California Safe System Institute for Road Safety
UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) is excited to announce the launch of the California Safe System Institute for Road Safety, a collaborative effort in partnership with the Vision Zero Network and Fehr & Peers. This new initiative is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Institute is a Safe System Approach (SSA) training and technical support program. It aims to train participants in the framework, provide collaborative opportunities within the inaugural cohort, and create tangible next steps for institutionalizing the SSA in participants’ organizations.
Who should apply?
In the pilot phase, participation is limited to individuals from local agencies to test feasibility and gather early feedback. Future phases will expand to include advocates and policymakers, contingent on funding.
Complete our interest form to stay up to date and receive news on when the program application opens early next year. Reach out with any questions to our team at casafesystem@berkeley.edu
Program committments
Participants will be required to attend the following:
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Virtual pre-workshop session in Spring 2026
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One day in-person workshop in Berkeley, CA, tentatively planned for June 2026
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Virtual post-workshop session in Summer 2026
Participants will be expected to invite at least one colleague to join them at the post-workshop session to ensure alignment with the Safe System Approach and foster necessary interagency/multidisciplinary connections.
Addressing the need for the California Safe System Institute
In California and across the United States, the Safe System Approach is increasingly recognized as an effective way to promote roadway safety. The Safe
System Approach recognizes that people will inevitably make mistakes while using the transportation system and that human bodies have limited ability to tolerate crash impacts. Therefore, all elements of the transportation system should be designed and maintained to help guard against those mistakes becoming fatal or severe.
In the summer of 2025, SafeTREC conducted a Needs Assessment to explore the need for, and interest in, a program to support and nurture California communities’ road safety work to align with an effective Safe System Approach. As part of the Assessment, interviews and surveys were conducted, finding strong interest in such assistance, particularly for peer learning, leadership support opportunities, and more concrete examples of successes to inform individual communities’ work. The Needs Assessment identified key areas of interest to help advance communities’ road safety efforts, including the need for:
- Practical examples of Safe System implementation;
- Technical guidance on topics such as managing speeds and designing safe streets in constrained spaces; and
- Resources to strengthen internal capacity and leadership buy-in.
Respondents also emphasized challenges such as public resistance to safety changes, reliance on outdated safety frameworks, and limited internal understanding of the Safe System Approach. Read the full executive summary of this work for more information.
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).