HRT Capital Improvement Plan

Each year, Foursquare ITP leads HRT through an interactive, data-driven, and collaborative process to update its capital program by prioritizing investments to meet the agency’s goals and maximize matching contributions. Prior to 2012 HRT did not have an institutional process for developing an annual capital improvement plan (CIP) that prioritizes investments across a very limited capital budget while ensuring that the agency will progress toward its goals. Grants that the agency had obtained did not always get spent in a timely manner, and matching state funds were not always maximized. Foursquare ITP developed and has implemented an evolving process that involves collaboration with all departments to create an inventory of capital needs through a streamlined submittal tool, package the needs into discrete projects, evaluate and rank projects by priority through a customized evaluation tool, identify available funding, and create a fiscally constrained 10-year capital program.

HRT has been able to fund its strategic priorities while ensuring that it fully leverages state and federal funds—an evolution to reflect the changing funding structure at the federal level and at the state levels. The plan has also increased the agency’s transparency with its board and funding partners, contributing to the state’s annual $30 million capital commitment for the agency’s regional services. In addition to the other benefits, the integrated fleet plan that is part of the CIP has guided the agency’s bus overhaul, rebuild, and disposition program to keep the fleet in a state of good repair and address issues identified during FTA’s triennial review process.