Opportunity Information: Apply for FR RRD 24 002
The FY24 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (Rail Safety IDEA) opportunity is a discretionary research and development grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), aimed at advancing new, early-stage ideas that could meaningfully improve railroad safety and performance. It sits within the broader IDEA framework, which is designed to test promising but not yet proven concepts, especially those that may be too exploratory for traditional research funding. The central goal is to support innovative methods, tools, and approaches that can strengthen the safety outcomes and operational effectiveness of railroads, with an emphasis on exploring ideas that are not fully validated yet but show clear potential.
This particular funding is intended to allow the Transportation Research Board (TRB), operating under the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), to continue administering and carrying out the Rail Safety IDEA program. Historically, FRA has supported the Safety IDEA effort since October 2002, and earlier in the program's life it was jointly sponsored alongside the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which began supporting Safety IDEA in October 2001. A key shift occurred in 2013, when the Rail Safety IDEA program became fully independent and separate from FMCSA. Because of that separation, the opportunity makes it explicit that any projects supported under this grant must be railroad-related, rather than broader surface transportation or motor carrier safety topics.
The program is structured to attract and evaluate creative proposals that originate from a wide range of sources, including researchers, inventors, universities, and private companies, whether or not they are part of the usual transportation research ecosystem. In other words, it is meant to be open to unconventional or less traditional innovators and to encourage novel concepts that could later scale into more mature research, pilots, or implementation. Even though the concept intake for Rail Safety IDEA is broad, this federal grant opportunity is narrowly restricted in who can apply at the prime applicant level.
Eligibility is limited to a single applicant type: the National Academy of Sciences is the only entity eligible to apply for this grant. That restriction aligns with the intent to fund TRB (under NAS) to operate the program. The award is offered as a grant (FundingInstrumentType: Grant) under the science and technology and other research and development activity category, and it is listed under CFDA 20.313. The opportunity anticipates one award (ExpectedAwards: 1), with an award ceiling of $500,000, reflecting that the funding is meant to support program execution and the exploratory research pipeline the program manages rather than a large portfolio of unrelated recipients.
Key administrative details included in the listing are the Funding Opportunity Number FR RRD 24 002, a closing date of September 12, 2024, and a creation date of September 6, 2024. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as FRA support for TRB/NAS to continue running the Rail Safety IDEA mechanism, which identifies, funds, and advances high-potential exploratory rail safety innovations, with a strict requirement that supported work be directly tied to railroad safety and performance.Apply for FR RRD 24 002
- The DOT - Federal Railroad Administration in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (Rail Safety IDEA)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.313.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-06.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-09-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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