Adopting a Public Health Approach to Traffic Safety | 693JJ921R0000038

Opportunity Information: Apply for 693JJ921R0000038

The grant opportunity titled "Adopting a Public Health Approach to Traffic Safety" is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Its central aim is to launch and pilot a new program that helps state and local traffic safety agencies strengthen their ability to reduce crash-related injuries and deaths by using a public health approach, rather than relying only on traditional traffic enforcement or engineering strategies. The work is designed as a pilot effort, meaning it will be implemented with only a limited number of participating state and local entities to test methods, refine tools, and demonstrate what works before broader replication.

NHTSA plans to provide financial assistance to a public health organization to develop practical methodologies, resources, and tools that translate public health concepts into day-to-day traffic safety practice. The program is not just about reducing overall harm; it also explicitly includes attention to equity in highway safety, encouraging grantees and participating agencies to identify and address disparities that may have been created or worsened by previous and current approaches to traffic safety. In other words, the opportunity is looking for a framework that treats traffic injuries and fatalities the way public health treats other preventable harms: by using data, prevention science, population-level interventions, and cross-sector collaboration, while also asking who benefits and who is burdened by existing systems.

A key feature of the proposed work is the potential establishment of one Public Health Expert under the cooperative agreement. This role is intended to drive the program forward and support participating agencies in adopting public health principles. The expert would be expected to educate and inform state and local traffic safety agencies, including State Highway Safety Offices, about what a public health approach to traffic safety looks like in practice and why it adds value. That includes helping agencies understand concepts like primary prevention, risk and protective factors, surveillance and monitoring, and the importance of multi-sector strategies that go beyond single programs or short-term campaigns.

Another major deliverable is the development of new or improved assessment and monitoring tools that help agencies investigate and address specific traffic safety hazards. The opportunity highlights impaired driving and occupant protection as examples, signaling interest in tools that can better track problems, identify contributing factors, measure intervention reach and effectiveness, and support more timely, targeted decision-making. These tools could include structured assessment methods, standardized monitoring indicators, guidance for data collection and interpretation, or templates that help agencies move from raw data to actionable prevention strategies.

The cooperative agreement also emphasizes community mobilization and partnership-building as a core performance goal. The recipient is expected to facilitate stronger working relationships between traffic safety agencies and public health agencies at both the state and local levels. The intent is to help these groups jointly implement evidence-based best practices and to build durable collaboration that lasts beyond the pilot period. This partnership focus is also tied to equity: the work should support agencies in assessing whether past or current traffic safety approaches have produced unequal outcomes across communities and in determining how best practices can be implemented in ways that reduce those disparities rather than reinforcing them.

In terms of what progress and success look like, NHTSA points to several possible indicators. These include reviewing and synthesizing applicable literature, creating a virtual resource database that agencies can use over time, publishing case studies to document lessons learned and practical examples from the pilot sites, and hosting ongoing educational events such as webinars to spread knowledge and maintain engagement among participants. Success is expected to be measured not only by the products created, but also by how participating agencies perceive the value of the approach and, importantly, whether they establish and sustain working relationships with public health partners. That emphasis suggests NHTSA is looking for lasting capacity-building and institutional change, not just one-time training or stand-alone tools.

Administrative details from the source data indicate this opportunity was posted under Funding Opportunity Number 693JJ921R0000038 and tied to CFDA 20.614 in the transportation category. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically means NHTSA expects substantial involvement in shaping or supporting the work during the project period rather than simply issuing a grant with minimal federal interaction. The award ceiling listed is $476,932, and NHTSA anticipated making one award. The original posting date was July 22, 2021, with an original closing date of August 23, 2021. Eligible applicants are described broadly as "Others" with additional eligibility details referenced in the full announcement, but the narrative makes clear NHTSA intended the recipient to be a public health organization capable of leading this kind of cross-disciplinary capacity-building effort.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a targeted pilot investment meant to bridge two worlds that often work in parallel: traffic safety and public health. The funded organization would be expected to package public health methods into usable tools and learning supports, help agencies apply those methods to persistent risks like impaired driving and low occupant protection, and create partnerships and shared infrastructure that can continue improving safety outcomes while taking equity seriously as part of how success is defined.

• The Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Adopting a Public Health Approach to Traffic Safety" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.614.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 22, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 23, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $476,932.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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