Toks Omishakin was appointed the fourth Secretary of Transportation for the state of California by Governor Gavin Newsom in February 2022. As Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), he oversees eight state departments, boards, and commissions with more than 42,000 employees and annual budgets exceeding $30 billion. His transportation vision for California focuses on building a safe, equitable, sustainable, and multimodal transportation system through strong local partnerships, innovation, and intelligent risk-taking. The agency’s work is centered around four priorities: Safety, Equity, Climate Action, and Economic Prosperity.
Prior to his appointment as Secretary, Omishakin served as Director of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), where he managed a $17.5 billion budget and more than 22,000 employees. During his tenure, he and the leadership team established the department’s five strategic priorities in 2019.
Before joining Caltrans, Omishakin spent eight years as Deputy Commissioner with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). As Deputy Commissioner for Environment and Planning, he managed administrative and project budgets exceeding $300 million annually and oversaw the divisions of Environmental Services, Long-Range Planning, Multimodal Transportation Resources, and Freight and Logistics.
Earlier in his career, he served as Director of Healthy Living Initiatives in the Nashville Mayor’s Office, where he helped guide the city’s multimodal transportation efforts and contributed to the development of Nashville’s Complete Streets Policy. He also helped establish a more balanced approach to transportation planning and design, including the creation of two bicycle-sharing programs.
In December 2019, Omishakin became Chair of the Council on Active Transportation for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), following two years as vice chair and service as inaugural chair of AASHTO’s Multimodal Task Force. He serves on the boards of Oxford University Press, Veloz, Mineta Transportation Institute, ITS World Congress, the University of California system ITS program, and America Walks, where he served for 10 years. He has also advised the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis through its Transportation Council Board.
In October 2020, Omishakin was appointed to the Biden-Harris Transportation Transition Team. He received the Excellence in Leadership Award from COMTO NorCal in December 2020 and was named Person of the Year by the California Transportation Foundation in May 2021.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Omishakin and his wife have two children. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Jackson State University; and a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Technology from Mississippi Valley State University.
