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The Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grants, funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are an annual opportunity to put the Road to Zero pillars into practice by supporting promising projects and programs that can help us achieve our mission of zero traffic fatalities.
Wayne State University
Project: Bridging the Urban-Suburban Safety Gap: A Data-Driven Approach to Pedestrian Safety on Overlooked Suburban-Type Arterials in Detroit
University of Texas at San Antonio
Project: A Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (Geo-AI) Tool for Proactive Crash Prevention
Colorado Whole Blood Coalition
Project: West Metro Fire Rescue Prehospital Whole Blood Program
University of Michigan
Project: Exploring Vehicle Technologies to Address Pedestrian Injuries: Focusing on SUVs and Pickup Trucks
Johns Hopkins University
Project: Enhancing Safety and Injury Prevention in Highly Automated Vehicles Through Digital Twin Technology and AI-Driven Design
National EMS Quality Alliance (NEMSQA)
Project: Immersive Learning for Safer Roads: Virtual Reality Training in Post-crash Care for EMS Providers
2024 Grant Recipients
Grantee: America Walks
Project: Pedestrian Fatalities in Indian Country: Responding to a Crisis
Project goal: This project aims to address the disproportionate impact of pedestrian fatalities among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals, largely due to unsafe road design, by focusing on re-designing roadways to reduce vehicle speeds through a Safe System approach and culture of safety. It involves educational initiatives, demonstration projects for traffic calming, and the elevation of the Policy Round Table on Tribal Pedestrian Safety into an annual event to implement effective interventions and address the crisis of pedestrian fatalities in tribal communities.
Grantee: University of Miami BikeSafe Program (KiDZ Neuroscience Center)
Project: Enhancing and Promoting Active School Travel Through a Safe System Approach
Project goal: The project will address pediatric pedestrian and bicycle injuries by creating a universal template for quick-build countermeasures, focusing on protected bike lanes and crosswalk visibility enhancements in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), starting with Coconut Grove Elementary (CGE). By utilizing the Safe System Approach (SSA) and promoting a positive safety culture, the project seeks to implement proven safety countermeasures to improve neighborhood street design within a 2- to 5-mile radius of schools, thus enhancing safety and encouraging active school travel. Collaborating with local entities and stakeholders, including the University of Miami (UM) and relevant community partners, the project aims to develop, facilitate, and evaluate the implementation of these countermeasures.
Grantee: Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, LivableStreets Alliance
Project: Educating All New Drivers on Vulnerable Road User Safety in Massachusetts
Project goal: MassBike, in collaboration with LivableStreets Alliance and the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV), aims to update driver education curricula in response to recent changes in Massachusetts State law, emphasizing the perspective of vulnerable road users to foster a culture of safety and prioritize the protection of all roadway users. Through the development of educational materials and curriculum, the project aims to shift the traffic safety culture in Massachusetts by emphasizing the importance of treating vulnerable users with care and respect, ultimately contributing to the Vision Zero framework and making roads safer for all.
Grantee: Families for Safe Streets, a project of Transportation Alternatives
Project: Stories for Safer Streets - A Narrative Based Approach to Combatting Traffic Violence
Project goal: Stories for Safe Streets (SFSS) is a comprehensive initiative focused on amplifying the voices of traffic crash victims and survivors through a multi-pronged approach, including a visual story map, increased outreach, and expanded support and training programs. By highlighting the personal stories of those impacted by traffic violence, SFSS seeks to challenge the complacency surrounding road safety and advocate for legislative and policy changes at the local, state, and federal levels. Building upon FSS's victim/survivor-led national movement, SFSS aims to provide emotional support and advocacy training to individuals affected by traffic crashes, while also promoting systemic changes to prevent future tragedies and ultimately achieve the goal of zero traffic deaths.
Grantee: The Ohio State University
Project: Development and Evaluation of Educational Videos to Demonstrate the Consequences of Child Restraint System Misuse
Project goal: This project aims to address the persistent issue of child restraint system (CRS) misuse in preventing pediatric occupant injuries in motor vehicle crashes. Despite the effectiveness of CRSs in reducing injury risk, studies have shown alarmingly high rates of misuse, leading to increased injury risks for children. This project seeks to create physically accurate videos illustrating the consequences of CRS misuse, evaluate their acceptance among child passenger safety technicians/instructors (CPST/Is), and assess their real-world effectiveness in reducing misuse rates.
