HSIP funds are eligible for work on any public road or publicly owned bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail, or on tribal lands for general use of tribal members, that improves the safety for its users. Within FAST, there are twenty eight project categories identified as eligible. It is the intent of the HSIP program that federal funds be expended on safety projects that can be designed and constructed expeditiously. Projects shall not require the acquisition of significant rights of way (not more than 10% of the construction cost), nor should they require extensive environmental review and mitigation. For a project to be eligible for HSIP funding, a specific safety problem must be identified and the proposed countermeasure(s) must substantially address the condition. All proposed projects must lead to and complete the construction of safety improvements. California’s Local HSIP focuses on infrastructure projects with nationally recognized crash reduction factors (CRFs). Local HSIP projects must be identified on the basis of crash experience, crash potential, crash rate, or other data-supported means.

There are two application categories in HSIP Cycle 10: Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) and Funding Set asides (SA). There are four (4) set-asides: Guardrail Upgrades, Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements, Installing Edgelines and Set-aside for Tribes. For Funding Set-aside applications, Benefit Cost Ratio calculation is not required.

The applicant must be a city, a county, or a tribal government federally recognized within the State of California.

Local agencies ineligible for applying HSIP funds in Cycle 10 include: (1) local agencies that have existing HSIP projects red-flagged for not meeting the HSIP delivery requirements and the red-flags cannot be resolved as of 9/30/2020; and (2) local agencies who have more than one existing HSIP projects that have not been in construction phase five years after the project selection (as of 9/30/2020), even if time extension has been approved by Caltrans.