FY26 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (Rail Safety IDEA)
Closed Posted
- Opportunity number
- FR-RRD-26-001
- Agency
-
Federal Railroad Administration
Department of Transportation
- Applications due
- Award size
- Up to $500,000
Opportunity facts
- Assistance listings
-
- 20.332
- Funding instrument
- Grant
- Category
-
- Transportation
- Eligible applicants
-
- Other
- Points of contact
-
- GrantSolutions Help Desk help@grantsolutions.gov (866) 566-0771
- Full announcement
Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Federal Railroad Administration is soliciting applications for the FY26 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (Rail Safety IDEA) program, with applications due July 20, 2026. The program funds promising but unproven concepts to improve railroad safety and performance. Eligible applicants include researchers, inventors, universities, companies, and other entities both within and outside the traditional transportation research community. All funded projects must be railroad-related. The FRA has supported Rail Safety IDEA since October 2002 through the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. The program explores innovative concepts addressing railroad safety and operational performance, accepting proposals from a broad range of submitters rather than limiting eligibility to established transportation research organizations.
Synopsis
Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) programs explore promising but unproven concepts with the potential to advance specific surface transportation systems. The Rail Safety IDEA program investigates innovative concepts and methods to improve safety and performance of railroads. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) endeavors to provide funding for the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to continue to carry out the Rail Safety IDEA program. FRA funding for the Safety IDEA program has been provided since October 2002. FRA joined the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), as a joint sponsor of the Safety IDEA program. FMCSA has been funding the Safety IDEA program since the program started in October 2001. In 2013, the Rail Safety IDEA program has become completely independent and separate from the FMCSA; therefore, all projects funded by this Grant must be railroad related projects. The Rail Safety IDEA programs explore innovative concepts that are initiated and proposed by researchers, inventors, universities, or companies, both within and outside the usual transportation research community.
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