The Road to Zero (RTZ) initiative launched in 2016 by the National Safety Council, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with the goal of eliminating roadway deaths within 30 years. In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control became a partner to RTZ, which now has about 900 coalition members. The U.S. Department of Transportation committed $1 million a year for three years and an additional $500,000 in Year 2 to fund Safe System Innovation Grants; NSC is distributing these grants.
Each application was reviewed and rated on the same criteria by four separate grant readers. In 2019, there were eight grant winners.
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 |
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 |
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 |
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