Skip to Content
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Log In
Streetsblog USA

Boxer Aims to Put TIGER-Type Program in Next Federal Transport Bill

During an otherwise-abbreviated
hearing
yesterday, Senate environment committee chairman Barbara
Boxer (D-CA)  joined the chorus of praise for the stimulus law's TIGER
program
, declaring her intention to add a version of the
competitive infrastructure grants to the next long-term federal
transportation bill.

IMG_0666.JPGBicyclists in Philadelphia, where $23 million in TIGER
money was awarded to build new trails. (Photo: BCGP)

"People
at home really think they're very good," Boxer said of the TIGER
grants, seeking advice from deputy U.S. DOT secretary John Porcari on
how to write the program into her forthcoming six-year transportation
legislation.

TIGER, short for Transportation Investments Generating Economic
Recovery, awarded $1.5 billion to infrastructure projects that best met a
series of criteria set by the Obama administration, including economic
growth potential and environmental benefits. Transportation reformers
have hailed the program as a first step in creating a federal system that
funds projects
based on merit rather than state-by-state formulas.

Porcari echoed that praise, describing TIGER as "the way to the
future in intermodal transportation," but offered few details on how the
program might be enshrined in the long-term legislation being drafted
by Boxer's panel.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog San Francisco

Op-Ed: It’s Time to Extend the Central Subway to North Beach

There are abandoned tunnels under Stockton Street: here’s how they could transform San Francisco’s subway system.

May 8, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Normal’ is Not Correct, Someone Died Here

After a crash, the debris is quickly cleaned up and everyone moves on (usually too quickly). But these two experts are asking us to all slow down.

May 8, 2025

LA Metro Names Former SFPD Chief Bill Scott as Chief of Police

Chief Scott and Metro leadership emphasized that keeping Metro transit safe would require a multi-faceted approach that included the deployment of officers as well as collaboration with the community, ambassadors, and service providers. "Sometimes enforcement is the answer," Scott said. "Sometimes it's not."

May 7, 2025
See all posts