Bay Area Gets Rake From Federal Highway Safety Funds As Road Traffic Deaths Hit Record High

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The Bay Area is receiving cash injections from the federal government to keep the streets safe as traffic deaths continue to break records in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

More than $64 million has been allocated across the Bay Area as part of the $132 million of the Department of Transportation’s $132 million road safety effort announced Wednesday.

This includes millions of dollars in street safety projects planned for San Francisco West, San Pablo Avenue in Alameda County, and roads in Contra Costa County.

Last year, 37 people were killed on the streets of San Francisco, nearly a decade after the city committed to ending all traffic deaths. Between 2016 and 2020, Alameda and Santa Clara counties were among the top 50 in the nation in terms of traffic accidents, and the Bay Area as a whole is featured on the federal government’s nationwide fatality hotspot map.

The money also includes millions for local jurisdictions, including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), and the cities of Napa Bay, Santa Clara, Pleasant Hill, and Palo Alto to develop security plans for roads.

The $360,000 earmarked for the SFCTA will go towards the third phase of the freeway intersection safety study, the first two phases of which offered recommended safety updates for 15 high-risk intersections in SoMa, SFCTA’s communications director Eric Young told The Standard.

BART has received $1 million to develop its action plan, which the agency says will focus on eliminating road deaths around the BART system and its facilities to help encourage walking and cycling instead of driving.

“The plan will aim to reduce fatalities on streets, roads and highways in corridors adjacent to the BART system by identifying first and last mile road safety improvements near BART stations and investments that promote and support the transition from driving to transit and active transport. – thereby reducing the number of cars on the roads,” the agency wrote in its grant application.

According to its filing, more than 44% of BART passengers reach its stations on foot or by bike, and more than half of fatal and serious injuries from crashes within half a mile of BART stations involve cyclists or pedestrians. The agency also wrote that it plans to use some of the money for a study to measure the impact of public transport on safety.

Another $1.1 billion is expected in April, according to the US Department of Transportation.

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