Photo of Caltrans truck via  Coolcaesar /Wikimedia

Photo of Caltrans truck via Coolcaesar/Wikimedia

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) doesn’t plan on purchasing any additional vehicles for its fleet, despite its goal to hire 2,000 employees in the next few years. The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, a gas tax, invests $52.4 billion over the next decade to fix streets, highways, and transportation infrastructure.

Caltrans plans to add 2,000 employees over the next five years to execute projects funded by the new tax, the Sacramento Bee reported. However, new vehicles won’t be necessary because the department is filling positions opened by attrition, according to Erin Gallup von Tersch, the department's public information officer.

“Caltrans plans on using the fleet we have and replacing equipment as needed,” she stated. “We also are assessing what vehicles will be required for future workload, but we’re not adding to the fleet right now.”

She explained: “California’s state highways and local roads faced about $137 billion in deferred maintenance needs and Caltrans staffing levels declined due to attrition."

The last time the gas tax was raised was in 1994.

The additional employees will be spread across almost 400 maintenance facilities statewide.

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Thi Dao

Thi Dao

Former Executive Editor

Thi is the former executive editor of Government Fleet magazine.

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