Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program

​

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) established the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary program with $5 billion in appropriated funds over 5 years, 2022-2026. The SS4A program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.

The SS4A program supports the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Roadway Safety Strategy and our goal of zero roadway deaths using a Safe System Approach. 

FY23 Round 1 Awards Announced for 235 Communities

On Oct. 27, 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced 235 fiscal year (FY) 2023 SS4A grants totaling $82 million to regional, local, and Tribal communities for planning and demonstration projects to improve safety and help prevent deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways.

Learn about the selected FY23 projects.

Additional FY23 Awards Anticipated in December

This is the first of two FY23 announcements for the Safe Streets and Roads for All competitive grant program and includes Planning and Demonstration Grants only.

The second announcement is anticipated in December and will include additional Planning and Demonstration Grants and Implementation Grants, which provide federal funds to implement projects and strategies identified in an Action Plan to address a roadway safety problem. 

Fiscal year 2023 marks the second year of this 5-year grant program.

FY24 Applications Anticipated to Open in February 2024

Applications for the FY24 SS4A Notice of Funding Opportunity are anticipated to open in February 2024.

Subscribe to email updates to be notified when additional information is available.

Who Is Eligible for Grant Funding?

The following groups of applicants are eligible for the SS4A grant program:

• Counties, cities, towns, transit agencies, and other special districts that are political subdivisions of a  State.
• Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs).
• Federally recognized Tribal governments.

Learn more about SS4A eligibility.

Grant Types

The program supports the development of a comprehensive safety action plan (Action Plan) that identifies the most significant roadway safety concerns in a community and the implementation of projects and strategies to address roadway safety issues. Action Plans are the foundation of the SS4A grant program. SS4A requires an eligible Action Plan be in place before applying to implement projects and strategies. The SS4A program provides funding for two types of grants:

• Planning and Demonstration Grants provide Federal funds to develop, complete, or supplement a comprehensive safety action plan. The goal of an Action Plan is to develop a holistic, well-defined strategy to prevent roadway fatalities and serious injuries in a locality, Tribe, or region. Planning and Demonstration Grants also fund supplemental planning and/or demonstration activities that inform the development of a new or existing Action Plan. The Department encourages including demonstration activities in an application.
• Implementation Grants provide Federal funds to implement projects and strategies identified in an Action Plan to address a roadway safety problem. Projects and strategies can be infrastructure, behavioral, and/or operational activities. Implementation Grants may also include demonstration activities, supplemental planning, and project-level planning, design, and development. Applicants must have an eligible Action Plan to apply for Implementation Grants. The Department encourages including demonstration activities in an application.

Planning and Demonstration Grants

Action Plan Example Activities

Communities can use Planning and Demonstration Grants to develop or complete an Action Plan, conduct supplemental planning, and/or conduct demonstration activities that will inform the development of an Action Plan.

The comprehensive safety action plan that a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant funds includes the following key components:

• Leadership commitment and goal setting that includes a goal timeline for eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries.
• Planning structure through a committee, task force, implementation group, or similar body charged with oversight of the Action Plan development, implementation, and monitoring.
• Safety analysis of the existing conditions and historical trends that provides a baseline level of crashes involving fatalities and serious injuries across a jurisdiction, locality, Tribe, or region.
• Engagement and collaboration with the public and relevant stakeholders, including the private sector and community groups, that allows for both community representation and feedback.
• Equity considerations developed through a plan using inclusive and representative processes.
• Policy and process changes that assess the current policies, plans, guidelines, and/or standards to identify opportunities to improve how processes prioritize transportation safety.
• Strategy and project selections that identify a comprehensive set of projects and strategies, shaped by data, the best available evidence and noteworthy practices, as well as stakeholder input and equity considerations, that will address the safety problems described in the Action Plan.
• Progress and transparency methods that measure progress over time after an Action Plan is developed or updated, including outcome data.

