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Programs

Many transportation programs are available to local agencies and are administered through the Caltrans Division of Local Assistance. For a complete description of the federal and state programs available for financing local public transportation facilities, please visit Local Assistance Program Guidelines. The annual program totals close to $2 billion statewide.

Federal Programs

• Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP)
  Highway improvements, bridge, and transit projects, seismic retrofit, parking, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, safety improvements, traffic management systems, and transportation enhancements.
• Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Programs (CMAQ)
  Traffic flow improvements, fringe parking, ride sharing, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, public transit, high occupancy vehicle lanes, and employer transportation management plans.
• Regional Transportation Enhancement Activities Programs (Regional TEA)
  Development of pedestrian and bicycle facilities, scenic easement acquisitions, landscaping, historic preservation, rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities and archaeological research.

Caltrans Administered

• Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program (HBRR)
  Highway bridge replacements and bridge rehabilitation, painting, seismic retrofit, and bridge rail replacement.
• Hazard Elimination Safety Program (HES)
  Highway safety improvement projects on public roads. Projects are designed to correct existing hazardous conditions.
• Safe Routes to School Program (SR2S)
  Pedestrian and bicycle safety and traffic calming projects that provide safe routes to school for students. Project must be co-sponsored with school official.
• Emergency Relief Program (ER)
  Funds are to aid states and local agencies in paying for unusually heavy expenses of repairing serious damage to highways resulting from natural disasters or catastrophic failure.
• Demonstration Program (DEMO)
  Projects which are specifically established and funded through federal law. Generally provided as part of the annual transportation appropriations acts or the periodic transportation authorization acts.
• Seismic Safety Retrofit
  Provides funding assistance to local agencies for remedying structural seismic design deficiencies of public bridges on local streets and roads.
• Federal Discretionary Programs
  Funds for ITS Development, Ferry Boat, Public Lands Discretionary, TCSP, Bridge Discretionary.
• Highway Safety Improvement Program
  The overall purpose of this program is to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads through the implementation of infrastructure-related highway safety improvements.

State Programs

• State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)
  Capital improvement projects approved by the California Transportation Commission. Nominations are through the MTC, the regional metropolitan planning organization.
• Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program (EEM)
  Projects provide mitigation or enhancement above normal for a project. Included are vegetation planting, acquisition, restoration or enhancement of special resources or recreational lands.
• Bicycle Transportation Account (BTA)
  Agencies with an approved General Bikeway Plan submit project applications for bicycle networks, facilities, and other improvements. Commuter bikeways are also eligible.