News

DOT Announces New FASTLANE Grants and Tiger Grant Availability

​US DOT this week announced that it is soliciting applications for two discretionary grant programs totaling $1.3 billion. The FAST Act created a new program for "Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects" that US DOT is calling the FASTLANE grants program, an acronym that stands for "Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies." The program makes available $800 million for freight project in FY 2016.The announcement said the process state departments of transportation and other agencies will use to apply for this new funding program will be spelled out in a formal notice of funding opportunity, which would activate the initial round of what will be five years of freight-related competitive grants. It is the first program in the USDOT's 50-year history that establishes broad, multiyear eligibilities for freight infrastructure projects including intermodal.

Of the $800 million in available 2016 funding, 25 percent or $190 million is reserved for rural projects and 10 percent or $76 million for smaller ones. Over the five years of the FAST Act, the program will provide $4.5 billion in project grants. The FASTLANE grants will fund large projects equal to the lesser of $100 million or a certain specified statutory percentage of the project state's fiscal 2015 apportionment that are eligible for a minimum award of $25 million. Smaller projects below the minimum large-project size are eligible for awards of at least $5 million.

US DOT also announced this week that $500 million will be made available for transportation projects across the country under an eighth round of the highly successful Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) competitive grant program. TIGER grants are available to fund a wider array of projects. Those eligible to seek the grants include state DOTs, metropolitan planning organizations, port authorities, tribal governments and other agencies.  Like the first seven rounds, FY 2016 TIGER discretionary grants will fund capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure and will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area, or a region.

Since 2009, TIGER has provided nearly $4.6 billion to 381 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, including 134 projects to support rural and tribal communities.  Demand has been overwhelming, and during the previous seven rounds, the Department received more than 6,700 applications requesting more than $134 billion for transportation projects across the country. 

Contractor Type
Industry Priorities