New technologies in transportation systems are coming down the road.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)’s Innovative Deployments to Enhance Arterials (IDEA) is a technical assistance grant program that has been helping cities, counties and transit agencies improve the signal timing of major arterial roadways and increase readiness for connected and automated vehicles.
MTC’s IDEA program is a technical assistance grant program to help cities, counties and transit agencies deploy advanced technologies to enhance mobility, sustainability and safety along major arterial roadways.
The IDEA grant program is being used to fund:
- Traffic signal system improvements
- Bicycle and pedestrian improvements
- Transit improvements
- Other projects
Funding Innovative Technologies
The IDEA grant program used $13 million in federal funds to help cities, counties and transit agencies improve the operation of major arterial roadways and to make these streets more ready for connected and automated vehicle technologies.
The IDEA program's main goals are to:
- Speed travel times and improve travel-time reliability on major arterials
- Improve safety for drivers, transit riders, bicyclists and pedestrians
- Reduce vehicle emissions and fuel consumption
- Advance public agencies' proficiency in the use of advanced technologies for arterial operations
Read the complete IDEA program guidelines.
IDEA Projects
In February 2018 MTC awarded grants for 16 projects. See the list of approved IDEA Projects.
Past Regional IDEA Workshops
MTC hosted workshops to provide prospective applicants with an overview of the IDEA Challenge Grant Program and to answer questions. These workshops included:
- Workshop 1-3 presentation deck
- Questions & Answers from IDEA Workshops 1 through 3 (Note: Some answers contained in this Q&A document may differ slightly from what was stated at the workshops. The answers in this Q&A document supersede those from the workshop.)
- Workshop 4 (specific to Category 2) presentation deck
- Workshop 5 (specific to Category 2) presentation deck
- Questions & Answers from IDEA Workshops 4 and 5
- See also IDEA Grant Program Guidelines - Historical