Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grants

Road to Zero Community Traffic Safety Grants is sponsored by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) / National Safety Council (NSC). This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

## 2026 Grant Application Cycle is Closed Applications are currently under review. Successful applicants will be notified in spring 2026.

### Congratulations 2025 Grant Recipients **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 #### 2023 Grant Recipients **Organization Name****Initiative** _Click on each project below to view a short presentation_**Amount** Regents of the University of MichiganExploring Vehicle Technologies to Address Safety Equity Issues in a Diverse Population$100,000 Texas A&M Transportation InstituteGrowing 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 BarbaraEvidence Based Data Dashboard to Reduce E-bicycle Deaths/Injuries for Santa Barbara County$150,000 Denver Streets PartnershipEbike Education and Safety Training$100,000 Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public WorksInspiring a Safer Miami through Inclusive Outreach and Education$150,000 #### 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 #### 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 #### 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 - CPRFCooperative 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 NetworkMoving 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 AmericaSafe Street, Smart Cities Academy$185,732 National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of ChicagoUnderutilized 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 WorldwideImproving Child Restraint Installation in Rural America through Interactive Virtual Presence$186,602 University of Michigan Addressing Socioeconomic Disparities in Motor Vehicle Fatalities$79,772 #### 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