Grantee: Hofstra University
Project: Fostering Improved Public Awareness of Snow Squall Driving Danger with Virtual Reality
Project goal: This project aims to address the significant impact of extreme winter weather, particularly snow squalls, on roadway fatalities in the United States. Despite advancements in weather forecasting, winter conditions remain a leading cause of accidents and deaths. By focusing on the development of virtual reality (VR) simulations of snow squalls, available in both English and Spanish, the project seeks to enhance public awareness and preparedness for this hazardous weather phenomenon. Additionally, the project addresses the need for more accessible outreach tools by providing materials in languages commonly spoken in the region, thereby increasing equity and reaching a wider audience.
2023 Grant Recipients
| Organization Name | Initiative Click on each project below to view a short presentation | Amount |
| Regents of the University of Michigan | Exploring Vehicle Technologies to Address Safety Equity Issues in a Diverse Population | $100,000 |
| Texas A&M Transportation Institute | Growing Support for the Safe System Approach | $100,000 |
| National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS) | Youth Transportation Equity Fellowship | $150,000 |
| Regents of the University of California, Santa Barbara | Evidence Based Data Dashboard to Reduce E-bicycle Deaths/Injuries for Santa Barbara County | $150,000 |
| Denver Streets Partnership | Ebike Education and Safety Training | $100,000 |
| Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works | Inspiring a Safer Miami through Inclusive Outreach and Education | $150,000 |
| TOTAL: | $750,000 |
2022 Grant Recipients
| Organization Name | Initiative | Amount |
| Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy | Partnering to Bring Safe Systems to Tribal Communities | $130,000 |
| Northwestern Center | Prioritizing Accessible Transportation, Health & Safety (PATHS) 4 Belmont Cragin | $125,000 |
| Health by Design | Change at the Crossroads of America: Indiana's Road to Zero | $145,000 |
| Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | The New Jersey Community Traffic Safety Profiles: Utilizing Data Integration and Visualization to Support Equitable Advancement of Road to Zero Pillars | $150,000 |
| Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) with Howard University Transportation Research Center and Safe Routes Partnership | Youth Centered Near Miss and Crash Reporting Tool | $100,000 |
| Portland Bureau of Transportation | Beyond Traffic Safety: Advancing Personal Safety, Security and Sense of Belonging for BIPOC Portlanders | $100,000 |
| TOTAL: | $750,000 |
2019 Grant Recipients
| Organization Name | Initiative | Amount |
| Clackamas County Department of Transportation and Development | Project will showcase holistic Safe Systems approach to reduce fatal and serious injury in a rural community. Approach combines low-cost engineering countermeasures, behavioral change-focused education and targeted enforcement. Will collaborate with public health and schools on alcohol and drug use, look at rural transit options for teens and older adults, and work with Oregon DOT to create affordable driver education and child protection. | $132,280 |
| Michigan State University | Develop and pilot test a methodological framework that will raise awareness of the magnitude of the problems posed by cell phone use by drivers, mitigate the degree to which drivers use cell phones while driving and develop best practices for large-scale use of similar strategies across the United States. | $184,680 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Increase new teen drivers’ knowledge of sharing the road with commercial vehicles. Will advance two of the three strategies outlined in the Road to Zero report: prioritizing safety and doubling down on what works. | $170,630 |
| University of Massachusetts/Sara's Wish Foundation | National campaign to increase seat belt use on motorcoaches. Will educate passengers on benefits of wearing seat belts, and convince passengers seat belts can save their lives and reduce severity of injuries in crashes, leading to increased motorcoach seat belt use. | $83,150 |
| Nevada Highway Patrol | Nevada Highway Patrol, Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and Nevada Department of Transportation pilot program showcased use of artificial intelligence with intelligent roadway design and strategic policing to decrease speed on high-risk roads. Will expand this successful program throughout Las Vegas. | $188,970 |
| University of South Florida - Center for Urban Transportation Research | Media language workshop in five Florida metro areas dangerous for cyclists and walkers. Models for reporting will contextualize bicyclist deaths within a larger discussion about our shared responsibility for traffic safety. Will focus on shifting narrative away from victim-blaming found in media reports. | $51,320 |
| City of North Miami Beach | Project has several components to ensure an effective deployment of strategies to reduce road fatalities, prioritizing safety for vulnerable users, like cyclists and pedestrians. | $188,970 |
| TOTAL: | $1,000,000 |
2018 Grant Recipients
Get more detail on the 2018 programs here.
