D.C., Operation Lifesaver launch joint streetcar safety program

Washington, D.C.’s District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) launched a joint, “Look, Listen, Be Safe!” campaign to educate students and their families about streetcar safety. The campaign is aimed at helping students be safe when interacting with Washington, D.C.’s new streetcar system that will begin operation later this year.

Educator toolkits featuring grade-specific lesson plans, activity sheets, posters and parent take-home letters were delivered to K-12 schools along the new streetcar corridor throughout September. The in-school educational materials were funded by a $25,000 grant from OLI to DDOT last year, as part of an ongoing partnership between OLI and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). DDOT was one of eight transit agencies to receive an OLI grant in 2013 with funding from FTA.

With support from FTA, OLI provides grants to state OL programs and transit agencies to support local partnerships for the development and implementation of creative safety programs and materials to help keep those in their communities safer.

To compete for OLI transit education grants of up to $25,000, transit agencies are required to meet a 25% non-federal funding match, their proposed programs must focus on safety education or public awareness initiatives, and they must make use of OLI-approved materials and logos and be coordinated through a state OL program.