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Overview
By allocating funding resources to transportation projects with the highest impact and addressing critical infrastructure deficiencies first, governments can maximize the efficiency of available funds beyond politics. Putting public funding on the high scoring priority projects is essential for fostering an inclusive, transparent, and sustainable infrastructure.
Prioritization becomes imperative when facing limited funding for competing transportation needs.
This approach ensures essential transportation networks are maintained and upgraded, even in the face of financial constraints; ultimately benefiting the economy, public safety, and overall quality of life. Without prioritization, there’s a risk of neglecting vital infrastructure. This leads to deteriorating conditions and increased costs in the long run, not to mention potential risk.
By implementing a “prioritization process” which establishes clear criteria and methodologies for these projects, decision-makers can ensure investments address critical needs such as safety improvements, congestion relief, and sustainability goals. If your aim is to move away from political persuasions and into a process that fosters public trust, engagement, and allowing stakeholders to understand how funding decisions are made and how they align with broader policy objectives, then it is mandatory to prioritize funding by a repeatable, structured decision-making process.
The business of multi-modal transportation is becoming more interconnected, and more data driven. Most — if not all — agencies will need to build more robust data management and analytics capabilities. This becomes readily apparent when leveraging IoT-enabled devices for tasks such as real-time traffic management or real-time communications with constituents regarding public transit service. These agencies also need stronger connectivity to support data transfer between a network of sensor-based devices digitizing physical infrastructure and transform roadways, buildings and other structures utilizing digital assets which support better decision-making for transportation leaders.
Comparing data from multiple sources can be challenging for many reasons such as inconsistencies in formats, methodologies, and definitions. Differing collection techniques and timeframes can lead to biases and inaccurate conclusions. Harmonizing disparate datasets requires close attention to detail and often involves data cleaning, normalization, and a standardization processes. In short, ensuring data integrity and reliability across sources is crucial for making meaningful comparisons and drawing valid insights.
The Performa Group
For more than 20 years, Performa has successfully built and implemented specialized financial platforms and software solutions, both cloud based and in-house, for government and large complex organizations. Performa is excited to launch DoTS, powered by BIDS (Business Intelligence Development System), to support all aspects of Financial Management for any transportation program. DoTS provides a configurable and agile platform supporting your goals, challenges, practices, and realities. DoTS streamlines the transportation budgeting process allowing you to make accurate, data informed decisions using forecasting, scenario planning, and real time data analytics.
Streamlining the Transportation Budgeting Process
DoTS is a single innovative platform for implementing budgeting systems, designed from the ground up specifically for the government sector.
It allows you to:
- Formulate and execute your entire transportation budget
- Interfaces with legacy applications and independent systems.
- Provides tools to manage projects on time and on budget.
- Offers data integration and real time data.
- Facilitates the objective prioritization of projects.
- Provides a funding module to easily track funding sources to maximize efficiencies.
- Uses dynamic dashboards to present critical data to users
- Integrates geospatial data for precise planning
- Includes long range scenario planning and “what if analysis”.
The Key Principles of Priority Budgeting
API-led data integration is also key for agencies to unlock existing data in legacy systems. Once captured, this data can be used in digital applications supporting the modernization of agency initiatives — whether feeding data to a third-party real-time maps solution or to support a major highway construction project. Below is a summary of some of the key principles associated with priority budgeting as identified by the Government Finance Officers Association in a recent study:
- Prioritize Services.
Priority-driven budgeting evaluates the relative importance of individual programs, projects, and services. It is distinguished by prioritizing these one versus another. - Do the Important Things Well, Cut Back on the Rest.
In a time of revenue decline, a traditional budget process often attempts to continue funding all the same things it funded last year, albeit at a reduced level (e.g., across-the-board budget cuts). Priority-driven budgeting identifies the programs, projects, and services that offer the highest value and continues to provide funding for them, while reducing service levels, divesting, or potentially eliminating those of lower value. - Question Past Patterns of Spending.
An incremental budget process does not seriously question spending decisions made in years past. Priority-driven budgeting puts all the funding on the table to encourage more objective conversations about which transportation project to fund. - Spend Within the Organization’s Means.
Priority-driven budgeting starts with the resources available, rather than last year’s expenditures, as the basis for decision making. - Know the True Cost of Doing Business.
Focusing on the full costs of projects ensures that funding decisions are based on the full cost of providing a service. - Provide Transparency of Community Priorities.
When budget decisions are based on a well-defined set of community priorities, the government’s aims are not left open to interpretation. - Provide Transparency of Project Impact.
In traditional budgets, it is often not entirely clear how funded services make a real difference in the lives of citizens. Under priority-driven budgeting, the focus is on the results the project produces for achieving community priorities. - Demand Accountability for Results.
Traditional budgets focus on accountability for staying within spending limits. Beyond this, priority-driven budgeting demands accountability for results that were the basis for a project’s budget allocation.
DoTS Enables Priority Budgeting for Transportation
Performa’s DoTS module allows you to objectively prioritize transportation projects. This module, embedded in BIDS, offers an objective way to prioritize spending requests. This functionality harnesses user defined criteria to create algorithms ranking transportation projects.
In conclusion, a well-defined prioritization process enables governments to maximize the impact of limited resources, promote economic growth, and enhance the overall quality of transportation systems for all users.
Reasons why funding allocations should be prioritized in a world of politics
- Data-Driven Approach.
Needs-based weighted processes rely on empirical data and metrics to assess the actual needs of communities or projects, minimizing subjective biases often seen in political decision-making. - Transparent Criteria.
These processes use transparent criteria and algorithms, making it easier to understand how funding decisions are made and reducing the influence of political agendas. - Equitable Distribution.
By prioritizing funding based on needs, resources are allocated more equitably, ensuring that underserved or disadvantaged communities receive the support they require, regardless of political influence. - Optimal Resource Allocation.
Funding prioritization based on needs ensures that resources are directed to areas where they can have the most significant impact, maximizing the effectiveness of the funding and addressing urgent issues efficiently. - Long-Term Sustainability.
Needs-based approaches often consider the long-term sustainability and impact of projects, rather than short-term political gains, leading to investments that benefit communities over the long term and contribute to overall societal well-being.
Why allocating funding using politics is dangerous
Political funding distribution can lead to many problems, mainly due to its susceptibility to bias, favoritism, and short-term agendas. When funding decisions are influenced by political factors rather than genuine needs, resources may be allocated inefficiently, overlooking critical issues in favor of projects or areas that serve political interests. This can result in disparities in resource distribution, with certain regions or communities being unfairly disadvantaged. Moreover, political distribution often lacks transparency, making it difficult for the public to understand why certain decisions are made or to hold decision-makers accountable. Ultimately, this approach undermines the effectiveness of funding allocation, hindering progress and perpetuating inequality.
