By Anthony Foxx
Two weeks ago, we announced availability of our latest round of TIGER grants. But our obligation does not end there. We have a responsibility to ensure that America's taxpayers get the best possible outcomes, and that means helping interested communities develop the best possible TIGER grant applications.
So today, DOT is gathering at our headquarters more than 250 grantees and potential applicants --with more than 500 viewing online. At this TIGER Summit, we will discuss the features of successful TIGER applications and projects, guide recipients to better implement TIGER grants, and prepare applicants to navigate the competitive TIGER process. Later today, we'll also brief Congressional staff about the value of TIGER.
The Department goes to great lengths to select and invest in the best projects. But the best projects don't automatically jump off the page in a grant application.
As many communities know, there is a skill to applying for grant dollars. And our purpose today is to make sure that all applicants, especially those who may not have experience with federal programs, have the information and technical expertise they need. We want to make sure the cream rises to the top, and that the worthiest projects get the dollars they deserve. That's good for the communities planning these projects, and it's good for taxpayers.
Over the last six years, we've awarded over $4 billion dollars to more than 300 projects in all 50 states.
And right now, TIGER grants are: helping build a Boston metro station; standing up a bus rapid transit system in Richmond; and rebuilding roads in rural Mississippi, where the bridges are so weak that area school buses can't drive over them.
These are the stories TIGER helps write, and will continue to help write.
What will this year's TIGER do? Fund surface transportation infrastructure projects that provide significant and measurable improvements over existing conditions.
Importantly, TIGER will help us build Ladders of Opportunity by focusing on capital projects that improve access to reliable, safe, and affordable transportation for disconnected communities --both urban and rural.
Make no mistake, the $500 million we'll award this year is a significant amount of money. But to be honest, it's not enough.
Last year, for every dollar in TIGER projects we funded, there were 15 dollars in projects we didn't. Over the last six years, the TIGER program's acceptance rate was lower than Harvard's. And while we're proud of our track record of supporting good projects, we know that there are plenty of worthy projects we've been unable to fund.
That's why, in the GROW AMERICA Act we submitted to Congress last month, we propose doubling the amount of TIGER funding available to the nation's communities over the next 6 years.
Because even as communities across the country do their part by developing good transportation projects, and even as the TIGER team here does its part by selecting the most worthy of those projects, we need Congress to do its part by strengthening this valuable program.