Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program

SMART Grant Overview

The SMART program was established to provide grants to eligible public sector agencies to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems in order to improve transportation efficiency and safety.

The United States Department of Transportation announced over $9.4 million in grant awards for 59 tech demo projects across the United States through its 2022 SMART Grants Program in March 2023. The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) was named an awardee of a $2 million grant to make streets safer for all users.

Community Engagement

The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) project team hosted two in-person public engagement events at Bag Lady’s Fry Joint restaurant on Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16. The purpose of the events was to distribute and collect feedback on a survey, which asked residents and community members for input about how they travel along the SMART Grant corridor and how safe they feel doing so. Responders completed a paper survey or scanned a QR code to complete the survey on a mobile device.

The Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) staff also boarded the WeGo Transit Route 22 buses on Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16 to distribute surveys and assist riders with providing their input.

Leveraging Advanced Data to Deliver Multimodal Safety (LADDMS)

The Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT) is committed to identifying safety incidents outside traditional crash reports, implementing targeted safety measures, and evaluating these measures in Downtown Nashville’s complex multimodal environment under the city’s Vision Zero Implementation Plan. Through the installation of LiDAR and video camera technologies at key intersections and mid-block segments, we plan to collect and evaluate “near-miss” data that would not be identified using traditional evaluation methods, enabling us to further protect our transportation network’s most vulnerable individuals. NDOT is joined by the University of Tennessee (Chattanooga), Vanderbilt University, and Tennessee State University in this initiative.