Transportation Secretary Duffy unveils $21M for Tribal road safety

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced more than $21 million in grant awards that will fund 84 projects for 61 Tribes in 13 states that will reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries on Native American and Alaska Native lands. The grants, provided under the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF), will be used for a variety of projects, including those designed to reduce roadway departure, a factor involved in 63% of fatal crashes in Tribal areas.

“The grants we’re announcing today will help Tribes develop transportation safety plans, install proven safety countermeasures that can reduce crashes in rural areas, and improve and analyze safety data to prevent these kinds of crashes from occurring in the future,” said FHWA Administrator Sean McMaster. “We’re pleased to provide these grants that can improve safety and mobility.”

“These grants will help save lives on reservations by ensuring higher safety measures are achieved for Tribal nations. Under President Trump and Secretary Duffy, USDOT have made safety on Tribal lands a priority. I look forward to continually working with FHWA Administrator Sean McMaster and our Tribal partners to foster an environment of safety in Indian Country,” said Assistant Secretary of Tribal Government Affairs James A. Crawford.

The Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund grant awards announced today, for Fiscal Year 2025, will fund 25 safety plan projects, including funding for four Tribes to develop their first transportation safety plan. Other grant awards announced today include:

Six projects to reduce roadway departure crashes, including one for more than $1.2 million to the Northern

Cheyenne Tribe in Montana to install guardrail at 10 locations; 34 roadway infrastructure safety improvement projects, including more than $1.3 million to South Dakota’s Yankton Sioux Tribe for the construction of a multi-use pathway that will connect residential housing to educational facilities as well as health care, tribal headquarters, and essential services; and, 19 data assessment and analysis activities-related projects, including more than $334,000 to the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York for its Crash Data Collection Project that will modernize and standardize the crash data collection process across Seneca Nation departments and provide comprehensive data to enhance transportation planning, support safety initiatives, and inform future transportation projects.

Additional Information:

Since its inception, FHWA’s Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund has awarded approximately $141 million over multiple rounds of competitive grants for more than 1,000 Tribal projects. Priority is given to projects that incorporate safety into existing infrastructure. FHWA is currently processing applications for the 2026 TTPSF funding cycle submitted on or before January 15, 2026.

FHWA also expects to provide additional Tribal project funding later this year, when it issues a Notice of Funding Opportunity under its Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program.

FHWA provides comprehensive transportation training and technical assistance to Tribal communities through its Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP), a discretionary program that is 100% federally funded and serves the 12 Bureau of Indian Affairs regions and associated Tribes with TTAP Centers.

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