Thanks to the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB), agencies now have a practical resource to help navigate the challenge of selecting the right capital improvement planning (CIP) software to fit their needs.
Tools for Capital Improvement Planning was developed by the LRRB to help agencies understand and compare a handful of CIP software tools with one concise guide. It offers a high-level overview of the key features, functionalities, and support options of each system, prioritizing items such as costs and licensing, onboarding fees, and geospatial and geographic information system (GIS) integration. The tools featured in the guide include Plan-It, OpenGOV, RTVision, ESRI, and GRIT.
For further analysis, the vendor matrix offers a side-by-side comparison of each software’s capabilities within categories such as funding management, multiyear project tracking, data analytics, inoperability, and more. These details equip agencies with a clear understanding of whether each tool aligns with their specific needs, taking guesswork out of the equation and allowing for more informed decision making.
If a third-party service isn’t the right fit, the guide also includes information on internally managed, spreadsheet-based CIP approaches currently in use. By keeping capital planning efforts under local control, these options allow for greater flexibility and full customization without added cost or complexity.