Who is using INVEST?
Transportation Agencies across the U.S. Now Using INVEST
Transportation agencies across the United States are using INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of their projects and programs. The map shows agencies with active or completed INVEST projects (since the 1.0 launch in 2012), while the tables below provide brief descriptions for how each agency is using INVEST, listed alphabetically by state. Many of these agencies have submitted Case Studies or Criterion Examples, which provide more detailed information. Case Studies are routinely updated by FHWA and Criterion Examples can be submitted by users at any time.
Please note: The map only includes one circle per State DOT, MPO, Federal Lands Unit, or other transportation agency that is using or has used INVEST. Some agencies may have multiple INVEST projects, but the map only reflects the number of agencies using INVEST, not the number of projects. Check out the tables below for more detailed information on the location and type of projects and/or programs evaluated by different agencies.
INVEST Usage by the Numbers
These are entities that have informed FHWA they are using INVEST. (Because the use of INVEST is confidential, we only know the names of entities who have informed us.)
15 State DOTs
25 MPOs
23 Federal Lands Units
7 other transport agencies in US (local, transit, tollway)
1 foreign government
Website Statistics
> 2,025 registered users
> 2,400 projects or programs evaluated
Please note: This list is not comprehensive. Since usage of the online tool is confidential, FHWA is only aware of INVEST projects when agencies inform us they are using the tool. If your agency is using INVEST and would like to be included on the list, please contact sustainablehighways@dot.gov.
| State | Agency | Location | Project Description |
| Multiple | Federal Lands Highway | Multiple | Federal Lands Highway recently initiated or completed INVEST evaluations on 28 transportation projects and programs on national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests, and other federal lands across the country. Federal Lands Highway is using INVEST to improve sustainability in a number of ways: The Western Division uses the INVEST project development module to select the recipient of its Annual Sustainability Award and to pinpoint areas where the agency can make programmatic adjustments to processes, maximizing sustainability improvements. The Eastern Division is working with managers at multiple wildlife refuges in Maryland and Virginia to improve operations and maintenance practices. The Central Division used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Halstead Meadow Bridge project in Sequoia National Park. That project replaced roadway fill with a bridge, restoring the ecology of the meadow by restoring water flow that had been blocked by the fill. |
| AZ | Arizona DOT | Statewide | Arizona DOT is using the INVEST operations and maintenance module to evaluate and improve the sustainability of their statewide operations and maintenance program. |
| AZ | Arizona DOT | Statewide | Arizona DOT is using INVEST's Project Development module to conduct an assessment of its statewide roundabout program. Particular criteria that Arizona plans to examine further include: green infrastructure and low-impact development, bike and pedestrian mobility, and context sensitive solutions. This effort includes data gathering, focus group input, INVEST tool training seminars, local government participation, and scoring multiple roundabout projects using the INVEST tool. |
| AZ | Arizona DOT | Statewide | ADOT is using the INVEST Project Development module to develop sustainable transportation design, engineering, and construction performance measures and metrics. |
| CA | California DOT (Caltrans) | Statewide | CalTrans explored potential uses of INVEST and how it could benefit the planning, programming, and maintenance of the California state highway system. |
| CA | Riverside County Transportation Commission | Riverside County | The Commission used the INVEST criteria to help develop a sustainability management plan. |
| CA | Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) | Southern California | SCAG plans to evaluate the existing transportation plan for southern California using INVEST and make improvements to the next plan based on the evaluation. |
| CA | Transportation Agency for Monterey County | Monterey County | Monterrey County is using the INVEST System Planning module to evaluate and enhance sustainability in improvements being made to the US-101 Corridor. |
| DC | District of Columbia Department of Transportation | Multiple | The District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) plans to use the INVEST Project Development module to evaluate several projects coming through the pipeline in the nation's capital. The agency is customizing the tool to focus on those criteria where they have the most potential to improve sustainability. Earlier, DDOT piloted the INVEST tool on the 11th Street Bridges project, connecting communities across the Anacostia River and boasting sustainability features such as maximizing stormwater management in a limited footprint and providing seamless pedestrian access. |
