U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today announced more than $21 million in grant awards to support 84 projects benefiting 61 Tribes across 13 states, aimed at reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries on Native American and Alaska Native lands.
The funding, distributed through the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF), will support a range of safety initiatives, including efforts to address roadway departure crashes—a factor 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 Fiscal Year 2025 TTPSF awards include funding for 25 Tribal transportation safety plans, with four Tribes receiving support to develop their first-ever plans. Additional projects funded include:
- Six initiatives to reduce roadway departure crashes, including more than $1.2 million awarded to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana to install guardrails at 10 locations;
- Thirty-four roadway infrastructure safety improvements, including more than $1.3 million to the Yankton Sioux Tribe in South Dakota to construct a multi-use pathway connecting housing, schools, health care facilities, tribal headquarters, and essential services; and
- Nineteen data assessment and analysis projects, including more than $334,000 to the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York for a Crash Data Collection Project to modernize and standardize crash reporting across departments and strengthen future transportation planning and safety efforts.
Since its inception, the TTPSF has awarded approximately $141 million through competitive grants, supporting more than 1,000 Tribal safety projects. Priority continues to be given to initiatives that integrate safety improvements into existing infrastructure.
FHWA is currently reviewing applications for the 2026 TTPSF funding cycle submitted by the January 15, 2026 deadline and is expected to announce additional Tribal funding opportunities later this year through the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program.
In addition to grant funding, FHWA provides transportation training and technical assistance to Tribal communities through its Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP), a fully federally funded initiative serving all 12 Bureau of Indian Affairs regions and their affiliated Tribes.
