http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/30/usa-infrastructure-tiger-idUSN1E75T1LS20110630
WASHINGTON, June 30
(Reuters) – States, cities and local governments can now compete for $527 million in transportation grants, the federal government said on Thursday.
The budget passed in April provided money for another round of the popular TIGER program created in the 2009 economic stimulus plan to grant money for road, bridge, rail and public transportation projects as well as streetcars and bicycle and pedestrian paths.
Over the last two years, the transportation department has awarded $2.1 billion in TIGER grants, which stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, supporting 126 projects in all the states and District of Columbia.
Demand has been strong — the government received more than 2,500 applications requesting more than $79 billion in the previous rounds.
Democrats in Congress are looking into ways to make the TIGER grants permanent. In May, two Senate transportation leaders unveiled a bill to create an infrastructure bank and put $600 million into the grants. Republicans have criticized the TIGER program as being secretive and the selection process as unfair.
Still, Congress has been slow to move on transportation legislation. The last five-year authorization guiding how the federal government will fund surface transportation projects expired in 2009 and since then states have relied on patchwork extension bills and the stimulus plan to cover their costs.
Applications for the new TIGER grant round are due this Fall, the Transportation Department said.
The department is seeking projects that improve existing transportation systems, boost energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and make facilities safer. It also said it will focus on projects "that are expected to quickly create and preserve jobs and spur rapid increases in economic activity." (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by James Dalgleish)