Toks Omishakin

Toks Omishakin is secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). He previously served as director of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), where he managed a $15 billion budget and nearly 22,000 employees who oversee 50,000 lane miles of highway, maintain approximately 20,000 bridges, provide permitting of more than 400 public-use airports, fund three of Amtrak’s busiest intercity rail services and provide transit support to more than 200 local and regional transit agencies. He came to CalSTA and Caltrans after eight years with the Tennessee Department of Transportation as deputy commissioner for environment and planning. Prior to that role, he served as director of Healthy Living Initiatives in the Nashville mayor’s office. In that capacity, he led development of Nashville’s Complete Streets Policy and helped establish a more balanced approach to transportation planning and design. He is chair of the Council on Active Transportation for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), where he previously served as committee vice chair and inaugural chair of AASHTO’s Multimodal Task Force. He sits on the boards of America Walks, Veloz, Mineta Transportation Institute, and ITS World Congress, and has advised the US Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis through its Transportation Council Board. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology from Mississippi Valley State University, a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Jackson State University, and is completing a PhD in engineering management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.