Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis
Four separate but integrated IDEA programs encourage investigation of innovative concepts with potential for technological breakthroughs in transportation. Research contracts, averaging around $85,000, are awarded to individuals, companies, non-profit organizations, and universities that have submitted proposals for projects that IDEA committee members feel will demonstrate new technologies or methods for improving the safety and efficiency of surface transportation in the United States.
National Energy Technology Laboratory
The National Energy Technology Laboratory is a unique entity within the Department of Energy—both their mission and approach to achieving that mission differ from those of other national laboratories. NETL's laboratory is federally operated—a mode of operation that is common in other agencies, but not the norm within DOE. NETL performs important research within their laboratories, and place great emphasis on partnering with industrial, academic, and other governmental stakeholders to create commercially viable technical solutions to energy and environmental problems.
The Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium
(Formerly The Emissions Control By-Products Consortium)
The Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium is a program of the National Mine Land Reclamation Center, headquartered at West Virginia University, in cooperation with the US Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory.
The objective of the CBRC is to develop and demonstrate technologies for coal-burning utilities and their suppliers for solving problems related to the production and handling of by-products such as ash from coal combustion processes. The developed technologies will serve as by-product management technologies capable of increasing overall utilization of coal combustion by-products by 10 percent.
The National Highway Institute
The National Highway Institute is a part of the Federal Highway Administration. NHI helps improve the performance of the transportation industry through training. To achieve this mission, NHI provides leadership and resources to guide the development and delivery of transportation-related training in many formats including both classroom based and distance-based learning.
Transportation Research Board
The Transportation Research Board is a unit of the National Research Council, a private, nonprofit institution that is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation by stimulating and conducting research, facilitating the dissemination of information, and encouraging the implementation of research results. TRB fulfills this mission through the work of its standing technical committees and task forces addressing all modes and aspects of transportation; publication and dissemination of reports and peer-reviewed technical papers on research findings; administration of two contract research programs; conduct of special studies on transportation policy issues at the request of the US Congress and government agencies; operation of an on-line computerized file of transportation research information; and the hosting of an annual meeting that typically attracts 8,000 transportation professionals from throughout the United States and abroad
Transportation Research Information Services
A collaborative effort of the Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academies, and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, US Department of Transportation, this website provides a public-domain, web-based version of the TRIS (Transportation Research Information Services) bibliographic database as a component of the National Transportation Library, and to enhance transportation research, safety, and operations by sharing knowledge and information.
Turner Fairbank Long Term Pavement Performance
Understanding "why" some pavements perform better than others is key to building and maintaining a cost-effective highway system. In 1987, the Long Term Pavement Performance program—a comprehensive 20-year study of in-service pavements—began a series of rigorous long-term field experiments monitoring more than 2,400 asphalt and portland cement concrete pavement test sections across the United States and Canada. Established as part of the Strategic Highway Research Program and now managed by the FHWA, LTPP was designed as a partnership with the States and Provinces. LTPP's goal is to help the States and Provinces make decisions that will lead to better performing and more cost-effective pavements.
U.S. EPA - Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines
The Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines are a key component of the government's "buy-recycled" program. Use this website to find recommended recycled-content levels for CPG items.
United States DOT
US DOT's mission is to serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future.
US DOT Small Business Innovation Research
Congress established the Small Business Innovation Research Program to stimulate technological innovation, utilize small business to meet federal research and development needs, encourage participation by minority and disadvantaged businesses in technological innovation, and increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal R&D.
US EPA - Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing is a federal-wide program that encourages and assists Executive agencies in the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services.
US EPA - Jobs Through Recycling
Jobs Through Recycling brings together the economic development and recycling communities through grants, networking, and information sharing. Through JTR, EPA supports projects designed to enhance business development, technical assistance, and financing efforts for recycling-related industries. JTR's website provides recycling market development information for state and local officials, sources of technical and financial assistance for recycling businesses, grant information for prospective JTR grantees, and general information for visitors interested in learning more about JTR.
