This week, the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) continued to advance a regional approach to improving roadway safety and decreasing road-related injuries and fatalities. On January 15, the TPB officially joined the nearly 200 organizations around the country who have pledged to be Allies in Action.

Allies in Action are recognized by the U.S. Department of Transportation as agencies dedicated to supporting the National Roadway Safety Strategy and actively reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on America’s streets as well as expanding adoption of USDOT’s Safe System Approach (SSA) and Zero Fatalities vision. By becoming an ally in action, the TPB joins corporations, private and public health and safety advocates, national associations, state and territorial agencies, fellow metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), municipal and law enforcement organizations, and others who are taking specific actions to improve roadway safety awareness, education, and practices—all with the goal of saving lives.

In 2023, 392 lives were lost on regional roadways due to traffic crashes, and pedestrians and bicyclists accounted for approximately 30 percent of these fatalities. The TPB has voiced that these outcomes are unacceptable and must be urgently addressed. In October 2024, the TPB hosted a Regional Roadway Safety Summit to examine recent fatality and injury data and discuss the federal Safe System Approach (SSA), which takes a proactive, shared responsibility approach to safer driving, safer infrastructure, safer vehicles, safe speeds, and post-crash care, and to develop potential actions the board could undertake to address regional roadway safety. Supporting the SSA by becoming a part of the USDOT Allies in Action initiative was one of several recommendations that stemmed from the summit.

The TPB will coordinate with the District DOT, Maryland DOT, Virginia DOT, and TPB member cities and counties in suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia on safety activities. The following initiatives supplement potential future TPB safety activities, as well as various programs and actions taken by TPB members at the local level. As a member of Allies in Action, the TPB is committed to:

• Increasing safety in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia.

• Providing $480,000 in technical assistance in 2025 to six local planning and engineering safety-related projects aimed at improving roadway safety across the region. Projects include preliminary engineering designs for safety improvements along high injury networks and high crash corridors and a study of methods for collecting, analyzing, and using data related to near miss crashes.

• Continuing to sponsor and implement Street Smart, a safety education campaign aimed at reducing the number of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and deaths in the region. Street Smart activities include outreach events, enforcement activities, press events at high crash locations, and an annual workshop on best practices in pedestrian enforcement.

Read the USDOT news release about the 2025 National Roadway Safety Strategy Progress Report and the new Allies in Action. 

For more information on the TPB’s role in the Allies in Action initiative, contact Janie Nham, TPB Planning Manager, at jnham@mwcog.org or (202) 962-3226.

About the National Roadway Safety Strategy and Allies in Action

In early January 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a Call to Action Campaign in support of its National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), inviting partners to share how they are embracing a common goal of eliminating roadway fatalities. The NRSS outlines the Department’s comprehensive approach to reversing the rise in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on the nation’s highways, roads, and streets. The NRSS follows through on the Department’s commitment to safety through priority actions that target the most significant and urgent problems in roadway safety. The NRSS’s Call to Action invites every organization to participate in taking part and sharing how they will actively reduce deaths and injuries on America’s Roadways, expand adoption of the NRSS’s 5-pronged Safe System Approach and a zero fatalities vision, and transform how we as a nation think about road safety. More information on the NRSS and voluntary commitments from current Allies in Action can be found on the NRSS webpage.