Ignition Magazine: News from TRB's IDEA Programs - Summer 2006

The latest issue of Ignition, a quarterly news magazine from TRB's Special Programs Division, examines innovations sponsored by the IDEA program on keeping seniors independent after they stop driving, sensors for highway-rail grade crossings, a non-nuclear way to test soil compaction, the application of stereovision techniques to collecting and analyzing pavement data at driving speeds, and non-destructive evaluation of grout in ducts in post-tensioned bridges.

Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) programs provide start-up funding for promising but unproven innovations in surface transportation systems. The programs’ goal is to foster ingenious solutions that are unlikely to be funded through traditional programs.  Managed by the Transportation Research Board, IDEA programs are supported by the member state departments of transportation of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.