Photo credit: Chutiporn Chaitachawong

They’re called TIGER grants, or if you want to be formal, Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants. And they sound perfect for short sea shipping projects. From the Journal of Commerce:

“DOT said the grants can range from $20 million to $300 million “to support high impact transportation projects.” Short line railroad officials have worried about having to meet the $20 million threshold to qualify for projects such as lower-cost bridge replacements, but LaHood can waive that minimum grant requirement level to cover smaller projects.

The program aims to inject funds into projects that can both quickly create construction jobs and stimulate broader economic activity. DOT also said it will use the grants to improve existing transportation facilities and national competitiveness, boost energy efficiency and curb greenhouse emissions.

The grant pool includes $200 million that can be leveraged into much larger investments, as it could be used under a separate federal loan program to pay a borrower’s subsidy costs. That would allow the money to support another $2 billion in credit assistance, DOT said.”

Read the whole story here.