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Julia Kite-LaidlawMore than 520 communities across 48 states, 18 Tribal communities and Puerto Rico had reason to celebrate at the end of 2025. They were the recipients of $982 million in Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grants from the United States Department of Transportation. The 454 Planning and Demonstration Grants and 67 Implementation Grants are valuable investments in reducing serious injuries and fatalities and ensuring local communities have resources to adopt proven, context-specific strategies to improve safety.
I’m proud to say that many grant recipients were Road to Zero members! Here is a selection of their projects, which we will be following with great interest for years to come:
Many grants for both implementation and planning focus on the need to protect young people traveling to and from schools. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission received funding to study and improve roadway safety near schools across a nine-county region in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including piloting Safe Routes to School programs and implementing proven safety countermeasures. The City of Roanoke, Virginia, will pilot quick-build safety treatments in school walk zones that overlap the high injury network and evaluate outcomes to inform their Safety Action Plan. The Town of Carrboro, North Carolina, will install rectangular rapid-flashing beacons painted pedestrian refuge islands and buffered bike lanes, then evaluate their effects on bicyclist and pedestrian travel to local schools. Focusing on a junior high school location, the City of Mountain Brook, Alabama, will pilot pedestrian safety countermeasures and conduct before-and-after evaluations to inform the Heart of Alabama Safety Action Plan for Jefferson County. Arizona State University will develop a safety plan integrating heat-risk assessment into Safe Routes to School planning for the City of Casa Grande, Arizona. And not forgetting older students, Youngstown State University in Ohio will work on a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan and test pedestrian-prioritized temporary street closures on and around campus.
Other university grant recipients are working far beyond campus limits to bring their expertise to the wider community. The University of Texas at Arlington will develop a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan covering three tribal communities in Nevada, Arizona and Oklahoma, and University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center will develop tailored speed management action plans for four communities in their state.
Safer roads that are forgiving of human error are a crucial component of the Safe System Approach. Grant funding can help municipalities trial designs that are new to their roads but have shown proven benefits elsewhere. The Muskegon County Road Commission in Michigan will build a roundabout that corrects a 61-degree skew at a high-injury location. The City of Omaha will also be constructing roundabouts at three locations on a high-injury corridor. The City of Allentown will conduct speed management, intersection and modal connectivity studies, while the City of Trenton will plan new safety improvements and evaluation metrics for a major corridor. In Massachusetts, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments will use their grant to demonstrate quick-build crossing and traffic-calming treatments that will guide future permanent countermeasures. And in the Florida Panhandle, Santa Rosa County will conduct a Crosswalk Connections demonstration, installing high-visibility crosswalks, rectangular rapid-flashing beacons and street lighting at up to 25 locations.
Grants also enable innovation in safety work. The City of Altamonte Springs, Florida, will use their funds to pilot internally illuminated raised pavement markers that have pedestrian and bicyclist detection features at six high-risk intersections. The University of Utah is embracing technology in road safety planning by deploying integrated AI and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems while developing and updating action plans for numerous locations in the state. The University of Central Florida will help Orange County with projects testing connected vehicle data analytics and an AI-based vulnerable road user crossing detection system.
Several of our cities and metropolitan areas are thinking – and building – big. The City of Orlando will prepare a citywide speed management plan and conduct demonstration activities to pilot safety upgrades such as rubber speed cushions, daylighting and signal timing progression. The Fresno Council of Governments is updating its Regional Safety Action Plan. Pennsylvania’s Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, in and around Harrisburg, will conduct comprehensive planning, data collection and analysis, and stakeholder engagement activities to produce countermeasure recommendations for high-priority locations. And the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County received implementation grants for their Vision Zero programs, investing in proven countermeasures to protect vulnerable road users.
Congratulations to all! Road to Zero is here to be a trusted resource for any community dedicated to improving road safety, so be sure to browse the Doubling Down on What Works Clearinghouse for guides, fact sheets, case studies and other information. Disseminating evidence-based best practices is one of Road to Zero’s foundational pillars, and we know there is no one-size-fits-all solution to deaths and serious injuries. Whether you’re urban, suburban or rural, you can find plenty on our website to guide your work to meet your community’s specific challenges and needs.
If you were awarded an SS4A grant in a previous funding year, we want to hear from you and highlight your successes. Please get in touch at RoadToZero@nsc.org.
Best,
Julia Kite-Laidlaw
On May 19, we will be holding our Road to Zero annual meeting at the National League of Cities in Washington, D.C. We would love to have you join in person, but we will also have a virtual option. Stay tuned for registration details in next month’s newsletter.
NHTSA’s Office of EMS and National 911 Program recently released new infographics highlighting effective post-crash care and the life-saving potential of blood transfusion in the prehospital setting. Administering blood in the field to motor vehicle crash victims may reduce mortality by 37%, a four-fold increase in survival.
