Vox Civitatis the New Colonist weblog
02/18/2010: "TIGER Grants Fund Rail, Livability, and Highway Repairs"
From Transportation 4 America, a press release summarizing the disbursements of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (or, inevitably, "TIGER") grants program:The Obama Department of Transportation today broke historic ground in unveiling projects chosen in a first-ever program to award federal dollars on a competitive basis to innovative projects that address economic, environmental and travel issues at once.To read the entire press release, see the T4A site, or find the full document at the USDOT site in this very large PDF file.
The 51 projects announced under the TIGER grant program, funded by $1.5 billion included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), meet a broad array of challenges, including:
- Bridge replacements in Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Indiana that can support multiple modes of travel;
- Port and freight-rail projects to spur economic growth in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Ohio;
- Modern streetcar construction to support vibrant urban corridors in Tucson, Dallas, Portland and New Orleans and light rail in Detroit;
- Innovative highway funding and operations in Texas, North Carolina, Colorado, South Carolina and Arkansas;
- Bicycle and pedestrian networks in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and a complete streets project in Dubuque, IA;
- The long-awaited rebirth of New York's former Penn Station as Moynihan Station.
Of the fifty-one projects funded, eleven expand support for rail freight, thirteen underwrite bridge and highway repair projects, and twenty-two fund "livability projects are aimed at giving Americans more choices about how they travel and improving access to economic and housing opportunities in their communities," including urban rail transit and bicycle infrastructure. (The full, detailed list is in the PDF.)
A significant step forward for a traditionally hidebound agency historically dominated by motoring interests.
