Tag: TIGER

On Monday the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the availability of $474 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants for 2013.

DOT is looking for surface transportation projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a region, or a metropolitan area and projects, such as:

• Improve existing transportation facilities and systems;
• Contribute to American economic competitiveness;
• Create and preserve jobs;
• Increase transportation choices and access to transportation services for people in communities across the U.S.;
• Improve energy efficiency, reduce dependence on oil, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
• Improve safety.

Commissioners at the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas have approved a grant agreement to expand rail service at the port with a new rail yard. The project is made possible in part by a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, awarded to Corpus Christi in June, 2012. The TIGER grant program is part of the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) commitment to fund projects that have significant impacts nationally and locally.

The grant will fund Phase I construction of the Nueces River Rail Yard, which will have capacity for 335 rail cars. The expanded capacity will help the port meet its new shipping demands from recent growth in project cargo shipping for major wind power components. The project is projected to “reduce carbon emissions by about 398,000 tons and save $7.4 million in highway maintenance costs by eliminating 678,000 truck trips during the next 30 years, according to a transportation department fact sheet.”

Funded in part by a $22 million Department of Transportation TIGER grant, the first multi-modal transit project funded by TIGER has opened.

The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, provides a unique opportunity for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to invest in road, rail, transit, and port projects that promise to achieve national objectives. Now in its fourth round, the program remains critically underfunded. DOT received 703 applications, totaling $10.2 billion in requests. Out of those, 47 projects were selected to receive a total of close to $500 million.

The TIGER grant program provides a unique opportunity for DOT to invest in road, rail, transit, and port projects that promise to achieve critical national objectives. Now in its 4th round, the TIGER 2012 grants are attracting media attention nation wide. Read Part I of this coverage.

As cities like Detroit are still contending with lower tax bases resulting from economic recession, public transit agencies struggle to cover operating expenses and are forced to reduce operating times and make cuts to vital bus and other transit services.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood supports greater federal funding to help cover these public transit operating costs. Says LaHood to The Huffington Post:

“Over the long run, the best way to address many of the challenges facing the transit agencies in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs is for the Michigan legislature to implement a Regional Transportation Authority as soon as possible. If fully funded, an RTA will eventually bring the many struggling transit agencies serving greater-Detroit into one system that will be more efficient, more reliable, and be more responsive to the needs of the people throughout the region.”

The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER Discretionary Grant program, provides a unique opportunity for US DOT to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve critical national objectives. The TIGER grant program is also …

The Port of Oakland recently received $15 million in funding from the fourth round of the federal TIGER grant program. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and California Governor Edmund Brown Jr. visited the project site this week, reports the Maritime Executive. Said Secretary LaHood:

“The Obama Administration is committed to making our ports the best in the world. The Port of Oakland is already the leading export gateway on the West Coast and this TIGER grant will help boost rail access and capacity, which will contribute to the economic growth of the region.”

In the new round of TIGER grants announced recently, $10 million will go to the City of Birmingham, Alabama to repair its streets and build new sidewalks, bike lanes, paths and pedestrian corridors. Improvements in Pratt City, hard-hit by a tornado last year, will be the main focus of the project, called “Roads to Recovery.”

In the most recent round of TIGER grants announced last week, the City of Tampa, Florida will receive $11 million to finish its Riverwalk project. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the grant, awarded by U.S. DOT through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, will help fix two gaps in the walkway in a section of downtown Tampa where crashes between cars, cyclists and pedestrians are common. The 2.6-mile walkway along the Hillsborough River will also be connected to a 1.7-mile multi-use trail, which will create pedestrian and bike connections to bus and streetcar lines.