Eligible Supplemental Planning and Demonstration Activities

The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program supports local initiatives to improve roadway safety and reduce or eliminate roadway fatalities and serious injuries. The SS4A program provides funding for two main types of grants:

1. Planning and Demonstration Grants
2. Implementation Grants

This page provides additional information on Supplemental Planning and Demonstration activities. Supplemental Planning and Demonstration activities may be included within either Planning and Demonstration Grant applications or can be bundled into Implementation Grant applications.

Supplemental Planning

Supplemental Planning broadly refers to any activity which informs the development of a new or existing Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to:

• Developing additional, complementary safety 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 topics.
• Road safety audits to identify road safety issues at existing and/or future road intersections. Preliminary engineering and construction design for a project are not eligible supplemental planning activities but are eligible activities for Implementation Grant applications.
• Consolidating Action Plan components contained within multiple local and/or regional plans into a single Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
• Conducting follow-up data collection and analysis to inform the development of new/existing Action Plans (e.g., new collision data analysis to identify updates to the High Injury Network, targeted equity assessments, etc.)
• Updating existing Action Plans that are five or more years old to address emerging safety transportation issues or other concerns.
• Progress reporting on Action Plan implementation for transparency to local stakeholders (e.g., data dashboards, summary reports of projects and strategies implemented/to be implemented, etc.).
• Stakeholder engagement and collaboration to inform Action Plan development.
• Other roadway safety planning activities that enhance or inform the development of Action Plans.  

The final deliverable for supplemental planning is a written product that connects to, and enhances, an Action Plan. Final products shall be made publicly available.

Demonstration Activities

Demonstration activities are temporary safety improvements which inform Action Plans by testing proposed project and strategy approaches to determine future benefits and future scope. Eligible activities must measure potential benefits through data collection and evaluation (e.g., pre- and post-demonstration results) to inform an Action Plan’s list of selected projects and strategies and their future implementation at a systematic level. DOT intends to prioritize demonstration activities that can be set up within 18 months. Demonstration activities do not involve permanent roadway reconstruction. Eligible activities include, but are not limited to:

• Feasibility studies using quick-build strategies, low-cost, and temporary materials that have the potential to inform future permanent projects. Examples include:
  • Planters, temporary speed humps/bumps, and other removable safety and traffic calming improvements (see photo 1 below); and
  • Paint and plastic delineator posts to experiment with impermanent roadway design changes (see photos 2 and 3 below).

• Various MUTCD Engineering Studies that further safety applications of the MUTCD. Examples include:
  • General application of roadway signage (e.g., overhead sign installations, sign conspicuity treatments, YIELD/STOP/ALLWAY STOP signs installations, warning signs and object markers, etc.);
  • Setting safe speed limits, variable speed limits;
  • Evaluating warrants for traffic signal installation;
  • Evaluating warrants for pedestrian hybrid beacon installations;
  • Warrants for use of edge lines;
  • Accessible pedestrian signal display installation;
  • Rectangular rapid flashing beacons for vulnerable road users (currently an Interim Approval);
  • Mid-block crosswalk installations;
  • Lane-use/reversible lane control signs;
  • Maintaining minimum pavement marking retro-reflectivity;
  • High-visibility crosswalk markings; and
  • Bike lane treatments.
• Pilot programs for behavioral or operational activities that include at least one element of the Safe System Approach. Examples include:
  • Testing out a new education campaign’s messaging related to distracted driving or promoting the use of seat belts on a small scale; and
  • “Pop-up” safety demonstrations, using materials to temporarily demonstrate potential and planned street design treatments and safety infrastructure to create safer public spaces; and
  • Pilot testing a ride share or alternative transportation program in an area that has high impaired driving crashes/fatalities; and
  • Trial changes to test how Emergency Medical Services respond to crashes.
• Pilot programs that demonstrate safety benefits of new technologies. Eligible technologies must be commercially available, not yet adopted in the community, and at a prototype or advanced technological readiness level. Examples include:
  • Variable speed limits;
  • Speed safety cameras installations;
  • Adaptive signal timing;
  • Signal preemption for emergency vehicles;
  • Safety warnings for wrong-way driving alerts;
  • Intelligent Transportation Systems; and
  • Vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, especially those that use the 5.905 – 5.925 GHz spectrum frequency.[1]

The final deliverable for demonstration activities is an assessment of the demonstration activities that informs an updated Action Plan. The Action Plan must incorporate the information gathered from the demonstration activities into the Action Plan’s list of projects or strategies and/or inform another part of the Action Plan.

Supplemental Planning and Demonstration Activities vs. Implementation of Projects and Strategies

Supplemental planning activities under eligible activity (A) support or enhance an Action Plan. The final deliverable for supplemental planning is a written product that connects to, and enhances, an Action Plan and is publicly available. Similarly, Demonstration activities under eligible activity (A) inform an Action Plan by testing proposed project and strategy approaches to determine their potential benefits and future scope. Demonstration activities must measure potential benefits through data collection and evaluation and inform an Action Plan’s list of selected projects and strategies and their future implementation. The final deliverable for Demonstration activities is an updated Action Plan that contains an assessment of demonstration projects and their impact on safety. 

Planning, design, and development activities for projects and strategies identified in an Action Plan (B) support project-level design or implementation and are not focused on improving an Action Plan or informing an Action Plan’s list of priority projects and strategies. A project-level environmental review or the construction design of a project are two such examples.  

