The Trump administration announced more than $40 million to improve roadway safety in Tribal communities, eliminating Biden-era requirements that tied funding to climate goals and social justice policies. The updated version of the program prioritizes projects that reduce crashes and fatalities, with selection criteria based exclusively on merit.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), through the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), announced the launch of a new funding round of more than $40 million for Tribal governments to improve roadway safety and reduce fatalities and serious injuries. The news is not only about the amount available, but also about the significant changes introduced by the Trump administration, marking a sharp turn from Biden-era policies.
The program’s purpose
The Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund (TTPSF) was created in 2012 under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and has been extended by successive legislation, including the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Since its creation, the fund has allocated roughly $141 million to more than 1,000 projects in Native and Alaska Native communities.
Its mission is clear: to reduce traffic accident risks in Tribal territories, where fatal crash rates are often higher than the national average. Typical projects include improvements in signage, pavement, roadway design, measures to keep drivers in their lanes, safe run-off zones, and strategies to reduce crash severity.
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he Trump administration’s changes
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy stressed that the Trump administration is “getting America building again” with a focus on tangible infrastructure and roadway safety, eliminating what he called “woke language” inherited from the Biden era.
Specifically, the updates to the TTPSF include:
1. Elimination of requirements tied to social justice and climate change
Under Biden, the funding notices included clauses that encouraged applicants to consider:
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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Sustainable urban and transportation designs.
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Infrastructure for electrification and zero-emission vehicles.
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Resilience measures against wildfires, droughts, heat waves, or floods.
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Incorporation of environmental and social justice criteria in project selection.
These guidelines have been removed in the updated program. The Trump administration argues that such requirements diverted resources away from the DOT’s core mission: ensuring safety and functionality on the nation’s roads.
2. Return to merit-based selection
The new funding notice ensures that projects will be evaluated strictly on their impact on roadway safety, without regard to alignment with climate commitments, environmental resilience, or social justice goals. This aims to give Tribal communities a fairer chance to compete, prioritizing the projects with the highest potential to save lives.
3. Inclusion of federal anti-discrimination language
Another change is the addition of provisions tied to President Trump’s Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.
As a condition for receiving funds, applicants must:
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Strictly comply with all federal nondiscrimination laws, under risk of penalties.
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Certify that they do not operate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that violate such laws.
This marks a shift from the previous administration, which explicitly encouraged DEI programs in federally funded projects.
Impact for Tribal communities
With these updates, all 574 federally recognized Tribes are eligible to apply for funding to advance roadway safety projects. Improvements may range from signage and speed-control initiatives to redesigns of hazardous roads.
The DOT states that the new approach seeks to provide greater predictability and transparency in fund allocation, while allowing communities to focus on their immediate roadway safety needs—without external conditions linked to climate or social agendas.
Background and continuity
Although the fund maintains its basic structure, the political shift marks a clear contrast with the guidelines set during Joe Biden’s presidency, when the emphasis was on integrating sustainability and climate resilience into all federal infrastructure investment.
The Trump administration, in turn, emphasizes immediate roadway safety and a return to merit-based criteria, with a message centered on “building” more and accelerating projects nationwide, including on Tribal lands.
A different vision
The updated TTPSF reflects a different view of the government’s role in infrastructure: less oriented toward long-term climate goals and more focused on short-term, practical solutions to save lives on the roads.
As Secretary Duffy put it, “With President Trump leading, America is building again—on Tribal lands too.”
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