APTA calls out cut in TIGER funds for public transit

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has raised concern over the small amount of transit projects that received federal funds in the U.S. Department of Transportation's latest round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant awards.

The department recently announced the fiscal-year 2017 TIGER awards, with only 3.6 percent going to public transit projects, said APTA President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas in a prepared statement issued yesterday.

"This represents a significant decrease in public transit TIGER grants. While we appreciate the fact that two of the 41 FY 2017 TIGER awards will go to public transit projects in Georgia and Wisconsin, APTA notes that more than 20 percent of funding awards during the previous three fiscal years went to public transportation," he said.

Skoutelas acknowledged that some of other grant awards may have some public transit components.

However, "it is indisputable that the [Trump] administration has dramatically reduced the share of funds that will support public transportation compared to previous years," he said.

"A strong federal investment in public transportation needs to be preserved and increased, not cut, as the president has proposed in his budget and we have seen in these TIGER announcements," Skoutelas said.

He called on the Trump administration to provide greater support for public transportation in future discretionary grants.