The following examples are NOT eligible supplemental planning and demonstration activity costs under activity (A):

• Activities and planning that do not inform the development of an Action Plan.
• Permanent roadway reconstruction and changes to infrastructure.
• Activities that could be considered demonstration but do not include data collection and evaluation, and/or are not assessing the benefits of the proposed activity.
• Planning, preliminary engineering, and design activities that support project-level design and implementation.

See our factsheet about eligible and ineligible Implementation Grant projects for more information.

Planning and Demonstration Grant applicants without an existing Action Plan (NEW)

SS4A applicants without an existing, qualifying Action Plan may apply for funding to support Supplemental Planning and Demonstration activities if they are in the process of developing an Action Plan. This includes Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Action Plan Grant recipients or others undertaking Action Plan development that corresponds to the Table 1 components of a comprehensive safety action plan. This represents a change from the SS4A FY 2022 funding cycle in which applicants without Action Plans were not eligible to apply for Supplemental Planning funds. In addition, applicants with Action Plans currently under development may seek funding for Supplemental Planning and/or Demonstration activities without also applying for funding to complete an Action Plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

If we apply to conduct Supplemental Planning and/or Demonstration activities along with developing an Action Plan, do we need to complete the Action Plan first?

No, you do not need to complete the Action Plan first. The availability of supplemental planning and demonstration activity funds are intended to support applicants to further develop and/or enhance an Action Plan. Therefore, Action Plans do not need to be completed prior to executing supplemental planning and/or demonstration activities; however, an applicant must certify they are in the process of completing a comprehensive safety action plan if applying for supplemental planning and/or demonstration activity funds.

If we apply to conduct supplemental planning and/or demonstration activities along with developing an Action Plan, what level of detail do we need to include in our application to describe the expected supplemental planning or demonstration activities?

Applicants must respond to the selection criteria as part of their application, which includes selection criterion #3 Additional Safety Context. The Additional Safety Context requires applicants to: describe the scope of work to be performed; the roadway safety issues that necessitate further Action Plan development, supplemental planning, and/or demonstration activities, as applicable; and how the funded activities will inform an Action Plan and support the identification of projects and strategies.

Applicants requesting to carry out demonstration activities will also be assessed as to whether their approach to measuring the potential benefits of the demonstration activities through data collection and evaluation are described, and the extent to which the activities will be set up (e.g., quick builds on the roadway, pilot project established) within 18 months of executing a grant agreement. To do so, applicants must provide a brief schedule showing when the activities will be in place (e.g., hardware installed, when the pilot would begin, etc.), and the start/end dates of the work. If anticipated to be a schedule constraint, applicants should include in the narrative any potential timeline implications of meeting administration requirements, such as domestic preference and any required waivers, National Environmental Policy Act requirements, as well as applicable permitting and approval timeframes.

What is expected as a final deliverable for supplemental planning and demonstration activities?

Supplemental Planning: a written product that connects to, and enhances, an Action Plan. Final products shall be made publicly available. This written product could be a standalone document that informs and complements the Action Plan or an informational section added into the Action Plan itself.

Demonstration Activity: an assessment of the demonstration activities and an updated Action Plan that incorporates the information gathered from the demonstration activities into the Action Plan’s list of projects or strategies and/or informs another part of the Action Plan. Final products shall be made publicly available.

What are some examples of temporary materials that we could or should use for our demonstration activities?

Temporary materials include those that do not make permanent changes to roadways or infrastructure and can include things like paint, plastic delineator posts, water-filled plastic barriers, planters, traffic cones, raised line separators, temporary speed humps/bumps, etc.

If demonstration activities are temporary, does that mean we are expected to remove them after the grant is completed?

To satisfy the requirements of the SS4A program, eligible demonstration activities must include data collection and analysis to measure the project’s success and impact on the development of a community’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. The SS4A program expects the grant recipient to determine the next steps for how to implement demonstration activities as a project and/or strategy. Temporary measures that are assessed and determined to have minimal or negative safety benefits should be removed.

If we do a demonstration activity while working on our Action Plan, but the Action Plan is not a part of the grant, do we have to finalize the Action Plan to close out the grant?

Yes. Applicants are required to update Action Plans when receiving funding for demonstration activities and integrate those findings into the Action Plan’s list of projects or strategies and/or show how the findings inform another part of the Action Plan.

What kind of data do I need to collect to assess my demonstration activity?

Data collection and evaluation will likely vary depending on the specifics of the demonstration activity, the size of the SS4A award, the length of the pilot period, and local capacity. At a minimum, the SS4A program expects applicants to collect and analyze before and after crash data related to the safety problem being addressed. Other suggestions include collecting quantitative data to measure changes to vehicle speeds, traffic volume, driver compliance rates in yielding to pedestrians, warnings/citations for safety violations, etc. Qualitative data collected via public meetings, interviews, surveys, public comments, and other sources to assess the impact of a safety demonstration activity are also encouraged.

[1] Eligible vehicle-to-infrastructure demonstrations use interoperable vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) communications capabilities using 4G LTE cellular V2X (C-V2X) technology in the 5.905 – 5.925 GHz spectrum frequency band to enable safety applications for public fleet vehicles.