US Ports Awarded TIGER II Grants

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the 42 construction projects and 33 planning projects which were awarded funding under the second round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant program for major infrastructure projects ranging from highways and bridges, to transit, rail and ports.

Of the US$600 million in available TIGER II grants, DOT received nearly 1,000 construction grant applications totaling more than US$19 billion. Seven of the 42 capital project funding requests selected for awards went to America's ports, totaling US$94,840,133, or about 17 percent of the total US$556,577,591 in capital grant funds available.

"DOT Secretary LaHood has indicated on numerous occasions the value and importance of seaport-related infrastructure to America's overall transportation system and our nation's competitiveness in global trade," Kurt Nagle, American Association of Port Authorities president and CEO, said.

"We applaud this recognition of the critical role our nation's ports play and the increased federal support in TIGER II. The percentage of funding going to ports for TIGER II capital grants is more than twice as much as in the first round of TIGER grants and moves us closer to the 25 percent of overall TIGER grant funding we believe is appropriate," he said.

Since the program's inception as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, AAPA has been a strong supporter of the TIGER multimodal discretionary grant program. However, in the first round of TIGER grant awards, port-related infrastructure projects received only 8 percent of the original US$1.5 billion in funding, while other sectors, such as transit, highway and pedestrian/bicycle, received nearly 67 percent of the funds.

Since port infrastructure investments are one of the four eligible areas (along with highways/bridges, transit, and freight/passenger rail) for the program, and other modes have received significant federal funds through other programs, AAPA urged that a minimum of 25 percent of the TIGER II funding be awarded to port-related infrastructure projects.