Chapter 3: Traffic Safety Project Proposals

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Section 1: Overview

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Introduction

State agencies and other organizations interested in traffic safety issues submit project proposals when requested by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Traffic Safety Division (TRF). These project proposals constitute the organizations’ traffic safety intentions and can be submitted for any program area, depending on the interests of the particular organization.

The TxDOT Traffic Safety Division - Behavioral Traffic Safety Section (TRF-BTS) uses these highway safety project proposals in the development of the State Highway Safety Plan (HSP). Proposals must be submitted through the TxDOT Traffic Safety Electronic Grants Management System (eGrants) by the announced deadline.

Proposals must include the most current data available to identify a traffic safety problem, a workable solution linked to the identified problem, and detailed action plans and budgets that demonstrate an understanding of the various issues to be resolved and a reasonable approach to resolving the identified problem. Projects must be closely related to problem identification results.

NOTE: TRF-BTS will conduct annual reviews of potential subgrantees by checking both the State of Texas and the Federal Systems to make sure they are not suspended or debarred prior to being eligible to receive grant funding. Any proposal from an agency or organization that has a debarment suspension will not be scored or considered for funding (2 C.F.R. Part 200.213 Suspension and Debarment).

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Gaining Access to the eGrants System

Proposals must be completed online through the eGrants system, which is available on the TxDOT website at: https://www.txdot.gov/apps/egrants/.

Eligible organizations (state and local government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations) can request access to the eGrants system by creating a new user account.

NOTE: If you belong to an organization that already has an eGrants account, please contact your Subgrantee Administrator for access to the system.

The steps to create a new user account are outlined below.

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  1. From the eGrants Login Page, select the “New User” link in the “Login” section.
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  2. Complete the user form in its entirety.
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    1. Fill in all required information. All items marked with an asterisk (*) are required to create an account.
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    2. The Username field must consist of all letters and numbers.
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    3. The Password field must consist of all letters and numbers and must be seven characters in length.
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    4. The Password and Confirm Password fields must be the same.
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  3. Select “Save” to save the data.

After the account information is saved, the account must be approved by a TxDOT System Administrator before access to the system will be granted. When access is granted, an e-mail is sent to the subgrantee confirming that the account has been validated.

Title 1, Chapter 202 of the Texas Administrative Code states that measures should be taken by state agencies to protect information systems against unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, or destruction. In order to comply with this section, TRF-BTS will:

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  • Review, on a biannual basis, all TxDOT eGrants users and deactivate any user that does not have a further need for access.
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  • Activate new TxDOT users (non TRF-BTS staff or subgrantees or other agency users, e.g. non-TxDOT auditors), by assigning a time frame of one month upon activation. After one month, these users cannot access eGrants, as they will automatically be deactivated. The users can contact TRF-BTS to request another one-month activation period.
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  • Provide biannual notifications to all subgrantee administrators that they will review all staff with access and revoke any user that no longer should have access to eGrants.

Refer to the eGrants Traffic Safety Subgrantee User Guide for more information on security roles or for assistance on granting organization staff access to eGrants.

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Completing Traffic Safety Proposals

There are two types of traffic safety grants requested by the TxDOT TRF-BTS annual Traffic Safety Program Request for Proposals - General Traffic Safety Grants and Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) Grants. Potential subgrantees may only submit a proposal for a yearlong (one-year) grant term. Organizations are responsible for ensuring they use the appropriate proposal forms based on the type of grant they are applying for.

The annual Traffic Safety Program Request for Proposals and instructions are located on the Traffic Safety e-Grants HELP RFP web page, and should be thoroughly reviewed by interested organizations before submitting a traffic safety proposal. The web page is located at: https://www.txdot.gov/apps/eGrants/eGrantsHelp/rfp.html and is only available when proposals are open.

Only a Subgrantee Administrator may initiate proposals. The steps to initiate a proposal in eGrants are outlined below.

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  1. From the Home menu in eGrants, go to the “View Available Proposals” section to initiate a traffic safety proposal. Make sure that the correct type of proposal is chosen - “Selective Traffic Enforcement Program” or “General” for non-law enforcement proposals.
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  2. Click on the “I Agree” button when a confirmation page appears asking for confirmation.
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  3. A proposal will be created and you will be taken to the Proposal Menu to initiate the proposal.

Once a proposal has been initiated and saved, the proposal can be found under the “My Tasks” section of the proposal.

The “View, Edit and Complete Forms” section is where a vast majority of the work on a proposal is completed. The person or persons completing the project proposal form pages in eGrants should make sure each page is fully completed, error free, and all pertinent information and supporting documentation is attached at the time of submission. See “Assistance on Completing Traffic Safety Proposals” in the section below.

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Assistance on Completing Traffic Safety Proposals

There are several areas of instructions and additional information available to assist organizations in completing and submitting project proposals through eGrants.

The eGrants Traffic Safety Subgrantee User Guide provides detailed how-to procedural instructions on gaining access to eGrants, keeping contact information updated, navigating through the eGrants proposal form screens, assigning users to the system, completing the proposal form pages, and submitting a proposal. It is highly recommended that organizations submitting a proposal for the first time through eGrants become familiar with the eGrants Traffic Safety Subgrantee User Guide.

Each project proposal form page has a link to the applicable eGrants help page that provides further assistance and guidance in completing the page. To view all the eGrants performance report help pages, see eGrants Proposal Help in the eGrants system.

STEP grants are not awarded on a competitive basis and therefore proposers of STEP grants may ask TxDOT TRF-BTS for assistance in completing a proposal.

Technical questions regarding eGrants should be directed to the eGrants help system at eGrantsHelp@txdot.gov.

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