Skip to main content

Substantial demand ‘underscores need for TIGER grants’

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced that applications to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for its seventh round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants totalled US$9.8 billion, almost 20 times the US$500 million set aside for the program, demonstrating the continued need for transportation investment nationwide. Among the 625 applications for grants received this year, 60 per cent are road projects, 18 per cent are transit projects, and eight p
August 3, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced that applications to the 324 US Department of Transportation (DOT) for its seventh round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants totalled US$9.8 billion, almost 20 times the US$500 million set aside for the program, demonstrating the continued need for transportation investment nationwide.

Among the 625 applications for grants received this year, 60 per cent are road projects, 18 per cent are transit projects, and eight per cent are rail projects; with port and bicycle-pedestrian applications each representing six per cent of the total. The Department received 625 eligible construction applications from all 50 states and U.S. territories. There were 565 such applications in 2014.

“The consistent number of high quality projects we’re unable to fund through TIGER every year demonstrates the need for Congress to act to give more communities access to this vital lifeline,” Foxx said. “That is why we proposed doubling TIGER in the Grow America Act.”

The highly competitive TIGER program, which began as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, offers federal funding possibilities for large, transformative multi-modal projects.  These federal funds leverage money from private sector partners, state and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations and transit agencies.

Since 2009, the TIGER grant program has provided a combined US$4.1 billion to 342 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  Demand has been overwhelming; during the previous six rounds, the Department received more than 6,000 applications requesting more than US$124 billion for transportation projects across the country.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Rail safety technology launched in Central Minnesota
    January 7, 2013
    New safety technology being installed along some rail lines across the US, including Central Minnesota, aims to prevent deadly train crashes caused by human error. The technology is designed to automatically stop or slow a train to prevent accidents such as a collision with another train or a derailment caused by excessive speed. The changes stem from federal legislation passed in 2008 after a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in California, killing twenty-five people and injuring 135. An
  • US transportation 'needs political leadership'
    November 9, 2012
    Long-time industry leader John Worthington reflects on where transportation in the US is heading – and where it should be going. Interview with Jason Barnes. The US’s new transportation bill reflects much of what is wrong in the sector in general and in ITS in particular, according to John Worthington. While a decision is welcome, he says, it does little more than provide certainty of funding for anything other than day-to-day operations. Worthington, former Chairman and CEO of TransCore, is back in the ITS
  • National funding cuts cause fragmentation of US ITS market
    February 1, 2012
    Paul Everett, Research Director with IMS Research, looks at how ITS deployment varies across the US and what this means in terms of market potential for systems manufacturers and suppliers At the end of 2010, the US will have a total resident population of close to 310 million, rising to an estimated 439 million by 2050.
  • Praise for US DRIVE Act
    June 24, 2015
    The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) and the National League of Cities (NLC) have spoken in favour of the six-year surface transportation reauthorisation bill, the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act, introduced by US senators Jim Inhofe and Barbara Boxer and other members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The legislation is scheduled for a committee business meeting today. “I am proud of the bipartisan work that has culminat