| Organization Name | Initiative | Amount |
| America Walks, in partnership with University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (UNC-HSRC) | Accelerating Adoption of Safer Systems for All Road Users | $170,256 |
| Bicycle Colorado | Bicycle-friendly Driver and Confident Commuting Program | $109,902 |
| Center for Latino Progress - CPRF | Cooperative Community Crash Reduction, Hartford, CT | $174,038 |
| City of Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics | Boston's Safest Driver | $106,244 |
| Institute of Transportation Engineers in partnership with the Vision Zero Network | Moving from Conversation to Action: A Scalable Training Resource on Speed Management for Transportation Professionals and Community Stakeholders | $181,937 |
| Lorain County Public Health | Lorain Active Transportation Collaborative | $69,976 |
| National Complete Streets Coalition, Smart Growth America | Safe Street, Smart Cities Academy | $185,732 |
| National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago | Underutilized Strategies in Traffic Safety | $62,513 |
| Texas A&M University Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in collaboration with Houston Methodist Hospital | A systems approach to reduce drowsy driving among night-shift nurses | $173,029 |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB Youth Safety Lab) in collaboration with Safe Kids Worldwide | Improving Child Restraint Installation in Rural America through Interactive Virtual Presence | $186,602 |
| University of Michigan | Addressing Socioeconomic Disparities in Motor Vehicle Fatalities | $79,772 |
| TOTAL: | $1,500,000 |
2017 Grant Recipients
Get more detail on the 2017 programs here.
| Organization Name | Initiative | Amount |
| Chicago Department of Transportation | Vision Zero Garfield Park | $185,654 |
| Los Angeles Police Department | Vision Zero – Priority Corridor Safety Details | $182,149 |
| National Association for County Engineers | Advancing Local Road Safety Practices with State DOTs | $ 83,545 |
| National Complete Streets Coalition | Safe Streets Academy | $185,567 |
| Roadway Safety Foundation | usRap Across America | $139,241 |
| San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency | Vision Zero – Distracted Driving | $111,393 |
| University of Michigan Traffic Research Institute | Reducing Fatalities: Framework for Identifying Future Needs in Technological Counter-measurers and Public Policies | $112,451 |
| Total: | $1,000,000 |
Hear from Past Grantees
Grantees are regularly featured in Road to Zero webinars to share their programs and provide lessons learned to other Coalition members. You can catch a sample of grantee presentations here, including:
Frequently Asked Questions
Don’t see your question below? Submit it to roadtozero@nsc.org
What’s it like to be a Road to Zero grantee?
We think it’s pretty awesome, but you can hear more directly from previous grantees.
Grantees are expected to file monthly progress reports and attend quarterly cohort meetings. Grantees have opportunities to share their efforts in newsletters, across social media and on webinars.
What are some examples of successful Road to Zero grant applications?
For profiles of each of the grantees awarded in previous years, as well as a selection of final reports, see below.
Where can I learn more about the Road to Zero three-pillar approach?
The Road to Zero Coalition’s three-pillar approach comes from its strategic report. It identifies three key areas to act upon to reach our goal of zero traffic deaths by 2050: doubling down on proven countermeasures and interventions, accelerating the adoption and development of life-saving technology, and prioritizing a Safe System approach and culture of safety.
Where can I learn more about the Safe System approach?
There is a guide to the Safe System approach on the Road to Zero webpage. It includes great information from the Federal Highway Administration, as well as Road to Zero Coalition leaders such as ITE and CSCRS. This resource from the Department of Transportation also provides a thorough overview.
Who is eligible to receive a grant?
● Applicants must be a Road to Zero Coalition Member; you can join here, membership is free
● Applicant must be a nonprofit organization or other entity (i.e. a corporate entity); individuals cannot apply
● Government entities (cities, states, counties governors’ safety offices, etc.) also qualify
● Proposed programs must operate within the United States
● Federally-recognized Indian Tribes, Tribal Organizations and Urban Indian Organizations are also eligible
Can I speak to someone to see if this grant program would be a good fit for my proposed project?
If you have questions about the application process or other general questions, please contact Road to Zero at roadtozero@nsc.org. However, we cannot advise on whether specific projects would make for a successful grantee.
When will grantees be notified?
Applications will be reviewed by an external review committee in early 2025. Grantees will be notified in March 2025.
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