TIGER II Grants on the Horizon
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 28 April 2010 — Comments Off
The Intermodal Station project was unfortunately overlooked to receive federal funding via a TIGER grant (USDOT) earlier this year. The good news is that there will be a TIGER II, the sequel, which differs slightly from the original TIGER grants in that it is markedly smaller in scale ($600m compared to $1.5b) and requires a 20 percent match by the local entity.
The selection criteria includes economic competitiveness, livability and sustainability, job creation and economic stimulus, as well as project readiness. Similar to the original TIGER grant program, one would assume that the Hercules Intermodal Station is a project worthy of funding under the new grants.
As Streetsblog reports, “the secondary metrics for TIGER II bids are innovation and partnership, with the latter referring to proposals’ emphasis on collaboration among local governmental bodies to implement the projects in question.” That metric fits the Intermodal Station project perfectly when you consider the number of government agencies involved — the City, Amtrak, WestCAT, BCDC, WETA, etc.
Final applications must be submitted to USDOT by August 23, 2010, and grant funding will be awarded after September 15.