The Legislative Analyst’s Office has just issued the following report:
The 2015-16 Budget: Transportation Proposals
The Governor’s budget provides a total of $17.6 billion from various fund sources for all departments and programs under the California State Transportation Agency in 2015-16. This is an increase of $1.9 billion, or 11.8 percent, over estimated current-year expenditures.
In this report, we review the Governor’s 2015-16 budget proposals for various transportation departments and programs, including the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA), California Highway Patrol, and the Department of Motor Vehicles. Based on our review, we make recommendations for legislative consideration and oversight. For example, given the state’s significant investment in the high-speed rail project, we recommend that the Legislature take steps to allow for adequate oversight of HSRA’s progress toward completing key nonconstruction activities (such as environmental reviews and acquiring necessary land) in order to ensure completion of the project’s Initial Construction Segment in 2018. Specifically, we recommend requiring HSRA to establish specific benchmarks and to periodically report on its progress in meeting these benchmarks.
In addition, the Governor’s budget proposes resources to implement recently enacted legislation that requires the development and implementation of a road usage charge pilot program. This pilot program will test the concept of charging individuals for each mile they drive as an alternative to the state’s existing gas tax system. In this report, we identify concerns with the Governor’s proposal, as well as Caltrans’ recent action to enter into a contract to implement the program. In order to ensure that the budget appropriately funds the development and implementation of the program as envisioned by the Legislature, we recommend requiring the administration to provide additional information to justify its proposal.
This report is available using the following link: http://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/3189