“TIGER” transportation projects showcase innovation across America
Update (May 2018): The ninth round of awards from March 2018 are now included. The TIGER program was also changed in early 2018 to the BUILD program. Read more about these changes.
Over the course of nine batches starting in February 2010, The US Department of Transportation has awarded over $4.5 billion for innovative transportation projects that address economic, environmental and travel issues at once. The TIGER program, as its known (Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery), is a competitive and merit-based process to pick projects.
Almost all of these projects have a hard time getting funded under the outdated structure of the current federal transportation program. These projects in communities across the country will create good paying jobs, spur local economic development, and keep our metro and rural areas connected. Winning project applications have to show multiple benefits: 1) that projects improve the condition of existing facilities and systems, 2) contribute to the economic competitiveness of the U.S. over the medium- to long-term, 3) improve the quality of living and working environments for people, 4) improve energy efficiency, reduce dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and benefit the environment, and 5) improve public safety.
U.S. DOT has consistently received overwhelming demand for this limited amount of money, receiving more than 5,200 applications totaling nearly $136 billion for just the available $2.6 billion over the first five rounds of funding — a trend that has held steady through all available rounds to date. TIGER leverages federal funding and public resources much farther than traditional federal transportation programs. In the first eight rounds, on average, projects attracted more than 3.6 additional non-federal dollars for every TIGER grant dollar.
The map is interactive: Click on any pin for more information, click on a number in the legend to see only that grouping of grants on the map, and click on “TIGER Batch” in the legend to see other options for grouping the pins, by urban/rural or total grant dollar amount, for example.