The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) reported nearly $233 million in savings for fiscal year 2018-2019, freeing those funds for the maintenance and rehabilitation of state highways.
Those savings stemmed from efficiency measures undertaken by Caltrans, and along the way, they managed to more than double the statutory goal of $100 million per year set for them. It also blows away last year’s savings, which reached $123 million.
“Californians rightly expect an effective government that delivers on projects and protects taxpayer investments,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “The voters entrusted us with billions to invest in roads and transportation, and we must be good stewards of this important funding. In more than doubling the savings through efficiencies, we’re proving that the state can find innovative ways to lower costs in delivering highway projects and pump those savings back into fixing roads to benefit our economy.”
To achieve these savings, Caltrans accelerated work, utilized independent contract evaluations, pushed mitigation credits, implemented value analysis, streamlined environmental reviews, and utilized new technologies such as reflective striping materials and mobile field devices to reduce travel times for reporting procedures.