Each city in Kern County has one elected representative on the Kern Council of Governments (Kern COG) Board. The County of Kern Board of Supervisors has two members who serve on the Kern COG Board. There are also two ex-officio members who represent Caltrans and Golden Empire Transit District.
Following Board direction, staff coordinates between local, state, and federal agencies to avoid overlap or duplication of programs. This intergovernmental coordination enables staff to work with many public agencies to ensure that planning and implementation of programs proceed in a coordinated manner.
Members
| Arvin: |
Susana Reyes |
| Bakersfield: |
Bob Smith, Chair |
| California City: |
Jim Creighton |
| Delano: |
Veronica Vasquez |
| Maricopa: |
John Crump |
| McFarland: |
Saul Ayon |
| Ridgecrest: |
John “Skip” Gorman |
| Shafter: |
Cathy Prout |
| Taft: |
Orchel Krier |
| Tehachapi: |
Philip A. Smith |
| Wasco: |
Gilberto Reyna |
| Kern County: |
Jeff Flores and David Couch |
Ex-Officio Members
| Caltrans District 6: |
Michael Navarro |
| Caltrans District 9: |
Kirsten Helton |
| Golden Empire Transit: |
Cindy Parra |
| Joint Planning Policy Board: |
Malcolm Warney |
The Kern COG Board of Directors is comprised of one elected official from each of the 11 incorporated cities in Kern County, two Kern County Supervisors and ex-officio members representing Caltrans and Golden Empire Transit District. Monthly board meetings provide the public forum for discussion and collaborative decision-making on significant issues of regional transportation and mobility. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month.
Kern Government Television (K-GOV) rebroadcasts Kern COG’s regular Transportation Planning Policy Committee and COG Board meeting every Monday at 7PM. In addition, K-GOV features Kern COG Presents, the Annual Regional Awards, and educational programming on important issues in the region.
K-GOV program guide is available online at: https://www.kerncounty.com/gsd/kgov/
COG & TPPC Agendas & Minutes
Each city in Kern County has one elected representative on the Kern Council of Governments (Kern COG) Board. The County of Kern Board of Supervisors has two members who serve on the Kern COG Board. There are also two ex-officio members who represent Caltrans and Golden Empire Transit District.
Following Board direction, staff coordinates between local, state, and federal agencies to avoid overlap or duplication of programs. This intergovernmental coordination enables staff to work with many public agencies to ensure that planning and implementation of programs proceed in a coordinated manner.
Kern Council of Governments, better known as Kern COG, is an association of city and county governments created to address regional transportation issues. Its Member Agencies include the County of Kern and the 11 incorporated cities within Kern County.
The Kern COG Board of Directors is comprised of one elected official from each of the 11 incorporated cities in Kern County, two Kern County Supervisors and ex-officio members representing Caltrans and Golden Empire Transit District. Monthly board meetings provide the public forum for discussion and collaborative decision-making on significant issues of regional transportation and mobility. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month.
The TPPC makes technical funding decisions about how Kern COG transportation dollars are spent. The committee is made up of one representative from each of Kern’s 11 incorporated cities, two county supervisors, and a representative each from Caltrans, Golden Empire Transit District and the Joint Planning Policy Board (military). Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month, immediately preceding the Kern COG board meeting.
Kern Government Television (K-GOV) rebroadcasts Kern COG’s regular Transportation Planning Policy Committee and COG Board meeting every Monday at 7PM. In addition, K-GOV features Kern COG Presents, the Annual Regional Awards, and educational programming on important issues in the region.
K-GOV program guide is available online at: https://www.kerncounty.com/gsd/kgov/
COG & TPPC Agendas & Minutes
The Executive Committee reviews the annual operating budget, future agenda items, and provides guidance to the Executive Director on financial and personnel matters. The committee consists of a board member from the County of Kern, a member from the City of Bakersfield , and a member from one of the ten smaller cities.
