The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released a notice of funding availability for the next round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. DOT is authorized to award $474 million in TIGER Discretionary Grants for highway, bridge, transit, port, and passenger and freight rail projects.
The notice is similar to prior rounds of funding, but several differences have been noted:

  1. This round of TIGER funds is the shortest of all rounds thus far. Final applications must be submitted (through Grants.gov) on or before June 3, 2013. Funding will need to be obligated by September 30, 2014.  
  2. Selection criteria has been modified for easier preparation and review. Of note, short-term economic impacts are now included in the primary criterion of economic competitiveness.
  3. Pre-Applications are not required in this funding round.
  4. Additional guidance and information has been shared with applicants to assist with the shortened notice. (The resources are available at the TIGER programs site (www.dot.gov/TIGER).)
  5. Applications that identify project co-applicants must be signed by each co-applicant or include letters of support.

For more information about this notice and competitive national program, applicants are encouraged to contact DOT directly (contact the TIGER Discretionary Grant program staff via e-mail at TIGERGrants@dot.gov or call Howard Hill at 202-366-0301). Additional resources for TIGER program applicants can be found HERE (http://www.dot.gov/tiger/application-resources).