Learn First-Hand from Transportation Professionals About the Grant Management Tools They Use
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Technology platforms and systems can help, but people are the real driving force behind grant management.
Grant funding is integral to how departments of transportation (DOTs) fund capital improvement projects. From amped-up Excel spreadsheets to cross-agency mega-IT systems, agencies find innovative ways to apply grant dollars to implement impactful projects.
To continue our grant management discussion and further our understanding of the tools that support the lifecycle from start to finish, I interviewed professionals from North Carolina DOT (NCDOT), Pennsylvania DOT (PennDOT), a former Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) team member, as well as team members from Gannett Fleming and GeoDecisions who handle grant management. I talked with them about their experience with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, funding.
Olivia Pilkington, PE, Engineer and Project Manager, NCDOT
Olivia began her career in the architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) industry at NCDOT as an engineering associate. NCDOT's engineering associates program allows participants to gain hands-on experience across the organization.
After spending several years further enhancing her skills with a couple of engineering firms, she rejoined NCDOT in 2019. Since then, she has assisted with numerous strategic initiatives, including supporting NCDOT’s IIJA grant application and process. I first met Olivia while working on the asset management initiative ArTEMIS.
“Grant management is ingrained in the department’s daily business. We prioritize process improvements, seek out new ways to identify projects, and aim to maximize available opportunities for the state of North Carolina.”
NCDOT's Response to IIJA
Olivia shared that, yes, IIJA made a big splash and provided additional funding opportunities. However, the legislation leaned on previous similar grant funding packages—TIGER, BUILD, and RAISE.
With each of these cycles, NCDOT, like its peers, does its best to identify the projects that best align with the grant requirements and the opportunity themes. A lesson learned from past grant cycles is closely vetting the application commitments to verify they are reasonable and realistic for implementation.
For the 2022 IIJA-related grant application process, Olivia and the NCDOT team developed workflows to assess, prepare, and apply for funds. This included a library of spreadsheets that tracked related project attribute data, status of partner or sub-grantee coordination, and other key information.
In addition to the organized lists of opportunities and proposed projects, the team managed daily, weekly, and monthly communications with NCDOT divisions, specialists, consultant partners, and external agencies to strategically apply for the available funding. Here are the NCDOT-championed transportation projects that have received IIJA funding.
John Levitsky, Manager, PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation
Kyle Eckert, Program Manager, PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation
Matt Long, Manager, PennDOT Bureau of Planning and Research
John and Kyle, from PennDOT's Bureau of Public Transportation, explained the role they play in supporting state-level and agency-administered capital and operations projects. PennDOT serves as a champion for more than 40 local transit agencies statewide. John and Kyle regularly coordinate with Matt, who leads a team for PennDOT's Bureau of Planning and Research, to incorporate transit project information into maps and applications. Matt's team owns the PennDOT Connects and PennDOT One Map applications, for which GeoDecisions provided application development services.
“Direct communication and open data sharing with our agencies are critical to success on both capital and operations grant projects.”
How PennDOT Helps Transit Agencies
Our discussion began by understanding how the Bureau of Public Transportation is organized. John and his team manage the full grant management lifecycle, from organizing applications to monitoring projects to ensuring reporting compliance.
The bureau has hired key individuals to focus on regulatory and grant compliance as well as technology implementations. Kyle and the other bureau program managers hold monthly meetings with their transit agencies about project needs and implementation status. This regular communication helps proactively identify any grant spending related issues or grant timelines so PennDOT can mobilize technical advisory support, if needed.
In addition to open lines of communication, PennDOT has several tools to support both its internal processes and external data sharing. To date, the team uses a home-grown scenario planning tool as well as a proprietary capital planning and asset tracking tool.
They are currently working to replace their electronic granting system by migrating to the Pennsylvania eGrants system, which will replace existing functionality while adding functionality to support reporting. eGrants is a successful, cross-department, statewide enterprise system that the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) recognized as a System of Excellence.
The additional IIJA funds have added dollars to project budgets for many resource-constrained transit agencies. The agencies are required to provide local match funds for their capital improvement projects.
The Federal Transit Agency (FTA) requires grantees to report when funds will be expended and completed. The plans for a grant project may assume that Buy American Act requirements will be easily met by using past suppliers and procurement processes. However, the global supply chain crisis of the last two years requires creativity on how to move projects across the finish line in collaboration with FTA.
Despite challenges, PennDOT continues to see positive outcomes of its grant stewardship. Some of the most innovative projects have been the development and construction of maintenance and operations facilities for several local transit agencies.
The agencies are specialists in the day-to-day operation of their systems, but some of the agencies lack staff who specialize in managing large-scale building design and construction projects. PennDOT's experienced staff can provide the technical assistance local agencies need to procure professional engineering services, as well as manage the environmental review and permitting processes.
Nate Reck, Principal, Transportation and Consulting Solutions, GeoDecisions
Nate has been working on geographic information systems (GIS) and application development projects for DOTs and transit agencies for more than 20 years. He has served as the lead architect for several grant management systems at state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). He is a national leader in asset management and enterprise system integration.
Nate is a go-to knowledge source for DOT clients seeking to improve business processes by leveraging technology, including implementing enterprise grant management systems. He shares project planning tools insights on this Esri panel.
How GeoDecisions Supports Grant Management
It is important for grant managers to maximize the value of assets and other resources through all stages of project development, implementation, and operations and maintenance (O&M).
GeoDecisions provides GIS-based solutions that can guide a project through its full lifecycle: initial funding, grant application and analysis, data collection, and long-term management processes. Our systems also track inspections and required actions, monitor parts or equipment that may need replacement or updates, and plan for future asset rehabilitation and/or replacement.
Our solutions replace paper and manual processes, save time and labor, reduce the risk of assessment errors and award protests, support best proposal selection and knowledge transfer, provide accurate data for future decisions, and ultimately help clients maintain budgets and better serve their clients and citizens.
Learn more about how GeoDecisions helps clients just like you with grant management processes:
Gannett Fleming and GeoDecisions help clients secure project funding and administration using the grant development process.
Summary
Each government agency handles and manages its grant programs, review process, grant process, and financial reporting differently. However, there are common lessons and best practices that all agencies and organizations can benefit from.
Closely vet the application commitments to verify they are reasonable and realistic for implementation.
Hire key individuals to focus on regulatory and grant compliance if resources permit.
Conduct regular meetings and collaborate to help identify grant spending or timeline related issues.
Make data-driven decisions to select the correct projects.
Email Bryan Kelley, PMP, senior project manager, to learn more about how we can help you create a custom solution for your IIJA grant management needs.
Stay tuned for the next blog in this series, which will focus on helping you prioritize your projects to align with available funding.
About the Author
Bryan Kelley, PMP
Senior Project Manager
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