Monday, February 6, 2012

TIGER IV is here!


I was very pleased to see USDOT put out a notice of funding availability for the next round of TIGER discretionary funding (http://www.dot.gov/tiger/docs/fy12_tiger_nofa.pdf ).  Although every year I fear the end of the program, they managed to get $500 million from Congress for FFY12.  TIGER began as part of the Stimulus bill and has been, in my opinion, a huge success.  Having worked quite a lot on the Stimulus program, I was sometimes asked how follow-on stimulus bills could be made to give greater emphasis to more innovative transportation solutions.  My answer: put more TIGER in your tank!
Unfortunately, there has been no more stimulus – despite an economy and construction industries that are flat on their backs and despite the desperate need for infrastructure work and despite cheap prices for that work.  But the good news is that TIGER carries on.
I must say that the overall “innovativeness” of projects selected seems to have declined in the FY11 awards.  (Two that I know and like a lot are the Carrie Furnace project in Pittsburgh and the Cincinnati streetcar.)  My other complaint, about which more another time, is that the freight investments still seem oriented toward Chinese economic development.
Nevertheless, good to see TIGER IV and let’s hope we may see a TIGER V!

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