NHTSA Grant Program
The Governors of all states are mandated by
federal law 23 U.S.C. 402 to establish and implement a statewide
highway safety program. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) delegates
this authority to the Director of Transportation as the Governor’s
Highway Safety Representative. HRS also establishes a Governor’s
Highway Safety Council to advise the Director of Transportation on
highway safety issues and establishes County Traffic Safety
Councils.
To assist states in carrying out the highway
safety program, Congress provides annual grants for highway safety
programs designed to reduce traffic crashes and resulting deaths,
injuries, and property damage. A state may use these grant funds
only for highway safety purposes; at least 40% of these funds are
to be used to address local traffic safety problems.
Section 2002 of TEA-21 reauthorizes the
State and Community Highway Safety formula grant program (Section
402 of Chapter 4 of Title 23) to support State highway safety
programs. In addition, there are incentive grants to states that
meet certain requirements, including Sections 154, 157, 163, 164,
405, 410 and 411 of TEA 21. Descriptions of these grants may be
found in the Appendix. The grants support planning to identify and
quantify highway safety problems, provide start up
"seed" money for new programs, and give new direction to
existing safety programs. The funds are intended to catalyze
innovative programs at the state and local level, and leverage
commitments of state, local, and private resources.
Hawaii expects to receive an estimated
$1,000,000 in highway safety grants in Federal Fiscal Year 2005,
October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005.
Federal Grant Process
Federal Funding
The allocation of federal funds to the state
depends on the appropriation by Congress and the spending
authority set by the Secretary of Transportation. All grants made
by the Director of Transportation are subject to the availability
of federal funds.
Grant Proposals
The Department of Transportation requests
and receives proposals from the community and government agencies
annually on programs or projects that they believe will help solve
highway safety problems in Hawaii. The proposals are reviewed and
prioritized by the Traffic Safety Councils in each county and by
the Governor’s Highway Safety Council based on federal and state
priorities. The final determination on all awards is made by the
Governor's Highway Safety Representative.
Grant Awards
Grantees will receive written notification
of the status of their proposal. All awards are subject to the
availability of federal funds, and should not be considered
binding until a Project Authorization Form has been executed.
Orientation Meeting for Grantees
All grantees receiving a federal grant are
required to attend an orientation meeting which will describe the
grant implementation process, how to submit requests for
reimbursements, project monitoring, and reporting requirements.
The meeting will be held on Oahu on October 26, 2004 and grantees
should budget for this meeting in the budget section of their
proposal.
Application for Highway Safety Project
Reimbursement Grant
Approved proposals require that a grantee
complete an application for a Highway Safety Project Reimbursement
Grant. When the grant application has been received and approved,
and the funding level determined, a copy of the entire grant
application along with the agreement and an authorization to
proceed will be sent to the applicant.
Monitoring
All grants will be monitored at least once a
year for compliance with all federal and state requirements and
project objectives.
Project Reimbursement
A highway safety project expenditure report
and reimbursement request will be required for all projects on
either a monthly or quarterly basis.
Reporting Requirements
A quarterly report on the status of project
activities is due quarterly on January 15, April 15 and July 15.
An annual report is due no later than October 31. Photographs of
project activities should be included with the reports.
Federal Highway Safety
Priorities
The following are the federal priority
program areas. All of these program areas have been identified as
encompassing a major highway safety problem that is of national
concern, and for which effective countermeasures have been
identified. The national program area descriptions and guidelines
are as follows. The national priority areas are general guidelines
that identify areas of concern in traffic safety. They do not
provide a rating of which area is of most importance.
- Alcohol and Other Drug Countermeasures
-- To remove alcohol and other drug-impaired drivers from the
roads.
Emergency Medical Services
-- to ensure appropriate treatment through a coordinated system of
emergency medical care for persons injured in highway crashes.
Motorcycle Safety
-- To increase use of motorcycle helmets, conduct rider education
programs, improve licensing and reduce the incidence of impaired
driving.
Occupant Protection
-- to increase safety belt and child safety seat use and promote
the benefits of automatic protection devices, such as air bags.
Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety
-- To increase safety awareness and skills among drivers,
pedestrians and bicyclists.
Police Traffic Services
-- To enforce and encourage compliance with seat belt use,
impaired driving, speed limit and other traffic laws.
Roadway Safety
-- To improve the roadway environment with special emphasis on the
identification and surveillance of the location of traffic
collisions; to evaluate highway design, construction and
maintenance; and to provide traffic engineering services.
Speed Control
-- Through education and enforcement assure drivers travel at safe
speeds and comply with posted speed limits.
Traffic records
-- To support record systems that aid in identifying existing and
emerging traffic safety problems and evaluate program performance.
State Priorities
The State of Hawaii has developed the
following priority levels based on data from highway collisions in
the state. Statistical data on each area is available in the
Appendix. The priorities reflect the number of injuries and deaths
in each area.
HIGHEST PRIORITY
These have been identified as the most
critical problem areas in highway safety in Hawaii:
- Pedestrian injuries and fatalities for
persons over the age of 55 years
- Motorcycle crashes
- Excessive speeding by persons ages 16-25
- Use of seat belts for persons 16-35 years
- Enforcement of traffic laws in the areas
of speed, occupant protection and alcohol
- The number of repeat driving while
intoxicated violations
LOWER PRIORITY
This priority area is of concern to highway
safety; however, the data does not justify it as a critical area.
