TIGER grants, which have benefited US ports since 2009, have moved nearer being eliminated with the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee’s approval of a funding bill.
In 2017 TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants amount to $500 million. They come under the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill and are awarded annually to multimodal transportation infrastructure projects including, but not limited to, those at seaports.
But the new House funding bill allocates zero money to TIGER grants. That is in line with the budget blueprint released in March by the White House of President Donald Trump.
The Coalition of America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC), a transport stakeholders interest group, has lamented the likely death of TIGER, saying it is a very damaging cut.
Overall, Department of Transportation funding for 2018 would be cut by 8% under the House bill and by even more in the White House’s proposal.
