The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) transformed how it manages its Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) by implementing ProjectTracker in early 2020. This shift allowed TPB to centralize data collection, streamline coordination across multiple agencies, and introduce custom features that matched their unique regional needs. In late 2024, TPB upgraded to the newest version of the platform, gaining enhanced functionality and performance.
“The upgrade to this platform was almost seamless. I was able to just jump right into it… the workflow is very sensible.”
– Andrew Austin, Transportation Planner, TPB, on the upgrade from the legacy version to the latest version of ProjectTracker
Challenges
- A need for a standardized, centralized form for project data collection.
- Complex coordination across the three state Departments of Transportation (DOTs).
- A desire to simplify processes that were inconsistent or fragmented among partners.
Prior to implementing ProjectTracker, these issues made it difficult to maintain accurate, timely data and communicate planning decisions effectively across jurisdictions.
Solution
In Q1 2020, TPB partnered with EcoInteractive to launch ProjectTracker as its unified planning platform. The system provided:
- A single digital entry point for TIP and LRTP project submissions.
- Standardized workflows across the three DOTs to ensure data consistency.
- Custom reports and tools tailored specifically for TPB’s planning and transparency needs.
By Q4 2024, TPB upgraded to the latest ProjectTracker platform, further enhancing the system’s usability and aligning with new federal and regional reporting expectations.
“We have a lot of very particular specific things that really required some out-of-the-box [configurations] made for us. We’re a really demanding bunch here, but we feel like we’re getting our money’s worth.”
– Andrew Austin, Transportation Planner, TPB
Uniquely Configured Features
Due to the configurable nature of ProjectTracker, requirements that would have previously been customizations could easily be handled with configuration of the existing platform.
To address TPB’s unique goals, several unique configurations to the software were made, including a Bike/Pedestrian Plan module, conformity information section, project description PDF report, amendment summary report, and customizations to the public site.
The Bike/Ped Plan Module allows for the creation and tracking of any number of plans or programs beyond TIP.
For TPB, this including management of their long-range plan and bike/ped plan giving them a single platform to track all of this project information.
The Conformity Information Section can be configured to track any number of additional fields at the project level. For TPB (and many other MPOs) this includes information around Conformity.
TPB users can add any number of records to a project around conformity which can then be evaluated by the Air Quality team as part of the project review process.
Project Description PDF Report & Amendment Summary Report: EcoInteractive was able to configure two custom reports for RTB including a PDF to meet the format requirements for the long-range plan and an amendment summary report to concisely show project changes in a clear, accessible format.
The Public Site Configuration ensures TPB’s public site shows both the TIP and the LRTP, with different fields configured for each one.
With funding information often preliminary or unavailable in a long-range plan, this information was easily suppressed when viewing the LRTP.
Results
- ProjectTracker enabled TPB to:
- Fully standardize project submission and tracking across all participating DOTs.
- Centralize LRTP and TIP project data into a single source of truth.
- Increase accuracy, transparency, and public trust through custom reporting tools
Reduce administrative overhead and duplicated work among partner agencies.
“Everybody is looking at the same data. We can all sort of talk and look and make changes at the same time; the ease with which you can filter and query and do all that sort of stuff is amazing. That is the next level compared to even what the last platform was… every day I’m blown away.”
– Andrew Austin, Transportation Planner, TPB
“ProjectTracker has made updating data between multiple agencies easier than using Excel or other similar methods. Sharing Excel documents between multiple agencies has had some challenges.”
– Sara Brown, Transportation Planner, TPB
About EcoInteractive
EcoInteractive is the developer of ProjectTracker SaaS, the leading cloud solution tailored to the needs of transportation planners. Its eSTIP and eTIP platforms are used by DOTs, MPOs, and local capital program planners in 29 states (and counting!) ProjectTracker SaaS empowers agencies to streamline transportation planning, boost collaboration and efficiency, connect stakeholders through integrated workflows, make data-driven decisions, and deliver more transparent, effective planning outcomes.
