Caltrans Fills Sustainability Director Post: Congratulations Ellen Greenberg

Many months after its Deputy Director for Sustainability, Steven Cliff, went back to work for the Air Resources Board, Caltrans has hired a replacement for this key post. New hire Ellen Greenberg comes with impeccable credentials, having worked as a planner in both public sector and private sector jobs. She worked most recently at Arup, a design, planning, and engineering firm, where she worked on jobs in the Bay Area, throughout the state, and internationally. She worked as director of policy and research at the Congress for New Urbanism, and served for a short while as its interim executive director.

Greenberg was also the lead author of Caltrans’ Smart Mobility Framework, a 2010 planning document that threatened to sit on the shelf until Caltrans was forced to reshuffle its priorities and begin the long process of remaking itself.

The Smart Mobility Framework (here’s a fact sheet about it) laid the groundwork for Caltrans’ new focus on finding ways to reduce driving while increasing mobility and safety and supporting social justice, the environment, and the economy. It’s fitting that one of that document’s key authors will now become the deputy director in charge of making sure those priorities are incorporated throughout the organization.

In a press release, Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty says that “Ellen will be a valuable addition to the Caltrans Executive Team. She will help Caltrans advance its sustainability commitment by applying those principles into the planning, design, maintenance and operation of California’s vast transportation system.”

Streetsblog agrees that Greenberg is a great choice for this job. Congratulations to her and we look forward to seeing the results.