Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
TIGER

After Big Push From Mayors, TIGER in Line For Slight Funding Boost

There's good news out of the Senate committee responsible for doling out transportation funds.

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail was funded in part with a TIGER grant. Photo: Walk Indianapolis

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee okayed a small increase in TIGER funding, according to Stephen Lee Davis at Transportation for America. TIGER is the program that allows local governments to compete directly for transportation funds, circumventing state DOTs, and helps get a lot of walking, biking, and transit projects off the ground. It must be renewed every year, so its prospects are always in doubt.

If approved by the full Senate and House, the committee's proposal would set TIGER funding at $525 million, a $25 million increase over the previous year's budget.

Elected officials and civic leaders across the U.S. campaigned for funding TIGER. A letter signed by 25 mayors -- including the mayors of Tallahassee, Kansas City, and Anchorage, Alaska -- urge lawmakers to continue the program [PDF], noting that applications for TIGER grants have typically exceeded available funds by a factor of 10.

T4A's Davis said the bill could be brought to a floor vote sometime this week. The same bill would also authorize $2.3 billion for New Starts, the grant program that funds major transit expansion projects, and $1.4 billion for passenger rail. Those funding levels are in line with what was laid out in the most recent federal transportation law.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Monday’s Headlines E-Biking Away

There's a million destinations if we had a little help from the government to afford to buy an e-bike.

July 28, 2025

Trump is Exploiting a Very Real Trucking Safety Concern to Crack Down on Immigrants: Advocates

The Trump administration will crack down on truck drivers who don't speak English and the people who give them licenses. Some advocates say that anti-immigrant spin is distracting much broader safety problems that deserve bipartisan support.

July 28, 2025

Op Ed: It’s Time to Pause Highway Construction Nationwide and Try Something New

We don't have to swear off highway construction forever to make a dent in car dependency. A new report calls for a temporary moratorium on asphalt — and outlines how to get there.

July 28, 2025

Krakow is a Polish Pedestrian Paradise

Check out how car drivers simply stop for pedestrians — and not just pedestrians in a crosswalk, but also pedestrians about to enter a crosswalk or even just thinking about maybe entering a crosswalk.

July 25, 2025

Friday Video: The Secret to Getting People Biking In a Hilly City

Steep streets don't have to put a stop to your city's cycling future.

July 25, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Look to the Future

Despite some minor reforms around the edges under President Biden, U.S. transportation remains a car-centric anachronism.

July 25, 2025
See all posts