Grant Summary: USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) FY 2026 Notice of Funding Opportunity

USDOT Discretionary Grants Update

SS4A Application Deadline

• Tuesday, May 26, 2026

The U.S. Department of Transportation has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program . Planning and Demonstration Grant and Implementation Grant applications are due at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

The program aims to support planning, infrastructure, and behavioral and operational initiatives to prevent fatalities and serious injuries on roads and streets involving all roadway users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation, motorists, and commercial vehicle operators.

This program is authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and will provide up to $993 million in funding for selected projects this year. This update summarizes the grant opportunity. The NOFO is posted on Grants.gov.

Safe Streets and Roads for All Program Objectives

The purpose of this grant program is to improve roadway safety by significantly reducing or eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries through the development of Action Plans, refinement of Action Plans, and implementation of safety strategies focused on all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, motorists and commercial vehicle operators.

Funding will help develop tools to strengthen a community’s approach to roadway safety, save lives, and is designed to meet the needs of local, Tribal and regional communities that differ in size, location and experience administering federal funding.

Eligible recipients include:

• Metropolitan planning organization (MPO)
• Political subdivision of a state or territory, including county, city and township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; and public and state-controlled institutions of higher education
• Federally recognized Tribal government
• Regional joint multijurisdictional application

Changes in the FY 2026 NOFO

• DOT is placing a priority on Public Safety Infrastructure.
• Definitions have added clarifying information regarding Public Safety Infrastructure for post-crash care, emergency response coordination and prehospital blood transfusion activities.
• Adds language noting that if DOT does not  receive enough merit-worthy applications for Planning and Demonstration Grants to award the 30% set aside requirement, surplus funds may be redirected toward merit-worthy Implementation Grants.
• Added language highlighting new Executive Orders and DOT Orders.

Available Grants

The SS4A FY 2026 NOFO provides funding for two types of grants:

Planning and Demonstration Grant:  
Focused on supplemental safety planning — either development of a new Action Plan or execution of supplemental planning activities — or safety demonstration activities.

Implementation Grant:  
Focused on implementing strategies or projects consistent with an existing Action Plan that may also request funding for supplemental planning and demonstration activities that inform the Action Plan.

Planning and Demonstration Grant

Planning and Demonstration Grant must include the following seven components: 

1. Leadership commitment and goal setting
2. Planning structure
3. Safety analysis
4. Engagement and collaboration
5. Policy and process changes
6. Strategy and project selection
7. Progress and transparency

Selection criteria for Planning and Demonstration Grants includes: 1) safety context, 2) safety impact  and 3) underserved communities. For criteria 1) safety context, USDOT provides a rubric table that assigns a rating of High, Medium, Low, or Non-Responsive to each proposed Planning and Demonstration Grant component, such as a new Action Plan, supplemental planning and/or demonstration activities, and then rolls those component ratings into one overall Safety Context rating.

USDOT will evaluate quantitative data for criteria 2) safety impact and 3) underserved communities, using information from the application, mapped jurisdiction and nationally available data. For 2) safety impact, USDOT will assess both the total number of roadway fatalities and the fatality rate per 100,000 people. For 3) underserved communities, USDOT will assess the percentage of the applicant's population that lives in an underserved community census tract.

In addition, USDOT will consider budget costs, high fatality rates and no prior SS4A funding.

Award Range: Minimum amounts for Planning and Demonstration Grants are $100,000, with a maximum grant of up to $5 million.

Planning and Demonstration Grant application narratives must be no longer than 2 pages if requesting less than  $1,000,000. If requesting $1,000,000 or more, the narrative must be no longer than 3 pages. A benefit-cost analysis is not required. Planning and Demonstration Grants must be submitted via the Valid Eval website.

Implementation Grant

Implementation Grants fund projects and strategies identified in an Action Plan that address roadway safety problems. Funding also supports supplemental planning and demonstration activities, as well as planning, design and development activities identified in an Action Plan.

Applicants must identify the problems to be addressed, the relevant geographic locations, and the project solutions and strategies they plan to implement, based on their Action Plan or other established plan. 

There are four main selection criteria for  Implementation Grants: 

1. Safety need
2. Safety impact
3. Implementation costs
4. Engagement and collaboration

For each selection criterion, USDOT provides a rubric table that assigns a rating of High, Medium, Low, or Non-Responsive. Together, the ratings will roll up into one overall application rating of Highly Recommended, Recommended, Acceptable, or Not Recommended.

In addition, USDOT will evaluate project readiness and award considerations.

Award Range: Implementation Grants will have a minimum award of $2.5 million and a maximum award of $25 million. 

The Implementation Grant narrative may not exceed 12 pages in length. Cover pages, table of contents, Self-Certification Eligibility Worksheets, budget and appendices do not count toward the 12-page limit. Grant applications that include supplemental planning and demonstration activities may submit up to two additional pages (14 pages total). A benefit-cost analysis is not required. Implementation Grants must be submitted via the Valid Eval website.