Ignition Magazine: News from TRB's IDEA Programs – Fall/Winter 2011

The latest issue of Ignition, a periodic news magazine from TRB's Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) programs, examines the automated computer-controlled image analysis systems and the asphalt binder cracking device that took the IDEA path to becoming American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials specifications, an innovative signal head vibration absorber, the transit data feeder, and more.

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.