San Jose, Palo Alto score federal road safety dollars

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced more than $63 million in grants from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program, including almost $9.4 million for Bay Area projects.

The funding will go directly to communities to improve road safety and help prevent deaths and serious injuries on their roads. While road fatalities have decreased over the past seven quarters, approximately 40,000 people die on U.S. roads each year. 

“Bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers should be safe on our roads and streets, and the Biden-Harris Administration is taking action across the country to make our roads safer for everyone who uses them," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. 

Bay Area projects receiving funding include: 

• San Jose received $8.5 million for a speed safety camera project with money going toward supplemental planning and demonstration. The money will be used by San Jose to pilot automated speed camera deployment in an effort to slow driver speeds. Camera locations will be selected based on a number of factors such as speeding, red-light, and pedestrian crashes, and will be geographically distributed across neighborhoods of all income levels and racial composition. Public engagement and outreach will be conducted to engage communities near camera locations both before and after selection. Data collected from this pilot will inform further demonstration activities and Vision Zero Action Plan updates. At the conclusion of the demonstration project, San Jose DOT will conduct a racial and economic equity impact analysis, developed with local stakeholder groups.
• Palo Alto received $888,000 for the South Palo Alto Bikeways demonstration project. This award will be used by Palo Alto to pilot a two-year demonstration activity that includes quick-build features along two congested school routes. Additionally, the city will allocate funds to conduct behavioral activities, specifically classes for adjacent school communities on how to use the pilot bike infrastructure.

See the full list of Friday’s awards. The Safe Streets and Roads for All awards represent the first of three rounds of awards that will be made in 2024. The grant program is still actively accepting applications through Aug. 29, and communities are encouraged to apply as funding remains available for the third and final round.  

The second round of SS4A grants is expected to be announced in August. View more information on the SS4A program, including information on applying for the open third round.