Applications for the grant program known as TIGER total $9.5 billion, 15 times the $600 million that the federal government set aside for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the application total for the sixth round of TIGER grants on May 15, saying the volume of applications from state and local governments demonstrated the need for transportation investment nationwide.
The Department of Transportation received 797 applications, compared to 585 in 2013, from 49 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, the DOT said.
“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,” Foxx said in a statement.
Grow America is President Obama’s proposed $302-billion, four-year plan for transportation reauthorization. The plan would designate $5 billion over four years for the TIGER program.
Congress must write a reauthorization bill this year or extend the current transportation spending law, MAP-21, which expires on Sept. 30.
