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TRB's IDEA Programs Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis

Congratulations to John Hillman, winner of the Engineering News Record 2010 Award of Excellence. John’s acceptance speech acknowledges the role of the IDEA programs in his success: “I can unequivocally state that without the Transportation Research Board and the IDEA programs, I would not be standing before you tonight. I’m pretty sure that the investment of $330,000 to develop the world’s first composite railroad bridge is a bargain when compared to other research investments. I encourage our profession to continue to support these programs.”  A video of the speech is on the ENR website. The Hillman Composite Beam received early funding through both High-Speed Rail IDEA * and NCHRP Highway IDEA programs. The beam applies classical engineering concepts and common materials in an innovative configuration to achieve low weight and high strength. Highway bridges constructed of HCB are now being used in Illinois, Maine, and New Jersey. Further information on the early development of the HCB is available in Ignition (Winter 2005) and in the project final report. *Funding for this program ended in 2007.

IDEA programs fund research into promising but unproven innovations for highways, transportation safety, and transit. The annual Program Announcement provides information about the programs and includes instructions for preparing and submitting proposals and Proposal Submission Forms. Annual progress reports that describe current and completed projects are published for each program. The programs are described below.

Active IDEA Programs Receiving Proposals

The following three IDEA programs are active and receiving proposals: NCHRP Highway IDEA proposals for the next cycle are due March 1, 2012. Transit IDEA proposals for the next cycle are due May 1, 2012. Safety IDEA proposals for the next cycle are due April 1, 2012.  

NCHRP Highway IDEA projects foster innovative concepts for highway design and construction, materials, operations, maintenance, and other areas of highway systems.

Transit IDEA projects support innovative approaches with potential to enhance security, increase ridership, and improve efficiency for transit systems.

Safety IDEA projects promote innovative approaches to reducing fatalities and injuries by improving motor carrier safety and railroad safety.

IDEA Programs Not Receiving Proposals

The following two IDEA programs are no longer accepting proposals:

Reliability IDEA: A IDEA program to support innovations to improve travel time reliability had been funded by the Strategic Highway Research Program. Funding for the Reliability IDEA program ended in 2011.  That program is no longer accepting new proposals.

High-Speed Rail IDEA: Federal Railroad Administration funding for the High-Speed Rail IDEA Program ended in 2007. That program is no longer accepting new proposals.

Webinar Announcement

The Webinar on TRB’s IDEA Programs: Funding Your Transportation Innovation was held on Tuesday, December 9, 2008.  Access to a recording of the Webinar is available online.  The presenters’ PowerPoints and responses to participant questions are available online.  

The IDEA Program newsletter is called Ignition because these programs spark innovation in transportation. Each issue highlights promising IDEA projects.