024 2:50 amJune 6, 2024 2:51 am

According to a new audit from the Office of the Inspector General for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on the November 2023 Interstate 10 fire, a lack of oversight in freeway inspections put the Interstate 10 freeway in Los...

CalTrans Launches Road Tax Pilot Program

May 24, 2024 9:30 amMay 24, 2024 9:31 am

You’ll never drive alone again. If you were worried that Sacramento would turn off or even slow down its perpetual stupid machine, fear not: the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax pilot program has been launched! CalTrans is right now looking...

Gov. Newsom and Caltrans Announce 10 Point Beautification Plan For Bakersfield

May 22, 2024 2:45 amMay 22, 2024 2:46 am

Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday that he would greatly step up efforts to “beautify” a city that normally hasn’t been on the priority list of many Democratic lawmakers in California: Bakersfield. While only a few decades ago Bakersfield was...