CUTC/RAC Collaboration Meeting
Coco Briseno
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
July 28, 2015
Caltrans Mission/Vision
& DRISI Purpose
Caltrans
Mission
• Provide a safe, sustainable, integrated and
efficient transportation system to enhance
California’s economy and livability.
Caltrans
Vision
• A performance-driven, transparent and
accountable organization that values its
people, resources and partners, and meets
new challenges through leadership,
innovation and teamwork.
DRISI
Purpose
• Provide solutions and knowledge that
improve California’s transportation system
ASCE Perspective
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
– The engineering education of the present—a four-year undergraduate
degree—will not be sufficient to prepare the licensed civil engineers of
the future.
– Future civil engineers will need to master many newer fields, such as
sustainability, computer applications, advanced materials,
nanotechnology, and the like.
ALL Managers & Supervisors
Department Age Profile
CALTRANS
ALL MANAGERIAL / SUPERVISORIAL CLASSIFICATIONS
AGE PROFILE
Employee Count = 2,969
1,000
848
900
758
# of EMPLOYEES
800
700
526
600
500
329
400
241
300
138
200
2
100
51
53
23
0
24 or
Less
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
67.7%
AGE RANGE
* Data as of 3/1/15. Source: Caltrans - Division of Human Resources. Excludes Intermittents.
70+
AGE 50+ COMPARISON
by OCCUPATIONAL SERIES / GROUP
Age 50+ Comparison (as of August 2014):
CEA:
Accounting:
Administrative:
Environmental Planner:
IT:
Legal:
Maintenance:
Right of Way:
TE/Civil & Bridge:
Trans Planner:
Trans Surveyor:
73.2%
42.6%
49.9%
34.3%
55.1%
50.5%
49.8%
50.8%
54.8%
49.3%
67.8%
2013 Strategic Management
Survey Results
Question #9
What issues should drive the 2013-2018 Strategic Management
Plan? (Respondents selected up to 5 items out of a list of 15 diverse options)
was the #1 answer/selection
Train and Develop Staff
Develop Future Department Leaders
-
54.8%
26.2%
4,164
1,994
Ranked #10 (of 15)
6
Organizational Excellence
Be a national leader in delivering quality service through
excellent employee performance, public communication, and
accountability.
-- Caltrans Strategic Management Plan 2015 - 2020
Excerpt from Organizational Excellence Strategic Objectives
Improve collaborative partnerships with agencies, industries,
municipalities, and tribal governments and advance national
engagement with the transportation research and policy
committees.
UTC Partnerships
The National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) – University of California,
Davis
$5.6 million grant from USDOT
Caltrans is providing $2 million in match funding.
University of California Center on Economic Competitiveness in Transportation
(UCCONNECT) – University of California, Berkeley
$5.2 million grant from US DOT
Caltrans provides $5.4 million in match funding.
Mineta National Transit Research Consortium (MNTRC) – San Jose State University
$3.5 million grant from US DOT.
Caltrans provides $2.0 million in match funding.
UTC Partnerships
University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) – University of California,
Berkeley
$3.4 million grant from US DOT.
Caltrans provides $3.4 million in match funding.
METRANS Transportation Center – University of Southern California / California State
University, Long Beach
$2.8 million grant from the US DOT.
Caltrans provides $1.4 million in match funding.
UTC Partnerships
The National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST)
• Policy Forums.
• Leadership Council.
• Model Sustainable Transportation Curricula.
• Workforce Development Training.
• Online Engagement.
• Policy Briefs.
UTC Partnerships
University of California Center on Economic Competitiveness in Transportation
(UCCONNECT)
• Actively engaged in workforce development
programs and the area of technology
transfer.
• Supports conferences, symposia and
workshops.
• Facilitates an outreach program to attract
students from underrepresented groups to
the field of transportation.
• Contributing $25,000 to UCLA to facilitate
creation of a website and provision of
customer service for Caltrans’
Transportation Planning Conference.
UTC Partnerships
Mineta National Transit Research Consortium (MNTRC)
Four Program Offerings

Master of Science (MSTM)
 Graduate Certificate (CTM)
 Transportation Security Certificate (CTS)
 High-Speed Rail Management Certificate
UTC Partnerships
Mineta National Transit Research Consortium (MNTRC)
• Workforce Seminars for Transportation
Professionals.
• K-12 Workforce Development Initiatives:
Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation
Competition.
• Summer Transportation Institute.
UTC Partnerships
University of California Transportation Center (UCTC)
• Three research themes—
environmental sustainability,
economic competitiveness, and
livability.
• Includes Caltrans’ High-Priority
Research Projects.
• Technology Transfer Activities.
UTC Partnerships
METRANS Transportation Center
• Provides forums for researchers to share
findings from projects that have recently
been completed or are in development.
• The MetroFreight Program.
• Includes outreach programs including
Town Hall meetings, conferences and
seminars.
University Partnerships
Institute of Transportation Studies – University of California,
Berkeley

Training, workshops, conferences, technical assistance and information resources
 planning and policy, traffic engineering, project development, infrastructure
design and maintenance, safety, environmental issues, complete streets,
multimodal transportation, railroad and aviation.

Holds several events every year online and in classrooms around the state.

Ability to serve more than 25,000 public and private transportation agency
personnel
 476 cities, 58 counties, over 50 regional transportation planning agencies
(MPOs, RTPAs, CTCs and CMAs), the California Office of Traffic Safety, etc.
University Partnerships
Western States Rural Transportation Consortium -Professional Capacity Building for Telecommunications





Development of comprehensive curriculum for rural ITS field communications.
Rural ITS engineers often lack critical skills for the design and maintenance of
reliable and robust communication networks.
Subject matter experts provide hands-on, “nuts and bolts” learning experiences for
participants.
Steering committee performs exhaustive review on how the courses are delivered
and what content is provided to participants.
Courses Delivered
o Microwave and RF system design.
o Fiber optic system design and operation.
o IP networking fundamentals.
o Telco Wireless fundamentals.
University Partnerships
Western States Rural Transportation
Technology Implementers Forum




How rural ITS solutions are developed, deployed and used
Attendance limited to facilitate and encourage technical discussions of presented
ITS solutions
Transparency and trust
o Presentations discuss not only success stories, but also failures and problems
along the way to implementation
o Participants learn what worked and did not work
o Participants also learn about the design philosophies and engineering best
practices
Audience
o Field engineers and maintenance staff
o System integrators and networking engineers
o Wireless and communication technicians
University Partnerships
Thought Leaders’ Forums, Workshops, Etc.

“Thought Leader” Discussions

Workshops on Advanced Transportation Topics

Broadening Caltrans Staff Participation in Research
Adding Organizational Workforce (Strategic Management) to
Research Portfolio

Synthesize completed and in-process national and state-related research in the area
of transportation workforce succession planning

Compile statistical information on training related to knowledge, skills, and abilities
The Future…
State of the Practice for Transportation Professionals
Develop Non-traditional Research Areas
Support Partnerships Opportunities
Expand Education & Skills Programs
Questions
Caltrans’ Division of Research,
Innovation and System Information (DRISI)
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/drisi