California is world-leader in traffic; Caltrans engineers get raises

By Edmund Pine

 

Gov. Jerry Brown has often expressed his vision of California as America’s – maybe the world’s – leader in technology, climate change, anti-smoking campaigns, environmental protection, health care for the poor. But California is inarguably the leader in one category: Two California cities are among the world’s worst for traffic congestion........Those roads are unlikely to improve anytime soon. That’s because while tax revenue has increased, infrastructure spending hasn’t. State auditors found 3,500 unnecessary staff at Caltrans, where projects run over budget 62 percent of the time. The state transportation agency spends three times the national average to build and maintain roads, making California one of the nation’s least-efficient users of tax dollars.......Continue Reading →