Editor’s note: This is a follow-up article to “The ASCE 2025 Report Card Is Coming: A Final Exam with No Quizzes,” published March 20.
After four years of significant federal investments, most notably from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released its 2025 ASCE Report Card, revealing that America’s infrastructure grade improved from a C- to a C. While the progress is encouraging, it also highlights the need to ingrain resilience in the core of all future infrastructure efforts.
Here are three key takeaways that must guide the next phase of infrastructure improvement over the next four years.
Takeaway One: There Is a Significant Need for a Resilient Infrastructure
After reviewing the report and its findings, many communities and facility leaders are left with a sense of uncertainty about the current state of the nation’s infrastructure. While many categories of infrastructure improved, others were stagnant, and while the report cited the need for federal funding to continue, the future of that funding is uncertain. At the same time, factors such as community expansion, increased usage and economic growth have all placed new demands on America’s existing infrastructure in some way or another.
As it stands, America’s current infrastructure isn’t prepared to handle more frequent or more intense natural disasters, especially in areas with no prior history of those major events, where the aftermath can be very difficult to manage. Communities need reliable, resilient infrastructure that can withstand natural disasters, extreme weather, and unseen financial burdens.
One tactical improvement local governments can make now to improve resilience is to digitize information and ensure vital data is uploaded and securely stored in an accessible online system. This safeguards crucial information, ensuring it remains available when it’s needed most, like in the face of natural disasters or staff turnover.
If a fire or flood destroys a community center, for example, and the floor plans exist only on paper, the organization loses critical, historical information that may be impossible to recover. This can create serious setbacks during recovery or rebuilding efforts.
Takeaway Two: Data Is the Name of the Game
Consistent and reliable funding is crucial to build more resilient infrastructure. With uncertainty surrounding the federal infrastructure spending, organizations are increasingly relying on state and local investments to maintain and improve infrastructures. Accurate, up-to-date data is critical when requesting funding, as it directly informs both improvement priorities and budgeting needs.
The ASCE Report Card found that many infrastructure sectors still suffer from scarce or unreliable data. For example, a majority of schools aren’t actively tracking their data assets. Without a clear understanding of their assets, what they own, what condition they’re in, and what needs repair, school facilities teams cannot develop a comprehensive funding strategy. As a result, when it’s time to request additional budget from the state or local community, many schools either under ask or make appropriate requests without supporting data to justify amounts, often leading to denied funding.
Facilities must accurately track assets and capture details about asset health and historical maintenance information to make informed decisions, properly advocate for funding, and plan for their long-term needs.
The Boston Public Schools (BPS) is an example of a school district utilizing data from their daily operations to enhance facilities management. With access to up-to-date information on critical building conditions, BPS improved its ability to track facility needs and submit more accurate, well-supported budget requests. These requests have been viewed more favorably, in part, because the facility team has used their data to cut costs around maintenance efforts and resource allocations.
As funding uncertainty is likely to persist, using data to justify budget requests can support facilities managers in securing critical funds to improve infrastructure resilience.
Takeaway Three: Building Trust in the Community Is Mandatory
Communication and transparency are critical pieces to ensuring a resilient infrastructure. Decision makers and community leaders require insight into what’s affecting their society. Facility leaders and organizations need to speak to the community about the true state of their assets. In doing so, everyone has knowledge about what is occurring in their communities and clear expectations of outcomes.
Transparency has been a key benefit for Boston Public Schools. By using real-time data and a solution that offers a public-facing dashboard, the district keeps the community informed about facility conditions and ongoing projects. The open access to information has established a new level of transparency, helping build stronger relationships with the community and promoting shared responsibility for the district’s infrastructure.
Communication with the community shouldn’t only happen when there’s a problem or a need. Organizations should also share their successes. For example, if a snowstorm hits and bus routes, side streets, and school zones are cleared timely and effectively, leaders should be able to communicate that they met service expectations, all within the allocated budget. Highlighting these wins builds trust, reinforces transparency, and allows taxpayers to see for themselves how resources are being used.
Looking Ahead
While America’s infrastructure is heading in the right direction, it’s unclear how it will measure up in 2029, when ASCE is expected to release its next report card. Over the past four years, the federal government invested heavily in its infrastructure, but the new administration may not see the same prioritization. To build a truly resilient infrastructure, increased state and local funding, transparent communication, and accurate assessment of asset data are all necessary steps. It won’t happen overnight; it requires consistent effort and long-term commitment. But with the right strategies and investments, facility leaders can lay the groundwork to achieve this goal.
Jennifer Perkins is a government infrastructure specialist at Brightly Software, a Siemens company.