In The News

Feds to award $75 million for ‘livable communities’

The U.S. Department of Transportation is poised to award another round of grant money for “livable communities” projects that incorporate transportation.

Totaling $75 million, this round of grants is part of the first-ever joint grant program between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for livable and sustainable communities.

DOT’s portion, $35 million, will come from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program known as the TIGER program. When it’s all said and done, TIGER investments will total about $600 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“It’s an ideology with a whole lot of money behind it right now,” OOIDA Director of Legislative Affairs Mike Joyce said.

“Unfortunately, there’s no strings attached with these TIGER grants, so the DOT can use the money to promote its ideology of livable communities. But not everybody lives in an area that will meet their livable community threshold.”

OOIDA is urging Congress and the White House to make a strong commitment to roads and bridges in the next highway authorization bill.

“During a tough economic time, when every penny of every dollar counts, when we look back on it, will these ‘livable communities’ initiatives have been the best bang for the buck?” Joyce asks.

“This is not Highway Trust Fund revenue, but ultimately it’s still the taxpayer paying the bill,” he said. “Twenty years from now, I’m not sure it will have been worth the investment, but they believe it is.”

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