Washington, D.C.- Today, Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA-03) announced millions of dollars in federal transportation funding is now available to public transportation agencies  in Washington State.  This is the latest money to be released to states as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.   Nationwide, 100 million dollars is available from the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) grant program.

"Rebuilding America's infrastructure is key to rebuilding our economy," said Congressman Baird. "Projects like the ones that will be funded by the TIGGER program are vital for the future of Southwest Washington.  Not only will they put people back to work in the short term, but they make long term commitments to energy conservation and reducing green house gasses."

Projects will compete for a portion of the funds on the basis of how much their proposed capital investment is expected to reduce either energy consumption or greenhouse gases, or both. The minimum proposal amount is $2 million dollars.  The maximum amount is $25 million. The Federal Transit Administration will allow multiple transit agencies to consolidate their projects within one proposal to reach the minimum level.  The last day to submit a proposal is May 22, 2009.

Transit agencies or consolidated proposals can be submitted on behalf of transit agencies by other organization such as State Departments of Transportation.  Grants will be made for particular projects directly to public transportation agencies.

The FTA will post application instructions as well as answers to common questions and a calculator to assist in developing information on energy consumption or greenhouse gas emission reduction on its website at www.fta.dot.gov.