Caltrans

The success of a parklet in Redding, California, may one day lead to official Caltrans design guidance for similar projects on state highways.

Eric Jaffe, in CityLab, recently reported that Caltrans “admitted” that expanding highways increases traffic by posting a policy brief on the subject of induced demand to its website. He called it a rare admission from a state department of transportation.

This Thursday is the deadline to sign up for Caltrans' 2015 California Transportation Planning Conference: Partnering for Sustainable Transportation. The conference will take place from Wednesday through Friday December 2-4 at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

We're still digesting all the reports and conversations that occurred at the California Bicycle Coalition's biannual bike summit in San Diego this week. In addition to some very hard conversations about equity and diversity in bike advocacy—a subject that needs its own report—there were more planner-y presentations about on-the-ground bike issues. Caltrans was very active at the summit, with various Caltrans employees giving presentations on bicycle safety goals within the Strategic Highway Safety Plan, new sustainability goals for the department, and the Active Transportation Program.

Bakersfield-area cycling supporters have a chance to make an impact on the city's cycling infrastructure today by attending a unique fundraiser hosted by the California Bicycle Coalition.

Have you been itching to tell Caltrans how to do something better? Now's your chance—and maybe the department will pay you for your help. Caltrans is offering real money—up to $25,000—for an idea on how to improve transportation in the state.

The California legislature held its first joint special session on transportation funding just before the holiday weekend. The session was called by Governor Jerry Brown when he and the legislature punted some big decisions so they could sign a budget before the June 30 deadline.

The title of this post may be a bit hyperbolic, but Orinda really deserves attention for this one-of-a-kind bike facility. As seen in the image above, a bike lane on Camino Pablo signals that bicyclists should go straight ahead—between two right-turn lanes that lead to a freeway onramp.

Caltrans tried an experiment last week. Under a legislative deadline to create standards for Class IV Bikeways, also known as cycle tracks or protected bike lanes, the state department of transportation reached out to people who had expressed an interest in the subject and asked them for ideas.