Tribal Transportation Safety Strategy Pilot Program

About this funding opportunity

he U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R) is announcing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Tribal Transportation Safety Strategy Pilot Program. This three-year cooperative agreement is designed to address the critical public safety crisis in Tribal communities, as American Indian and Alaska Native populations experience traffic fatality rates more than twice the national average.

The primary objective of this program is to research, identify innovations, and develop a next-generation Tribal Transportation Strategic Safety Plan. The selected applicant will develop a comprehensive toolbox of training, analysis tools specifically geared toward decision making when historical crash data is not readily available, and risk-based safety planning guidelines. The project will culminate in a pilot program with at least one Federally recognized Tribal community that has a high traffic fatality rate, and will include the implementation of a temporary, low-cost safety infrastructure demonstration project.

Topic areas: General and Cross-cutting R&D, Transportation and Mobility, Public Policy and Governance, Social Innovation and Community Development.

Funding amount

This cooperative agreement provides $2M-$2M in funding, up to $2M per award.

Deadline

Applications are due Aug 28, 2026. Confirm the exact closing time on the official program page before applying.

Who can apply

This opportunity is open to the following applicant types:

• Other
• University
• Research Organization
• NGOs

Eligibility

Qualified institutions of higher education with a team of one or more entities from academia, Tribal communities and leaders, Tribal, local and state agency transportation practitioners, and non-profit or for-profit organizations. Eligible applicants and their teams should have demonstrable knowledge and experience pertaining to Tribal traffic safety research, assessment, and mitigation, and demonstrated relationships with Tribal leaders.

Agency

Tribal Transportation Safety Strategy Pilot Program is administered by 69A355 Research and Technology (RITA), listed via Grants.gov.