As students head back to school, new round of funding from President Biden’s infrastructure law will make America’s roads safer for everyone, including pedestrians, cyclists, and those living in rural communities
Announcement is paired with release of NHTSA’s early estimates on traffic fatalities for first half of 2024, showing a 3.2 percent decline compared to the same period in 2023
Washington, D.C.: On September 5, 2024, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $1,567,400 in grants for New Jersey as part of $1 billion in grants through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. The funding will go directly to 354 local, regional, and tribal communities across the country, including four in New Jersey, to improve roadway safety and prevent deaths and serious injuries on America’s rural and urban roads, including some of the most dangerous in the country.
Today’s announcement – a key component of DOT’s comprehensive National Roadway Safety Strategy launched in 2022 – is paired with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s release of its early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2024, estimating that traffic fatalities declined for the ninth straight quarter. An estimated 18,720 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, a decrease of about 3.2 percent as compared to 19,330 fatalities projected to have occurred in the first half of 2023. Fatalities declined in both the first and second quarters of 2024.
Even with road fatalities decreasing over the past nine quarters straight, they remain far too high. Over 40,000 people have died on U.S. roads in each of the last three years, and a disproportionate number of people are killed in rural areas or while walking or bicycling. Additionally, traffic fatalities remain a leading cause of death for school-aged children and young adults.
“Through new funding programs like Safe Streets and Roads for All, the Biden-Harris Administration is helping communities of all sizes make their roadways safer for everyone who uses them,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We should be energized by the fact that together we’ve reduced traffic fatalities for more than two years in a row now – but so much work remains to fully address the crisis on our roads. Today’s roadway safety grants will deliver funding directly to 354 communities and continue the important work we’re doing to reduce traffic fatalities to the only number that’s acceptable: zero.”
“The SS4A program gives local and tribal governments the resources to plan and implement the safety improvements that will make the most difference in their communities,” said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg. “They know what is best, and this program leverages that local expertise to save lives.”
The Safe Streets and Roads for All program provides grants directly to communities for implementation, planning, and demonstration projects aimed at preventing deaths and serious injuries on the nation’s roadways. Since launching in 2022, SS4A has funded projects in more than 1,400 communities, supporting roadway safety for nearly 75% of the U.S. population.
Additionally, SS4A is making historic investments in rural and underserved communities, and many of this year’s awards will address critical safety hot spots on some of the country’s most dangerous roads. The projects and activities aim to improve safety for all roadway users, including drivers, passengers, pedestrians and students heading back to school, bicyclists, transit users, and people with disabilities.
With this round of announced awards:
View a fact sheet on today’s awards here.
New Jersey received $1,567,400 for four safety planning and demonstration projects.
View the full list of today’s awards here.
The third and final round of this year’s SS4A grant awards is expected to be announced in November. View more information on the SS4A program.