These new resources are designed as practical tools for EMS leaders to drive collaboration with 911 and highway safety partners. Additionally, the infographics identify potential countermeasures and opportunities to improve post-crash care as state highway safety offices prepare triennial highway safety plans, due July 2026.
Super Bowl parties are some of the most attended gatherings among friends and family, so keeping safety in mind is essential. NHTSA offers themed material that encourages people to plan ahead and designate a sober driver before the game starts. And, if someone is hosting a party, take care of guests. The message is simple: Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.
Join NHTSA in amplifying the Super Bowl Campaign Feb. 3-8.
Frontiers of Technology: From Distraction Prevention to Attention Support with MIT's Bryan Reimer
1 p.m. (ET) Feb. 3
Join Bryan Reimer, research scientist at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics and MIT AgeLab, for a virtual fireside chat with Road to Zero Manager Julia Kite-Laidlaw. Dr. Reimer, an innovator whose career has focused on ensuring technology advances driver safety, will discuss his work with the AHEAD Consortium, developing a framework for the next generation of driver attention measurement and driver support tools. Go beyond traditional models of distraction to understand the latest research into providing the right amount of attention support for drivers, and learn what the move towards greater automation means for human driver performance. The conversation will also touch on excerpts from Dr. Reimer’s new book, How to Make AI Useful.
Speeding Up Strategies to Slow Speeds and Save Lives
2 p.m. (ET) Jan. 29
Join Vision Zero Network for a conversation about how communities can speed up progress on managing speeds for safety. Vision Zero Network Visiting Senior Research Fellow Ivan Cheung, who led development of this pivotal 2017 National Transportation Safety Board speed management report, will lead an in-depth discussion on two key safety tools getting increasing attention: speed safety cameras and intelligent speed assistance. He’ll be joined by safety experts from NTSB and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, who will share evidence, arguments and policy approaches to help communities embrace these proven safety strategies.
The Governors Highway Safety Association and Waymo have created an original online safety training course for first responders interacting with Waymo vehicles. First responders – including law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical services and tow-truck operators – need to have the knowledge and tools to safely interact with new and emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles (AVs), especially when there is no driver. After completing the self-paced online training, participants can take an online quiz and download a certificate of completion after passing the quiz.
In addition to the online Waymo training, GHSA has developed a first responder autonomous vehicle resource page that provides additional information on AVs.
AAMVA members are rolling out new efforts to protect riders and reduce fatalities, including through stricter licensing standards, expanded education, broader public awareness campaigns and collaboration with various stakeholders.
Motorcycles are more than just a mode of transportation. For many riders, they represent freedom, fun, stress relief and camaraderie. They also have practical advantages, such as lower fuel costs and easier parking. But the stakes are exceptionally high for motorcyclists, who are disproportionately represented in traffic fatalities. While motorcycles make up only 3% of all vehicles, they account for 15.5% of all traffic fatalities and 3.4% of all injuries, according to 2023 data from the National Safety Council. In 2023 alone, a total of 6,335 motorcyclists died in crashes — the highest number ever recorded and a 26% increase since 2019.
Together for Safer Roads FOCUS on Fleet Safety training program supports small and midsize fleets in building strong, lasting safety cultures by centering drivers, supervisors and frontline leaders in practical, peer-based learning. Informed by the real-world experience of leading fleets and safety technology providers, the program helps participating fleets translate safety commitments, policies and data into consistent day-to-day practices that protect drivers and the communities they serve.
Building on successful training cohorts in 2025, TSR plans to continue and expand FOCUS on Fleet Safety trainings in 2026 through additional cohorts and partnerships. Find out more and inquire about FOCUS training for your fleet at togetherforsaferroads.org.
A bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives led by Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) have introduced H.R. 6688, the ADAS Functionality and Integrity Act.
The bill would establish clear guidelines to allow owners to fix their out-of-calibration advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as automatic emergency braking. ADAS is reliant on sensors and cameras that can be knocked out of calibration by everyday use, after repairs or following a modification of a vehicle, such as attaching a bike rack. H.R. 6688 would make vehicle specification information available to owners so their ADAS systems could be recalibrated properly. The full text of the bill is available here.
Funded by a Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grant, the Ohio State University Injury Biomechanics Research Center and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia collaborated to create a series of videos showing the importance of using child car safety seats correctly and the potential consequences of misuse. With their grant, they devised computer-simulated footage showing outcomes of virtual test crashes. These videos are now publicly available through CHoP’s Child Passenger Safety YouTube channel and OSU’s Buckle Up With Brutus channel. Congratulations to the team for a successful project! Recipients of the next round of RTZ grants will be announced in late March.
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