Transportation

The 2025-26 Budget: Overview of the Governor's Budget

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January 13, 2025 - Update (1/16/25): A set of tables detailing various solutions and proposals has been appended to the online version of this report. They are available using the HTML link above.

On January 10, 2025, Governor Newsom’s administration presented its proposed state budget to the California Legislature. In this report, we provide a brief summary of the Governor’s budget based on our initial review as of January 12. In the coming weeks, we will analyze the plan in more detail and release many additional issue-specific budget analyses. For those additional analyses, please see our budget page.

CalFacts 2024

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December 2, 2024 - CalFacts presents a wide range of facts and trends about the state's economy, finances, and programs.

The 2024-25 Spending Plan: Transportation

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September 10, 2024 - The budget package provides a total of $30.4 billion for transportation-related programs in 2024‑25, including for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California State Transportation Agency, local streets and roads (shared revenues), California Highway Patrol (CHP), Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA). This total reflects a net decrease of $4.5 billion (13 percent) compared to estimated 2023‑24 expenditure levels.

High-Speed Rail Draft 2024 Business Plan (Senate)

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March 12, 2024 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Transportation

High-Speed Rail Draft 2024 Business Plan (Assembly)

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March 11, 2024 - Presented to: Assembly Committee on Transportation

The 2024-25 Budget: Transportation Budget Solutions

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February 23, 2024 - In this brief we (1) provide background on recent funding augmentations in transportation; (2) describe the Governor’s proposed transportation budget solutions; (3) discuss our assessment and recommendations for the Governor’s proposals; and (4) discuss potential additional solutions the Legislature could consider.

The 2024-25 Budget: Establishing the Office of the Inspector General for the High-Speed Rail Authority

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February 8, 2024 - In this post, we analyze a proposal to provide funding to launch a fully functioning High-Speed Rail Office of the Inspector General.

Assessing California’s Climate Policies—Implications for State Transportation Funding and Programs

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December 13, 2023 - This report discusses how meeting the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals will affect existing fuel tax revenues and projects specific impacts on state transportation programs.

The 2023-24 California Spending Plan: Transportation

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October 16, 2023 - The budget package provides a total of $33.2 billion for transportation-related programs in 2023-24, including for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), local streets and roads (shared revenues), California Highway Patrol (CHP), Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and High-Speed Rail Authority.

The 2023-24 Budget: California Spending Plan Series

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October 2, 2023 - Each year, our office publishes California Spending Plan, a series of publications that summarize the annual state budget. The final version of Overview of the California Spending Plan is presented here along with short online posts that focus on major areas and features of the 2023-24 budget package. As these posts become available, we will add them below.

Options for Providing Short-Term Fiscal Relief to Transit Agencies

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May 10, 2023 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy, and Transportation

State of Transit in California

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April 27, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation

High-Speed Rail 2023 Project Update Report

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April 12, 2023 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy and Transportation Assembly Committee on Transportation

High-Speed Rail 2023 Project Update Report

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March 28, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Transportation

Transportation Funding From the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

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March 14, 2023 - Presented to: Senate Committee on Transportation Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation