Tailor your application to current DOT priorities.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Connor Torossian emphasized that Secretary Duffy’s top priorities are safety, innovation in transportation infrastructure and support for families. Project readiness was also highlighted as a key agency criterion for assessing grant applications. These themes should be reflected in your city’s grant applications.

Take advantage of the SS4A Planning Grant.

The fiscal year 2025 funding round for the SS4A program is open, with a 30% set-aside for planning grants. Historically, planning grants have been underutilized, and the application is only two pages. 

• Noblesville, Indiana applied for a SS4A planning grant in the winter of 2023 and was awarded $200,000. The city then developed the first Safety Action Plan in Indiana to be adopted by the city council. The SS4A funds were used to identify high-crash areas and to select a corridor near an elementary school for targeted improvements. 
• Mayor Jensen emphasized that the process was easier than expected, and encouraged others to pursue it. He also encouraged cities to explore multiple funding sources and angles for their projects, including potential economic development and education benefits.
• Connor Torossian from the DOT also noted that the planning grants were undersubscribed in the previous application round, meaning the chances of receiving funding for planning and demonstration grants are favorable as compared with implementation grants. It’s also notable that the categorization of demonstration activities under the SS4A program is flexible, allowing cities to use demonstration grants to begin improving road safety immediately without waiting for an implementation grant.

Regional collaboration is essential for a comprehensive application. Tempe, Arizona, was awarded $12.5 million in funding for a safety-focused project on Baseline Road, a major seven-lane corridor with high vehicle volume and high speed limits. Eric Iwersen, Transportation and Sustainability Director for the City of Tempe, discussed the importance of regional coordination and data-driven decision-making, particularly on high-volume corridors like Baseline Road, which connects Tempe with neighboring cities Phoenix and Mesa. He emphasized how Tempe’s internal crash data was combined with regional data from the Arizona DOT to identify and address safety hotspots. This collaborative, regional approach was crucial to managing a corridor that functions as a shared transportation artery across city lines.

The application process can start important conversations. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, secured an $800,000 planning grant with a $200,000 local match. The goal was to coordinate across departments for a robust Vision Zero planning process. Justin Henry’s team in Oklahoma City found the SS4A planning grant to be one of the easiest and most straightforward federal grants to apply for, and it allowed them to better leverage underused data to build crash profiles, improve transparency with public dashboards, and act quickly on community-identified safety issues. The application process helped them set long-term safety goals and benchmark serious injury and fatality reductions. He emphasized that the fear of failure should not stop cities from applying. Even if Oklahoma City had not won their planning grant, it started fruitful conversations inside their community about how to do more for safety and transportation. What’s more, many SS4A awardees had to apply more than once before successfully obtaining a grant.

Resources Shared During the Webinar and in Discussion: 

• Safe Streets and Roads for All: What’s New in the 2025 Grant Program: This overview details eligible uses for 2025 grant funding, recommendations for aligning municipal applications with federal administration policy priorities and key program updates that successful applicants will reflect in their applications. 
• 2025 Safe Streets for All Bootcamp Resources: This detailed slide deck provides municipal leaders with in-depth information and tools to support leaders in developing a strong grant application tailored to your jurisdiction. Provided is a grant program overview, instructions for application submission, budget guidance and tools to strengthen core components of your grant application. 
• U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets for All Grant Program Webinar Series: The U.S. Department of Transportation hosted a series of webinars on the Safe Streets for All grant program. The series focuses on implementation grants, action plans, and supplemental planning and demonstration activities. Watch these webinars to learn more about the grant program and what type of funding your municipality should apply for. 
• Quick Builds, Lasting Change: Tampa’s Bold Approach to Traffic Safety: Learn more about how The City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, and their MPO have secured over $50 million in Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grants to implement innovative traffic safety improvements through the Quick Build Program, enabling rapid deployment of low-cost safety measures. In partnership with state and local agencies, Tampa is leading its largest-ever roadway safety investment, already seeing a decline in pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities less than three years into the program.