| DE | Delaware DOT (DelDOT) | Statewide | DelDOT is evaluating maintenance paving projects using related INVEST criteria. |
| FL | MetroPlan Orlando | Orlando | MetroPlan Orlando is evaluating its 2040 long-range transportation plan using the INVEST System Planning module, and identify how the agency's planning efforts support sustainability principles. It will then host and facilitate a Transportation, Health, and Sustainability Summit focused on topics identified through the evaluation. |
| GA | Valdosta-Lowndes MPO | Valdosta | Valdosta-Lowndes MPO is using select criteria from the INVEST system planning module to help improve sustainability practices in their planning processes. |
| GA | Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) | Atlanta | Using the INVEST criteria for Project Development as a model, ARC is evaluating the possibility of creating a unified tool to accomplish the agency’s goals for both sustainability and efficient project delivery. |
| IA | Des Moines MPO | Des Moines | Des Moines MPO is using INVEST in the update of its long range transportation plan, due in 2014. |
| IL | Illinois Tollway | Chicago | The Illinois Tollway is using all three INVEST modules. The tollway is using the project development module to assess the sustainability of a set of 18 completed transportation projects in order to set a baseline. Next, the tollway is evaluating and improving 8 in-progress projects that are part of the tollway’s fifteen-year, $12 billion capital program. Finally, the tollway is using the system planning module to evaluate its long range planning and capital program development processes, and the operations and maintenance module to evaluate and improve the operations and maintenance program. |
| IL | Springfield MPO | Springfield | Using INVEST criteria, the metropolitan planning organization for Springfield, IL developed a conceptual design showing locations for specific sustainability improvements that could be made along a section of the historic Route 66 corridor. Planners communicated INVEST criteria effectively and concisely through a visual format. |
| IN | Indianapolis MPO | Indianapolis | The Indianapolis MPO plans to use INVEST for its long range transportation plan update. |
| KY | Kentucky Transportation Cabinet | Multiple | The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) sponsored University of Kentucky researchers to analyze three highway projects in the state using INVEST on a trial basis. The researchers found that the three projects met the bronze level of sustainability with INVEST and identified additional practices that could bring similar projects up to a platinum level of sustainability at modest cost. KYTC is researching the use of INVEST on three additional highway projects. |
| LA | Acadiana MPO | Lafayette | The Acadiana MPOused the INVEST system planning for regions module to evaluate the 2040 Lafayette Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and to identify areas of improvement to inform the next MTP update. |
| LA | Capital Region Planning Commission | Baton Rouge | The Capital Region Planning Commission used the INVEST system planning module to evaluate the 2037 Baton Rouge MTP and to identify areas of improvement to inform the next MTP update. |
| LA | Rapides Area Planning Commission | Alexandria | The Rapides Area Planning Commission used the INVEST system planning module to evaluate the 2035 Alexandria / Pineville MTP and to identify areas of improvement for the next MTP. |
| MA | Cape Cod Commission | Hyannis | The Cape Cod Commission used the INVEST system planning module to inform the development of their regional transportation plan and the project development module to guide decision-making on transportation projects in the Hyannis Access Plan. |
| MA | Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) | Central Massachusetts | CMRPC is using the INVEST system planning for regions module to evaluate the existing LRTP. The results will be used to identify areas of improvement for the next LRTP and to incorporate more sustainability best practices in the planning process. |
| MA | Massachusetts DOT (MassDOT) | Statewide | MassDOT is using the INVEST project development module to evaluate the Casey Arborway Project, which will replace a 1950s era elevated highway with an at-grade roadway with strong pedestrian connectivity. MassDOT is also using the INVEST operations and maintenance module criteria OM1-OM4 to evaluate its state-wide operations and maintenance program. Through work with INVEST, MassDOT will identify sustainability action items and draft sustainability engineering directives / standard operating procedures. |
| ME | Kittery Area Comprehensive Transportation System (KACTS) | Portsmouth | KACTS used INVEST to score their 2010 long range transportation plan. KATC then used the results in the development of their next plan. KACTS used a subgroup of policy committee members and the public to conduct the scoring. |