At the center of the transportation planning process is the Regional Transportation Plan. The RTP is a long-term (20-year) general plan for the region’s transportation network, and encompasses projects for all types of travel, including aviation and freight movement. The plan assesses environmental impacts of proposed projects, and establishes air quality conformity as required by federal regulations. The document also discusses inter-modal and multi-modal transportation activities.
The Federal Transportation Improvement Program is a plan for the incremental implementation of the long-range Regional Transportation Plan. The FTIP presents to federal funding agencies manageable components for the funding of long-term plans.
Kern COG maintains and runs a regional travel demand forecast model or transportation model for the Kern County region. The model is used to forecast the demand for future transportation infrastructure by predicting future travel patterns based on a variety of factors including locally approved general plan land use entitlements, input from local planning departments on socio-economic growth areas, and state and federal data sources. Some of the forecast input variables include populations, households, employment, school enrollment, income, traffic counts, speeds, intersection configuration, existing and planned transportation networks.
| Arvin: |
Susana Reyes |
| Bakersfield: |
Bob Smith |
| California City: |
Jim Creighton |
| Delano: |
Veronica Vasquez |
| Maricopa: |
John Crump |
| McFarland: |
Saul Ayon |
| Ridgecrest: |
John “Skip” Gorman |
| Shafter: |
Cathy Prout |
| Taft: |
Orchel Krier |
| Tehachapi: |
Philip A. Smith |
| Wasco: |
Gilberto Reyna |
| Kern County: |
Jeff Flores and David Couch |
As the federally-designated Metropolitan Planning Organization and the state-designated Regional Transportation Planning Agency for Kern County, Kern COG is responsible for developing and updating a variety of transportation plans and for allocating the federal and state funds to implement them.
Although regional transportation planning is its primary role, Kern COG also functions as the state-designated Census Data Center Affiliate for the Kern Region and the Kern Motorist Aid Authority, which operates emergency call boxes on county highways and Kern 511; and provides leadership in the development of Geographic Information Systems in local government.
Following Board direction, staff coordinates between local, state, and federal agencies to avoid overlap or duplication of programs. This intergovernmental coordination enables staff to work with many public agencies to ensure that planning and implementation of programs proceed in a coordinated manner.
A description of tasks to be performed by Kern COG and the costs associated with them can be found in our Overall Work Program (OWP) and Annual Financial Plan.
The following documents contain high level background information on the regional planning process from a variety of sources. For the latest version of these documents, perform a web search of the website for the organization that originally prepared each document.
- Federal Aid Essentials for Local Public Agencies (topical videos)
- A Guide to Transportation Decision Making 2015, FHWA (24 pages)
- Transportation Funding in California 2018, Caltrans (40 pages)
- California Mobility Investment Opportunities 2017, CTC (82 pages)
- Transportation/Air Quality Conformity—A Basic Guide for State and Local Officials 2017, FHWA (24 pages)
- Regional Planning & Climate Change – Understanding SB 375, (8 pages)
- A Guide to Performance Based Planning, 2014 (188 pages)
- The Transportation Planning Process Briefing Book for Transportation Decision Makers, Officials and Staff, 2019 (90 pages)
- Kern COG 101 Presentation, 2021 (24 pages)
The TTAC is a committee of local agency representatives who provide technical review and recommendation to the Kern Council of Governments Board of Directors. Meetings are held on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m., two weeks prior to the Kern COG / TPPC Meetings.
TTAC Agendas & Minutes
The Regional Transportation Improvement Program is the formal presentation to the state of projects that local agencies wish to implement within the next four years. Once projects are approved in the Regional Transportation Plan, they are incorporated into the RTIP for ultimate inclusion into the Federal Transportation Improvement Program.
| Caltrans District 6: |
Michael Navarro |
| Caltrans District 9: |
Kirsten Helton |
| Golden Empire Transit: |
Cindy Parra |
| Joint Planning Policy Board: |
Malcolm Warney |
