U.S. DOT Announces 72 TIGER ’14 Awards in 46 States and DC
U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx Announces 72 TIGER 2014 Recipients: Demand Demonstrates Need for Greater Transportation Investment through GROW AMERICA ACT
U.S. Department of Transporatation
WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, on September 12, 2014, announced that the Department of Transportation would provide $600 million for 72 transportation projects in 46 states and the District of Columbia from its TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) 2014 program.
The Department received 797 eligible applications from 49 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, an increase from the 585 applications received in 2013. Overall, applicants requested 15 times the $600 million available for the program, or $9 billion for needed transportation projects.
“As uncertainty about the future of long-term federal funding continues, this round of TIGER will be a shot in the arm for these innovative, job-creating and quality of life-enhancing projects,” said Secretary Foxx. “We’re building bridges from Maine to Mississippi. We’re creating ladders of opportunity for the middle-class and those seeking to enter the middle-class by investing in transit, road and rail projects from Los Angeles to Detroit to New York City, increasing access to jobs and quality of life. For every project we select, however, we must turn dozens more away – projects that could be getting done if Congress passed the GROW AMERICA Act, which would double the funding available for TIGER and growing the number of projects we could support.”
Projects funded through this round of TIGER support several key transportation goals:
Improving Access to Jobs and Creating New “Ladders of Opportunity: Americans are increasingly challenged by longer travel times, which take away from time on the job and at home. For those looking for work, unpredictable travel times can make finding work and keeping a job even harder. This round of TIGER invests in projects designed to cut down on travel times, increase predictability and, in some cases, attract new middle-class jobs into communities.
Examples include:
- A $24.9 million investment in the construction of a 7.6 mile bus rapid transit line in Richmond will connect transit-dependent residents to jobs and retail centers as well as spur mixed use and transit-oriented development in a city with the highest poverty rate in Virginia.
- A $15 million TIGER grant will develop a new bus rapid transit spine for Omaha, Neb., dramatically reducing travel time to major employment hubs in the city. Roughly 16 percent of the households within a quarter of a mile of the proposed bus-rapid transit route do not currently have access to a vehicle.
- A $20 million TIGER grant will pay for the modernization of Boston’s Ruggles Station, which will include the construction of a new 797-foot long, 12-foot wide high-level passenger platform between the Ruggles Station headhouse and Northeastern University’s Columbus Avenue parking garage.
- A $10.8 million investment in the Wando Welch Terminal Rehabilitation project in South Carolina will help make structural repairs, strengthen the berth, and make related paving and safety improvements. The TIGER funding will also be used for the installation of jacket repairs for damaged piles.
_______________
The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER Discretionary Grant program, provides a unique opportunity for the DOT to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve critical national objectives. Since 2009, Congress has dedicated more than $4.1 billion for six rounds to fund projects that have a significant impact on the Nation, a region or a metropolitan area.
The TIGER program enables DOT to examine a broad array of projects on their merits, to help ensure that taxpayers are getting the highest value for every dollar invested. In each round of TIGER, DOT receives many applications to build and repair critical pieces of our freight and passenger transportation networks. Applicants must detail the benefits their project would deliver for five long-term outcomes: safety, economic competitiveness, state of good repair, livability and environmental sustainability.
_________
TIGER14
Click images below to enlarge. Click your return arrow to come back to this Dilemma X article.
__
_________
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $10.3 Million in TIGER Funds for St. Louis Light Rail Corridor Improvements
ST. LOUIS – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx September 12, 2014 announced that the Bi-State Development Agency (known as Metro) has been awarded a $10.3 million TIGER grant toward construction of a new light rail transit (LRT) station and other improvements for accessing St. Louis’ existing MetroLink transit system. The project is one of 72 transportation projects selected to receive a total of nearly $600 million in 46 states and the District of Columbia from the Department of Transportation’s 2014 TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Program, which Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced on September 12. Under Secretary for Policy Peter Rogoff traveled to St. Louis for the local announcement.
“As uncertainty about the future of long-term federal funding continues, this round of TIGER will be a shot in the arm for these innovative, job-creating and quality of life-enhancing projects,” said Secretary Foxx. “TIGER will fill a gap in St. Louis’ transit network providing better access to downtown jobs and economic opportunity with the addition of Cortex Station and expanding the crowded Central West End Station. For every project we select, however, we must turn dozens more away – projects that could be getting done if Congress passed the GROW AMERICA Act, which would double the funding available for TIGER and growing the number of projects we could support.”
The TIGER funds will support the construction of a new light rail transit rail station at Boyle Avenue and Sarah Street in the Cortex District—filling a 1.6-mile gap between stations. A new bike trail connecting the new Cortex station to the regional Great Rivers Greenway will also be constructed. The improvements are expected to support the development of the Cortex mid-town “innovation district,” which is home to the Washington University School of Medicine, the Wexford Science and Technology Center and over 4 million square feet of planned mixed-use development hosting thousands of technology-related jobs. The TIGER grant also helps to expand the existing Central West End LRT station—the busiest on the MetroLink system, which serves a disadvantaged population. The overall work is expected to cost a total of approximately $13 million.
“These TIGER funds will go a long way to help St. Louis achieve its goal of developing a job-creating technology hub that is fully accessible by public transportation,” said Under Secretary Rogoff. “The TIGER Program is ideally suited to projects like this that leverage transportation as a means of strengthening communities and creating new opportunities for thousands of residents.”
“We congratulate the citizens of St. Louis, who are the true winners in obtaining these highly competitive TIGER grant funds,” said Federal Transit Administration Acting Administrator Therese McMillan. “This project will improve access to efficient, reliable public transportation and create ladders of opportunity for many hard-working families.”
The GROW AMERICA Act, the Administration’s surface transportation reauthorization proposal, would authorize $5 billion over four years for much-needed additional TIGER funding to help meet the overwhelming demand for significant infrastructure investments around the country and provide the certainty that states and local governments need to properly plan for investment. The $302 billion, four year transportation reauthorization proposal would provide increased and stable funding for the nation’s highways, bridges, transit, and rail systems without contributing to the deficit. The GROW AMERICA Act also includes several critical program reforms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of federal highway, rail and transit programs.
The Department received 797 eligible applications from 49 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, an increase from the 585 applications received in 2013. Overall, applicants requested 15 times the $600 million available for the program, or $9.5 billion for needed transportation project.
Since 2009, the TIGER program has provided nearly $4.1 billion to 342 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Demand for the program has been overwhelming, and during the previous five rounds, the Department of Transportation received more than 6,000 applications requesting more than $124 billion for transportation projects across the country. Congress provided the most recent funding as part of the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014, signed by President Obama on January 17, 2014.
___________