| MI | Washtinaw Area Transportation Study (WATS) and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) | Washtenaw County | INVEST is being used to evaluate the current Long Range Plan. |
| MO | Greater St. Joseph Area MPO | St. Joseph | The St. Joseph area is using the INVEST system planning module in the update of their transportation plan. |
| MO | St. Joseph Area Transportation Study Organization (SJATSO) | St. Joseph | SJATSO is analyzing its 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan using the INVEST System Planning module to identify opportunities and strengthen sustainability principles in the 2045 update and subsequent planning documents. It is also using the INVEST Project Development module to analyze three scenarios for either demolition or repair of the I-229 Viaduct. |
| MT | Montana DOT | Statewide | Montana DOT will evaluate the agency’s operations and maintenance practices using INVEST criteria OM-2 through OM-4, conduct benefit cost analysis on current Montana DOT practices in these areas, and survey other states regarding their practices. Montana DOT will then develop recommendations for a sustainability plan. |
| NH | New Hampshire DOT | Manchester | NHDOT is including the use of INVEST as part of the second phase engineering and NEPA evaluation for improvements to a segment of I-293 (Exits 6 & 7). This has been added to NHDOT’s scope of work for engineering phase work with the contractor. |
| NH | Strafford Regional Planning Commission | Rochester | Strafford Regional Planning Commission in Rochester, NH is using the INVEST tool to evaluate ecosystem services on New Hampshire’s Great Bay as part of the advisory panel for the New Hampshire Estuary Spatial Project. |
| NY | Genesee Transportation Council | Rochester | In 2013, Genesee Transportation Council (GTC) in Rochester, NY used the FHWA INVEST tool to identify areas of improvement to their Long Range transportation Plan for the upcoming update in 2015. |
| OH | Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) | Cleveland | NOACA, the metropolitan planning organization for Cleveland, OH, will use the INVEST operations and maintenance module to evaluate the effectiveness of NOACA’s regional safety program, improve NOACA's data analysis and reporting, and produce a transportation safety action plan. |
| OH | Ohio DOT (ODOT) | Cleveland | INVEST helped ODOT improve the sustainability of the largest project in ODOT history, the replacement of the Cleveland Innerbelt Bridge on I-90, now called the George V. Voinovich Bridge. ODOT used the pilot version of INVEST to score the first phase to see if the project was meeting its goals. ODOT found the process so valuable, that for the second phase of the project, the agency stipulated in its request for proposals that the contractor use INVEST to demonstrate sustainability and commit to achieving a certain number of points. This provided a strong incentive for bidders to incorporate sustainability while keeping costs competitive. In fact, the winning bidder committed to achieve a Platinum INVEST rating and bid $19 million below the ODOT official engineering estimate. |
| OR | Lane Transit | Eugene | Lane Transit is using INVEST to help the agency evaluate its level of sustainability. |
| OR | TriMet | Portland | TriMet used the INVEST project development and operations and maintenance modules to improve and enhance the sustainability of the Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project. Based on a gap analysis, TriMet completed five additional analyses to earn additional points, including under PD-24 Contractor Warranty, PD-25 Construction Environmental Training, PD-26 Construction Equipment Emission Reduction, PD-28 Construction Quality Control Plan, PD-29 Construction Waste Management, and OM-6 Environmental Compliance Tracking System. |
| PA | Pennsylvania DOT | Statewide | PennDOT used all fourteen INVEST operations and maintenance criteria plus SP14 - Transportation Systems Management & Operations, to evaluate and improve sustainability practice. |
| PA | Pennsylvania DOT | Southwestern Pennsylvania | PennDOT is using the INVEST Project Development module to evaluate the sustainability of the phased advancement of the Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project (LVTIP) and the LVTIP Mini-TIP. |
| PA | Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) | Southwestern Pennsylvania | SPC is using the INVEST Systems Planning module to evaluate its long-range plans. |
