Transportation leaders, take your best shot. Applications are being accepted for $500 million in federal funding through the fourth round of U.S. DOT’s TIGER grants.
DOT has renewed its commitment to this groundbreaking program, which awards money on a competitive basis to projects that have the potential to make a “significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area, or region.”
This round of funding will include up to $100 million for rail projects, including inter-city projects. In addition, $120 million has been reserved for projects that serve rural communities, according to a statement from U.S. DOT.
Competition for TIGER funding has been fierce. U.S. DOT said in a press release:
The previous three rounds of the TIGER program provided $2.6 billion to 172 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Demand for the program has been overwhelming, and during the previous three rounds, the Department of Transportation received more than 3,348 applications requesting more than $95 billion for transportation projects across the country.
The new transportation bill proposal introduced in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday in Congress would eliminate funding entirely for this popular program.
TIGER was launched by President Obama in 2009 as part of the stimulus bill. The program has enjoyed some level of bipartisan support, surviving transportation bill proposals put forward by the Senate recently.
