The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) raised concern over the small amount of transit projects that received Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) last week.
APTA urged the department to recognize the vital importance of public transportation in the nation. Only 3.6% of the TIGER grants that were recently announced went to public transit projects, representing a significant decrease in public transit TIGER grants.
“While we appreciate the fact that two of the 41 FY 2017 TIGER awards will go to public transit projects in Georgia and Wisconsin, APTA notes that more than 20% of funding awards during the previous three fiscal years went to public transportation,” said APTA President/CEO Paul Skoutelas in a statement. “APTA urges the administration to increase funding for public transit investments in future years.”
Skoutelas’ statement added that there were numerous worthy public transportation projects that didn’t receive funding this round. He urged the U.S. DOT to provide greater support for public transportation in the future.
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Source: Metro Magazine
