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DOT makes transit awards
By eTrucker Staff
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Feb. 17 announced Recovery Act awards to states, cities, counties and transit agencies across the country to fund 51 innovative transportation projects.
The TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Discretionary Grant Program was included in the Recovery Act to spur a national competition for innovative multimodal and multijurisdictional transportation projects that promise significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, a region or the nation. Projects funded with the $1.5 billion allocated in the Recovery Act include improvements to roads, bridges, rail, ports, transit and intermodal facilities.
DOT was flooded with more than 1,400 applications from all 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia requesting funding for almost $60 billion worth of projects – 40 times the amount available through the program. “TIGER grants will tackle the kind of major transportation projects that have been difficult to build under other funding programs,” DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said.
Awardees were selected based on their contribution to economic competitiveness of the nation, improving safety and the condition of the existing transportation system, increasing quality of life, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrating strong collaboration among a broad range of participants, including the private sector. Projects were funded in large cities as well as rural and tribal communities across the country and were selected based on merit.
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