News

The National Complete Streets Coalition is now accepting applications for our brand new Safe Streets Academy, a program designed to help jurisdictions transform their commitment to traffic safety into practice.

The year-long Academy will bring together engineers, planners, and related professionals from three jurisdictions for an intensive, hands-on training on interventions to address traffic safety. The Academy will include three in-person workshops, one in each of the recipient jurisdictions. All members of the Academy will receive travel stipends to attend all of the trainings, with real-world examples based in each community. Between the in-person trainings, our staff will host distance-learning sessions with the Academy members to help them make steady progress toward their goals. Overall the Academy will focus on:

• Engineering countermeasures to reduce speed and improve safety;
• Integrating land use and transportation;
• Community engagement strategies;
• Planning and designing for active transportation and transit;
• Performance measurement;
• Freight logistics;
• Traffic operations;
• Designing and operating for Vision Zero; and
• Creative placemaking.

Each jurisdiction selected for this technical assistance opportunity will choose a cohort of 10 practitioners to join the Academy. The cohort will participate in all distance-learning sessions and attend each of the in-person trainings. Each cohort will also apply the skills and techniques acquired in the trainings by implementing a demonstration project and presenting safety recommendations to their DOT and community. This new opportunity is available at no cost to jurisdictions thanks to a Safe Systems Innovation Grant from the Road to Zero Coalition.

How to apply

Any unit or subdivision of local, tribal or regional government with a population of at least 100,000 is eligible to apply. Applicants must also have previously adopted either a bicycle and pedestrian master plan, a Vision Zero policy, a Complete Streets policy, or related design guidance. Additionally, applicants must commit to hosting one workshop, implementing a demonstration project, working with us to produce a case study based on their demonstration project, and presenting recommendations for safety improvements to their DOT and local community. They must also commit to the full participation of their 10-person cohort at all in-person workshops and distance learning modules as well as agree to raise $8,000 in funds or in-kind donations to support the demonstration project. Jurisdictions are also required to submit a letter of support from a local elected official as part of their application.

Applications are now open.

Applications may be submitted until Sunday, July 16, 2017 at 11:59 PM EDT. We will conduct interviews with finalists the week of July 31.

Want to know more?

Join us for an informational webinar about the Academy on Friday, June 23, 2017 at 1:00 PM EDT. We’ll provide an overview of the Safe Streets Academy and give prospective applicants the opportunity to ask questions about the Academy and the application process. Register to join this free event:

The Safe Streets Academy is made possible through a Road to Zero Safe Systems Innovation Grant from the National Safety Council and National Highway Safety Traffic Administration. Road to Zero is a coalition of more than 250 members committed to reducing traffic fatalities in the United States to zero over the next three decades. Learn more on their website.