STATE COLLEGE — The Centre Region Council of Governments (COG), on behalf of the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO), has been awarded $72,000 in funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary grant program to support a technology-focused planning and demonstration project aimed at improving post-crash safety for emergency medical services agencies and police departments across Centre County.

This award builds upon the SS4A Planning Grant received in 2024 to develop the county’s ‘Centred on Safety’ Action Plan, which is currently underway. While the earlier award focused on safety analysis and planning, this new SS4A grant will allow Centre County to pilot innovative, real-world solutions that address one of the most dangerous aspects of roadway safety: protecting first responders and the public at active crash scenes.

Emergency responders in Centre County routinely operate in high-risk traffic environments where secondary crashes, collisions that occur at or near an initial incident, pose serious and sometimes catastrophic risks. In alignment with the Vision Zero goals of the Centred on Safety Action Plan, this project will deploy the HAAS Alert Safety Cloud, a connected-vehicle technology that provides real-time digital alerts to motorists approaching emergency scenes through compatible in-vehicle systems and navigation applications. These alerts give drivers critical advance notice, helping them slow down, move over and navigate safely around responders.

This demonstration grant will involve select EMS agencies and police departments throughout Centre County, including Bellefonte, Moshannon and Mount Nittany EMS, as well as the Bellefonte Borough and Spring Township Police Departments. These agencies serve a mix of rural and urban communities, including several underserved areas, and regularly respond along high-volume and high-risk roadways.

The project directly complements the ongoing development of the Centred on Safety Action Plan, which is conducting a countywide gap analysis of the active transportation network and an in-depth study of lane departure crashes, the most common and severe crash type in Centre County. Between 2018 and 2022, Centre County experienced more than 5,400 reported crashes, including 53 fatalities. While localized data on secondary crashes involving emergency vehicles remains limited, statewide trends and responder experience underscore the urgent need for proactive solutions. This SS4A-funded pilot will collect real-world data on driver behavior, near misses and emergency-scene safety, enabling Centre County to evaluate the effectiveness of connected-vehicle technology and plan for broader deployment.

CCMPO Coordinating Committee Chair Eric Bernier said, “The Centred on Safety Action Plan will lay the foundation for understanding where Centre County’s most serious crashes are occurring and why, particularly in our rural and underserved communities. This SS4A award enables the CCMPO to take the next step, moving from planning to action and testing technologies that can make a real difference at active crash scenes. We’re grateful for this opportunity to strengthen our commitment to Vision Zero by protecting first responders, reducing secondary crashes and continuing the work to make Centre County’s roads safer for everyone.”

All project activities and findings will be made publicly accessible, with continued stakeholder and community engagement throughout the demonstration period. Together, the Centred on Safety Action Plan and this SS4A demonstration project represent a multi-faceted, data-driven approach to reducing serious injuries and fatalities and creating safer roads for everyone who lives, works and travels in Centre County. For more information on CCMPO activities, visit www.ccmpo.net

About the SS4A Program

The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program provides funding to local, regional and tribal communities to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries through planning, implementation and demonstration activities. The program supports the U.S. DOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy and its goal of zero roadway deaths using a Safe System Approach.