The United States Department of Transportation today announced this week the opportunity for state and local stakeholders to apply for $500 million in discretionary grant funding through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 appropriated $500 million, available through September 30, 2020, for National Infrastructure Investments otherwise known as TIGER grants. As with previous rounds of TIGER, funds for fiscal year 2017 TIGER grants program are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area, or a region. The FY 2017 Appropriations Act specifies that TIGER Discretionary Grants may not be less than $5 million and not greater than $25 million, except that for projects located in rural areas the minimum TIGER grant size is $1 million.

“The TIGER grant program is a highly competitive program whose winners will be awarded with the funding they need to rebuild the infrastructure of their communities,” said Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “TIGER grants will continue to fund innovative projects that will improve the safety of America’s passengers and goods.”

The selection criteria remain fundamentally the same as previous rounds of the TIGER grants program, but the description of each criterion has been updated. The FY 2017 TIGER program will also give special consideration to projects which emphasize improved access to reliable, safe, and affordable transportation for communities in rural areas, such as projects that improve infrastructure condition, address public health and safety, promote regional connectivity, or facilitate economic growth or competitiveness.

To provide technical assistance to a broad array of stakeholders, USDOT is hosting a series of webinars during the FY 2017 TIGER grant application process. Webinars on How to Compete for TIGER Discretionary Grants will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, September 13th and Tuesday, September 19th. To register, please visit the TIGER Webinar Series webpage. Additional webinars will be scheduled and more information posted online.

The deadline to submit an application for the FY 2017 TIGER grant program is Monday, October 16.

Since the TIGER grant program was first created, $5.1 billion has been awarded for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure over eight rounds of competitive grants. TIGER grants have historically achieved, on average, co-investment of 3.6 dollars (including other federal, state, local, private, and philanthropic funds) for every TIGER dollar invested.