The U.S. Department of Transportation received 828 TIGER III applications from all 50 states, the five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Funding demand is similar to TIGER I, which attracted 1,381 applications valued at $57 billion -- 38 times the $1.5 billion appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and TIGER II, which drew nearly 1,000 applications valued at $19 billion -- 32 times the $600 million appropriated in Fiscal Year 2010.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama directed USDOT to expedite application review and award TIGER III grants by the end of 2011 -- months ahead of the original schedule. In the previous two rounds, the TIGER program awarded construction and planning grants to 126 freight, highway, transit, port, and bicycle/pedestrian projects. (see Feb. 19, 2010, and Oct. 22, 2010, AASHTO Journal stories)

"The tremendous demand for these grants clearly shows that communities across the country can't wait any longer for crucial upgrades to the roads, bridges, rail lines, and bus routes they rely on every day," LaHood wrote on his blog Tuesday. "These vital investments will put Americans back on jobsites rebuilding transportation systems that badly need attention."

LaHood stressed in his blog entry the importance of Congress passing a highway and transit reauthorization bill.

"Even the communities fortunate enough to have a project selected for TIGER III will tell you that more needs to be done," he wrote. "Economists, transportation engineers, and planners know that America's infrastructure needs transportation reauthorization."