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Transportation agencies are currently dealing with a combination of rising costs and aging infrastructure. Funds are under greater restriction from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), which makes meeting agency goals slow and difficult.
Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) have all expanded. While this has led to more opportunities, it also brings more reporting and compliance requirements. Agencies must lean on grant management solutions to hit their grant goals.
Transportation is one of the most complex funding sectors in government. Transportation agencies must navigate maintenance, funding, future planning and regulations all at once. Agencies are being asked to deliver more with fewer resources. Navigating overlapping federal programs and their challenges shapes how your teams approach projects.
The U.S. transportation infrastructure is aging. Bridges and roads need constant reinvestment to maintain travel safety. As of 2022, the Federal Highway Administration estimates a $786 billion backlog in road and bridge capital alone. For many agencies, maintenance competes directly with expansion projects. Funding streams are limited, and agencies must prioritize their most urgent needs.
Funding is always a top concern. The IJIA heavily invested in transportation, but many of its programs will end by 2026. With state and local governments taking on 75% of U.S. transportation spending, agencies are already working on limited budgets. Add in rising construction costs and constant car traffic, and you get a sector that has little room for financial error.
Transportation grants are data-focused. Programs like the FTA’s 5300 series require exact performance tracking and quarterly reporting across different programs. Agencies with spreadsheet clusters and legacy systems struggle to keep track of all this data. This disconnect makes building accurate reports difficult, and any errors can delay reimbursements.
The FTA’s State of Good Repair (SGR) requires transportation agencies to document performance-based asset management. Teams must document the lifecycle status of every capital asset. All that data adds up, and agencies that use manual tracking risk missing deadlines or inputting incorrect data.
The IIJA introduced dozens of new programs, including carbon reduction initiatives and the PIDP. While these programs expand funding access, they add more complexity to agency work. Agencies often manage transit, aviation, maritime and surface transportation grants in separate systems. That means more redundancies and more chances for information to slip through the gaps.
Even the most well-funded agencies are stretched thin. Grant teams must coordinate across departments and stakeholders. Each group might have different documentation and communication standards. Manual messaging can’t keep up with rapidly changing projects. Add in limited staffing, which leaves little time for improving processes, and outdated tools and teams struggle to work together quickly.
Dealing with complex grants is a challenge on its own, but there are serious consequences to manual, outdated processes. Manual processes slow down reviews and put you at risk for more reporting errors. These bottlenecks ripple through every project, leading to missed deadlines or audit findings that delay future awards.
Agencies need faster, more reliable ways to track performance, spending and compliance. The sooner you move to updated software tools, the easier it is to meet new reporting standards. The agencies that modernize first are better positioned to secure future grants and meet project goals.
Managing transportation grants effectively goes beyond meeting deadlines. It’s about building sustainable processes that make grant management easier. Grant software for transportation agencies can help by letting you manage every stage of the process while meeting federal compliance standards.
Each USDOT program has different eligibility rules, application formats and reporting cycles. Meeting these different standards impacts time and resources. Use advanced grant management platforms to integrate these processes. Agencies get a configurable framework that adapts to each program. All your tasks can follow consistent approval paths without redundant data entry or missed deadlines.
Getting the funding you need depends on accurate, on-time data. Despite this, many agencies still use siloed documents and outdated portals. Teams have to hunt down the right information and jump between tools.
The answer to this problem is a centralized, cloud-based system. The best software consolidates financial and performance information across all grants. Teams can generate real-time reports in minutes.
Plus, these systems have automated data validation and intuitive dashboards. Track all your important information and leave manual work behind. Your agency enjoys better accuracy and transparency without increasing paperwork for staff.
Agencies need to maintain an SGR, but it’s extremely difficult without accurate asset tracking. Modern systems can link capital assets like vehicles and bridges to their funding source and lifecycle stage. Your agency can monitor asset condition and predict maintenance and replacements based on hard data. This makes it easier to align budget decisions with performance goals.
Regulations like Build America, Buy America and 2 CFR 200 oversee funding. Failure to comply can mean agencies lose essential funding. Automated compliance tools make it easier to stay ahead of audits and performance reviews. Automatic logging monitors approvals and reimbursements, so you can clearly demonstrate an audit trail. Proactive record-keeping makes compliance an instinctive, up-to-date process.
Government processes often move slowly. But agencies on a grant cycle need to race against the clock. Grant management systems make your processes faster. Preconfigured, cloud-based templates now allow new systems to go live quickly. They’re also easy to learn. Reconfigure workflows as priorities evolve and stay flexible between funding cycles.
Collaboration is critical for grant management. Transportation agencies must work on a team level and communicate with stakeholders and government groups. If all those organizations can’t communicate, project progress comes to a halt. Collaboration tools built into modern grant management systems let users collaborate easily.
Use these tools to share dashboards, exchange documents and monitor subrecipient performance. Version controls make audit tracking easier, while stakeholders can communicate and edit documents in real time. Everyone gets a single source of truth and access to the information they need, when they need it.
Transportation funding is ever-changing and constantly complex. Agencies relying on legacy systems and manual reporting can’t deliver at the rate modern compliance demands. With IntelliGrants® IGX, your agency gets configurable grant management software that works with your needs, all in a secure environment.
See how our grant management solutions can help you do it all. Transform your processes with IntelliGrants IGX and enjoy a system built with your agency in mind. Book your demo today!
