The TIGER Roars for Rail and Mass Transit

[RoyGBiv]

Sank like a stone in GD. Decided to post it here where someone might actually give a crap.

Many of the projects the federal Department of Transportation is financing through the long-awaited TIGER grants go a long way toward revamping our freight and commuter rail systems, rounding out a distinctly spectacular month for transit advocates.

The list of TIGER grant recipients (.pdf) represents a real change from the traditional transportation policy that favors the almighty automobile above all else. Oh sure, there are a lot of bridges and roads in the $1.5 billion Transportation Reinvestment Generating Economic Recovery spending plan, but they didn’t get a whole lot of money. Transit got roughly 26 percent according to Yonah Freemark at Transport Politic (who posted a nifty table) and rail got got about 62 percent.

In doling out the money to projects nominated by the states, the feds made it clear they wanted projects that encourage multimodal transit, connect various transportation networks and give customers more options. They also stressed livability, meaning how much the projects might improve the quality of life for the people they are meant to serve. Both factors are a huge shift away from how the government used to allocate money — by giving it to projects that widened highways and built new roads, encouraging people to keep on driving. . .

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/02/tiger-grants/

[Born_A_Truman]

1. Good!

Up here where I live, you have to drive miles before you can catch the Metrolink! I've heard the RRs won't share the rails with Metrolink coming up the Cajon Pass and that's why we don't have Metrolink up in the high desert. So many people up here have to drive down the hill for jobs and they are so scattered there isn't much in the way of carpooling that works for them.

[quiet.american]

2. Excellent article. Thanks for posting. Happy to see New Orleans get some of that funding. nt

[Cha]

3. This is super encouraging for

our environment and more evidence of what we can expect from an engaged Democratic Govenment such as the Obama admin!

I could get use to this..

"Other big winners are a number or light-rail, commuter rail and streetcar projects, which are all the rage in cities these days. Major beneficiaries include projects in Tuscon ($63 million), Dallas ($23 million), Portland ($23.2 million), Detroit ($25 million) and New Orleans ($45 million) to finance streetcar systems, or extensions of current systems. Tuscon and Dallas are two large, spread-out cities, and these streetcars might go a long way to encouraging buildup in central areas. Portland gets to extend its existing streetcar line, which should bring more people to its somewhat isolated South Waterfront development. Detroit, where economic collapse has led to a weird sprawled-out patchwork of population, will get a light-rail line that should draw residents and development to a central main drag. New Orleans also gets a residential and economic draw. Boston gets an important extension for its commuter rail, and Tulsa gets a commuter-rail-ready replacement bridge on I-244."

Glad you posted it, Biv..I might have missed it..

"Transit fans have been having a pretty good year. Earlier this month, President Obama’s proposed budget sent waves throughout the transit community — it was proof that he was serious about building transit projects based on livability — how they benefit the people around them — instead of more superhighways. Before that came the high-speed rail grant money, another section of the so-called stimulus act specifically tailored to once more make rail a viable mode of passenger transportation."

Thinking people running things:bounce: