USDOT receives 797 applications for TIGER VI grants

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) yesterday announced it received 797 grant applications from 49 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia through the sixth round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.

The applications totaled $9.5 billion in requested grants — 15 times the $600 million set aside for the program — demonstrating the continued need for transportation investment nationwide, USDOT officials said in a press release. The department received 585 applications last year for TIGER V grants.

The announcement about the flood of TIGER VI applications comes several weeks after U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx unveiled the GROW AMERICA Act, a four-year surface transportation reauthorization bill that would authorize $5 billion for additional TIGER program funding.

"The continued overwhelming demand for these grants demonstrates that communities want the kind of long-term funding our GROW AMERICA Act provides to build transportation projects across the country," said Foxx.

The USDOT expects to announce TIGER VI grant recipients in summer. Since 2009, the TIGER program has provided $3.5 billion in grants to 270 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Through five rounds, the USDOT received more than 5,300 applications requesting more than $115 billion.