- Reduce pedestrian fatalities and injuries
for persons 5-14 years
- Involve businesses in traffic safety
programs
- Increase use of child safety seats
(including booster)
- Reduce bicycle crashes
- Equipment request by Emergency Medical
Services
Proposal Content
All proposals are to be on the RFP Form in
the Appendix.
Problem Statement
Fill in the traffic safety area that this
proposal is addressing, i.e. Pedestrians, Speeding, Occupant
Protection.
Solution Statement
Propose your solution to the identified area
of traffic safety concern. Indicate how your proposal will help
reduce fatalities or injuries. List the goals and specific
objectives of your proposal. Do not restate the problem or provide
statistics. List any previous funding of this project and the
source of funds. Indicate community efforts in achieving
objectives.
Evaluation
Describe how you plan to evaluate the
effectiveness of this project. Since fatalities are quite small it
is difficult to use fatal data to determine effectiveness;
however, project objectives can be used to evaluate effectiveness.
For example, in the case of occupant protection, indicators such
as increasing the seat belt usage rates, or for seat belt
enforcement, the number of citations issued over the previous
year, can be used. Also provide information on the cost/benefit
ratio (i.e. how do the benefits of the project outweigh the
expenditures) and discuss the potential of the project becoming
self-sustaining after this funding period.
Budget
Itemize the cost breakdown, i.e. salary,
equipment, travel, office supplies, etc. needed to implement this
proposal.
Submission of Proposals
Procedures
Submit the Proposal to:
Safe Community Office
Department of Transportation
869 Punchbowl Street, Room 405
Honolulu HI 96813
Deadline for Receiving Proposals for FFY
2005
May 7, 2004, 4:30 p.m.
Proposal Evaluation &
Selection Process
All proposals will be reviewed by evaluation
committees from the state and counties. All proposals affecting a
County will be reviewed and prioritized by the County Traffic
Safety Council in that county. After the county has prioritized
the proposals, all proposals will be reviewed and re-prioritized
by the Governor’s Highway Safety Council on a statewide basis.
The Governor’s Highway Safety Council will
make recommendations to the Governor's Highway Safety Council on the
projects to be funded. The Governor's Highway Safety Council has the
final authority to approve grants.
The evaluation criteria may include:
- Magnitude of the problem being addressed
- Innovative approach to the problem.
- Measures of effectiveness of the program.
- Potential for the program to become self
sustaining.
- Community input into solution.
A grant may be awarded on the basis of
initial proposals received without discussion. Therefore, each
proposal should contain the proposer’s best terms from a
creative, technical and cost/price standpoint.
The County Traffic Safety Councils, Governor’s
Highway Safety Council and the Governor's Highway Safety Council may also
contact a proposer on less than 72 hours notice for the purposes
of clarification to assure full understanding of, and
responsiveness to, the RFP requirements, and to facilitate
arriving at a grant program.
DOT reserves the right to reject any or all
proposals, to undertake discussions with more proposers, and to
accept the proposals, or modified proposals, which, in its
judgment, will be the most advantageous to the State, cost and
price and other evaluating factors considered. DOT reserves the
right to reject any specific proposal which is conditional or not
prepared in accordance with the instructions and requirements of
the RFP. DOT reserves the right to waive any defects in any
proposal.
The selection will be made by the Governor's
Highway Safety Representative whose decisions will be final.
DOT anticipates all selections to be made by
August 1, 2004, pending the availability of federal funds.
Notification of Grant Award
DOT shall notify each proposer in writing of
its decision to select or reject the proposal.
Award of Grant
No grant will be awarded until a grantee has
completed an application for a Federal Highway Safety Project
Reimbursement Grant. When the grant application has been received
and approved, and the funding level determined, a copy of the
entire grant application along with the agreement and an
authorization to proceed will be sent to the applicant.
Cancellation of Grant
DOT reserves the right to cancel the award
of this grant, for any reason at any time before the agreement is
fully executed and approved. The grant may also be canceled
at any time for violation of federal or state law governing the
grant.
Monitoring & Reporting
All grants will be monitored at least once a
year for compliance with all federal and state requirements and
project objectives.
A quarterly report on the status of project
activities is due quarterly on January 15, April 15 and July 15.
An annual report is due no later than October 31. Photographs of
project activities should be included with the reports.
Method of Payment
All payments will be on a reimbursable
basis. Proposer must submit a Highway Safety Project Expenditure
Report and Reimbursement Request. Requests for reimbursement may
be made on either a monthly or quarterly basis.
After review of grantees request, a
reimbursement request will be made with NHTSA. Upon transfer of
funds to HDOT from NHTSA, the grantee will be sent a check to
cover reported expenses.
Contact Persons
For further information, contact:
Gordon Hong or Lee Nagano
Safe Communities Coordinator
Department of Transportation
869 Punchbowl Street, Room 405
Honolulu HI 96813
Telephone: (808) 587-6302
FAX: (808) 587-2313 |
Sgt. Bob Lung
Safe Communities Coordinator
Honolulu Police Department
801 S. Beretania Street
Honolulu HI 96813
Telephone: (808) 529-3497
FAX: (808) 529-3130 |
