U.S. DOT Announces TIGER Grant Awards

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grants to 51 projects across the country. The TIGER grants program was created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law one year ago yesterday. When DOT solicited applications for TIGER grants, more than 1,400 applications seeking in excess of $57 billion in funding were submitted. While ARRA did not specify the criteria to be used in selecting individual projects, it did set out some broad parameters. ARRA specified that these discretionary grants were to be awarded to state and local governments or transit agencies on a competitive basis for a variety of transportation projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region. Rail-related projects are the biggest winner, with $789 million of the available funds awarded to these projects. The funds remain available until September 30, 2011. The DOT 2010 appropriations bill included an additional $600 million in funds for the TIGER grant program, which have not yet been awarded.