| RI | Rhode Island DOT | Multiple | Rhode Island DOT (RIDOT) applied the INVEST Project Development module, using multiple scorecards, retrospectively to a segment of a new bike path project. This 2 mile section (Segment 4) is part of the new, 21 mile long bikeway in the Blackstone River Valley. The project scored well on context sensitive development, habitat restoration, and site vegetation. RIDOT plans to use the tool retrospectively on additional projects of varying scope that are common in their program, to help determine the best way to institutionalize INVEST prospectively into their project development processes. RIDOT’s next project is a pavement preservation and livable community project in a historic downtown area. New RIDOT initiatives, such as using warm mix asphalt and moving toward requiring a quality control plan by the contractor, should improve the sustainability of future projects. |
| SC | South Carolina DOT | Columbia, SC | South Carolina DOT is using INVEST on the Carolina Crossroads project, which will improve the interchange where three Interstate highways converge. The project will use INVEST early in project development, during development of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), in order to maximize sustainability improvements. |
| TX | Alamo Area MPO | San Antonio | Alamo Area MPO scored their 2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) with INVEST and used the information from that evaluation to make recommendations on key issues to include in the 2040 MTP chapters. |
| TX | Bryan-College Station MPO | Bryan, TX | Bryan-College Station MPO is planning to use the INVEST to evaluate the current 2040 MTP as part of its efforts to develop and update the 2045 MTP update. |
| TX | City of Corpus Christi | Corpus Christi | The city is using INVEST for street projects. |
| TX | North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) | Dallas | NCTCOG is using INVEST to evaluate their existing long range transportation plan and use this information in development of the next plan. NCTCOG is focusing on improvements in three areas: planning and environment linkages, asset management, and infrastructure resiliency. |
| TX | North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) | Dallas | NCTCOG is using the INVEST System Planning and Project Development criteria to evaluate and update its Regional Outer Loop Corridor Feasibility Study. |
| TX | Texas DOT | Corpus Christi, El Paso | TxDOT is using INVEST on the $750 million Harbor Bridge Replacement project. The request for proposals was designed to have the project achieve INVEST Platinum. TxDOT's El Paso district used the INVEST 1.0 tool to evaluate the sustainability of the Alameda II project. |
| UT | Utah DOT (UDOT) | Statewide | UDOT will re-evaluate the state’s operations and maintenance program using INVEST 1.0 and compare the results to previous scores. UDOT will determine where improvements (or declines) have occurred, determine the reasons for the changes, determine the effectiveness of previous recommendations, and document findings. UDOT will then evaluate some specific UDOT operations and maintenances practices more in-depth using INVEST to examine opportunities for sustainability improvements. These practices may include snow removal, self-performed chip seals, maintenance of low volume roads, and winter maintenance activities. |
| WA | Puget Sound Regional Council | Seattle | PSRC used INVEST in three areas: 1) Transportation 2040 Plan evaluation; 2) asset management; and 3) transportation demand management. |
| WA | Washington DOT (WSDOT) | Seattle | WSDOT used INVEST to evaluate three corridor planning studies. WSDOT then used the recommendations that came out of the INVEST evaluation to update the guidelines that planners use to develop new corridor planning studies. WSDOT also evaluated the SR 520 Bridge project with INVEST. |
| International | Paraguay Ministry of Public Works | Tavai | INVEST has also received interest internationally. The Ministry of Public Works for the Republic of Paraguay, working with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on an IDB-funded project, used INVEST to score a 90km road project that passes indigenous communities and wildlife refuges. Paraguay found that their new technical specifications for road projects brought them an increased level of sustainability, but that there was still further to go. |
Federal Lands Highway INVEST Projects
Federal Lands Highway recently initiated or completed INVEST evaluations on 28 transportation projects and programs on national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests, and other federal lands across the country. Federal Lands Highway is using INVEST to improve sustainability in a number of ways:
- The Western Division uses the INVEST project development module to select the recipient of its Annual Sustainability Award and to pinpoint areas where the agency can make programmatic adjustments to processes, maximizing sustainability improvements.
- The Eastern Division is working with managers at multiple wildlife refuges in Maryland and Virginia to improve operations and maintenance practices.
- The Central Division used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Halstead Meadow Bridge project in Sequoia National Park. That project replaced roadway fill with a bridge, restoring the ecology of the meadow by restoring water flow that had been blocked by the fill.
Details on the projects are provided below.