Supplemental Action Plan Examples

Supplemental Action Plan activities that support or enhance an existing Action Plan could include, but are not limited to:

• Topical safety sub-plans focused on topics such as speed management, vulnerable road users, accessibility for individuals with disabilities, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) transition plans, health equity, safety-focused Intelligent Transportation System implementation, lighting, or other relevant safety topics
• Road safety audits
• Additional safety analysis and expanded data collection and evaluation using integrated data
• Targeted equity assessments
• Follow-up stakeholder engagement and collaboration
• Reporting on the progress from Action Plan implementation for transparency
• Other roadway safety planning activities that enhance an Action Plan

Demonstration Activity Examples

• Feasibility studies using quick-build strategies that inform permanent projects in the future (e.g., use of paint and plastic delineator posts to experiment with impermanent roadway design changes, use of removable barriers to reallocate roadway space).
• Various Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Device (MUTCD) engineering studies that further safety applications of the MUTCD (e.g., evaluating warrants for traffic signal installation, high-visibility crosswalk markings, bike lane treatments).
• Pilot programs for behavioral or operational activities that include at least one element of the Safe System Approach (e.g., test out a new education campaign’s messaging at a small scale, trial changes to how Emergency Medical Services respond to crashes).
• Pilot programs that demonstrate safety benefits of technologies not yet adopted in the community (e.g., variable speed limits, technology for adaptive signal timing, adaptive lighting, Intelligent Transportation Systems, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology). Eligible technologies must be commercially available and at a prototype or advanced technological readiness level.

Implementation Grants

Implementation Example Activities

Implementation Grants fund projects and strategies identified in an Action Plan that address roadway safety problems. Implementation Grants may also fund supplemental planning and demonstration activities as described above on this website, as well as planning, design, and development activities for projects and strategies identified in an Action Plan.

Below are illustrative examples of projects and strategies that could be conducted as part of an Implementation Grant. This list is not intended to be exhaustive in nature and could include infrastructure, behavioral, and operational safety activities identified in an Action Plan: 

• Applying low-cost roadway safety treatments system-wide, such as left- and right-turn lanes at intersections, centerline and shoulder rumble strips, wider edge lines, high-friction surface treatments, road diets, and better signage along high-crash urban and rural corridors.  
• Identifying and correcting common risks across a network, such as improving pedestrian crosswalks by adding high-visibility pavement markings, lighting, and signage at transit stops, in a designated neighborhood, or along a busy public transportation route.
• Transforming a roadway corridor on a High-Injury Network into a Complete Street with safety improvements to control speed, separate users, and improve visibility, along with other measures that improve safety for all users. 
• Installing pedestrian safety enhancements and closing network gaps with sidewalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons, signal improvements, and audible pedestrian signals for people walking, rolling, or using mobility assisted devices.
• Supporting the development of bikeway networks with bicycle lanes for different roadway volumes and speeds that are safe for people of all ages and abilities.
• Carrying out speed management strategies such as implementing traffic calming road design changes, addressing speed along key corridors through infrastructure, conducting education and outreach, setting appropriate speed limits, and making strategic use of speed safety cameras. 
• Creating safe routes to school and public transit services through multiple activities that lead to people safely walking, biking, and rolling in underserved communities. 
• Promoting the adoption of innovative technologies or strategies to promote safety and protect vulnerable road users in high-traffic areas where commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, etc. interact. 
• Conducting education campaigns to accompany new or innovative infrastructure, such as roundabouts, pedestrian hybrid beacons, or pedestrian-only zones.  
• Reducing roadway departure crashes through enhanced delineation, shoulder widening, rumble strips, and roadside safety improvements.
• Evaluating and improving the safety of intersections by considering innovative design changes, improved delineation, and advanced warning.

Implementation Grant applicants may also “bundle” supplemental planning and demonstration activities with funding proposals for projects and strategies. These additional activities do not need to be in the same area as the projects and strategies, and could be addressing a separate safety issue. DOT will evaluate such activities separately from projects and strategies. Some examples include:

• Working with community members in an identified problem area to carry out quick-build street design changes informed by outreach and user input.
• Unifying and integrating safety data across jurisdictions where local agencies share their crash, roadway inventory, and traffic volume data to create an analytic data resource.
• Testing out the deployment advanced transportation technologies, such as the installation of connected intersection-based safety solutions and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) advisory speed limit systems (e.g., Intelligent Speed Assistance [ISA]).
• Improving first responder services with improved crash data collection, formalizing street names and addressing, and enhancing emergency vehicle warning systems.
• Implementing standard and novel data collection and analysis technologies and strategies to better understand vulnerable road user (pedestrian/bicycle/transit rider) network gaps and to collect exposure data.