In this Caltrans News Flash, Caltrans highlights the problem of statewide litter, and the $63 million annual cost required to keep California’s roadways clean.
In this episode, we join Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty, who led a team of executive management April 23 on a litter pickup on Highway 99 in Sacramento, and Rudy Contreras, a Caltrans employee who got his start as part of the Parolee Work Crew Program.
The program gives parolees a paying job and skills training, while working with Caltrans crews, to maintain the roadway. Contreras excelled, graduating from the program and ultimately becoming a full-time Caltrans employee, commuting 100 miles daily from Fresno to Bakersfield.
The parolee program has also benefitted California as a whole, recently picking up its 1 millionth bag of litter since its 2009 launch. But ultimately, the problem of litter is one in which all of us have a vital part to play.
This News Flash is 27th in a series of videos highlighting the Caltrans’ activities that keep California’s transportation system moving forward.
For more information about the department’s activities, connect with Caltrans: http://www.dot.ca.gov/socialmedia
