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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced that the demand for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery III (TIGER III) grants once again has surpassed available funding. The department received 828 applications from all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia with grant requests totaling $14.1 billion, more than 26 times the $527 million set aside for the TIGER III program.

“The tremendous demand for TIGER grants clearly shows that communities across the country cannot wait any longer for crucial upgrades to the roads, bridges, rail lines and bus routes they rely on every day,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a prepared statement. "It’s important to make these vital investments in transportation so we can put Americans back to work rebuilding our nation's crumbling transportation systems."

Earlier this month, President Obama directed the USDOT to complete the application review and award processes for TIGER III grants by year’s end, months ahead of schedule, said LaHood.

In 2009 and 2010, the USDOT received a total of 2,400 applications for TIGER II and TIGER II grants requesting a total of $76 billion, “greatly exceeding” the $2.1 billion available, USDOT officials said. In those two TIGER rounds, the department awarded construction and planning grants for 126 freight, highway, transit, port and bicycle/pedestrian projects in all 50 states and D.C.