| State | Agency | Location | Project Description |
| AK | Federal Lands Highway | Denali National Park | Federal Lands Highway will use the INVEST Operations and Maintenance module to evaluate and improve the sustainability of Denali National Park road maintenance. |
| AK | Federal Lands Highway | Tongass National Forest | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of Kake to Seal Point Road in Tongass National Forest, AK. |
| AK | Federal Lands Highway | Tongass National Forest | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of Deweyville Trailhead to Neck Lake Road in Prince of Wales Island, Tongass National Forest, AK. |
| AK | Federal Lands Highway | McGrath | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of road reconstruction projects in McGrath, AK. |
| AK, WA, OR | Federal Lands Highway | Multiple | Federal Lands Highway will utilize the system planning module of INVEST to evaluate the existing Alaska multi-agency long range transportation plan (LRTP). In addition, the system planning module will be applied to the multi-agency LRTP currently in development in Pacific Northwest region. |
| CA | Federal Lands Highway | Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Marshlands Road and La Riviere Bridge project. The project included reconstruction of the road, replacement of the bridge, and construction of two new parking areas. |
| CA | Federal Lands Highway | Sequoia National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Halstead Meadow Bridge project. The project replaced a roadway fill across a meadow with a bridge. The roadway fill was damaging the meadow by restricting sheet flow drainage across the meadow and by concentrating meadow drainage in one channel at the side of the meadow. This channel was causing severe erosion issues and was head-cutting back towards the roadway putting the roadway in danger. By removing the roadway fill and constructing a bridge, the meadow was able to be restored, and the drainage and erosion issues were corrected. |
| CA | Federal Lands Highway | Plumas County | Federal Lands Highway is using INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of the Beckworth-Genessee Road project, which involves reconstruction of 9.7 miles of roadway. Major project scope includes earthwork, aggregate base, drainage improvements, and superpave asphalt pavement. |
| CA | Federal Lands Highway | Point Reyes National Seashore | Federal Lands Highway is using INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard project, which includes spot reconstruction areas. Major project scope elements include minor widening, pulverizing the existing pavement, drainage improvements, and superpave asphalt pavement. |
| CO | Federal Lands Highway | Gunnison County | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Taylor River Road Project, a reconstruction of 6.6 miles of roadway. Major project scope included earthwork, recycled existing pavement and aggregates for new granular aggregate section, drainage improvements, rockery walls, minor concrete work, aggregate base, and warm-mix superpave pavement. |
| DC | Federal Lands Highway | National Mall | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of transportation projects at the National Mall and Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. |
| ID | Federal Lands Highway | Boise National Forest | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Davey's Bridge Replacement Project in Boise National Forest, ID. |
| ID | Federal Lands Highway | Sawtooth National Recreation Area | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Ketchum Challis Highway in Sawtooth National Recreation Area, ID. |
| MT | Federal Lands Highway | Glacier National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of the Going-To-Sun-Road (Siyeh Bend to Rising Sun) in Glacier National Park, MT. |
| OR | Federal Lands Highway | Crater Lake National Park | Federal Lands Highway is using INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of the Crater Lake National Park project, which is a pavement preservation project that consists of a micro-surfacing surface treatment in the parking areas and a chip seal surface treatment on the main roads and pullouts. |
| OR | Federal Lands Highway | Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Crown Point Viaduct Restoration Project in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. |
| OR | Federal Lands Highway | Siskiyou National Forest | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of Powers-Agness Highway in Coos County, OR. |
| OR | Federal Lands Highway | Umpqua National Forest | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of North Umpqua Highway in Douglas County, OR. |
| OR | Federal Lands Highway | Mt. Hood National Forest | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of the OR Highway-35 Betterment Project in Mt. Hood National Forest, OR. |
| TN | Federal Lands Highway | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of the Newfound Gap Road Rehabilitation project in Great Smokey Mountains National Park. |
| VA, MD | Federal Lands Highway | Multiple in VA and MD | Federal Lands Highway staff will work with refuge managers at 10-14 wildlife refuges in Maryland and Virginia to evaluate and improve the sustainability of transportation operations using all modules of INVEST, with an emphasis on operations and maintenance. Many of these refuges have similar maintenance issues with in-paved, gravel roads. |
| WA | Federal Lands Highway | Mount Rainier National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Stevens Canyon Phase 2 project in Mount Rainier National Park, WA. |
| WY | Federal Lands Highway | Yellowstone National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of Grand Loop Road in Yellowstone National Park. |
| WY | Federal Lands Highway | Grand Teton National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate and improve the sustainability of Teton Park Pathways in Grand Teton National Park, WY. |
| WY | Federal Lands Highway | Yellowstone National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Lamar River Bridge Project in Yellowstone National Park, WY. |
| WY | Federal Lands Highway | Yellowstone National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Canyon to Tower Phase 2 Project in Yellowstone National Park, WY. |
| WY | Federal Lands Highway | Grand Teton National Park | Federal Lands Highway used INVEST to evaluate the sustainability of the Jackson Lake Lodge to Leeks Marina project in Grand Teton National Park, WY. |
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