April 26, 2018 – The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched its new Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD)
Transportation Discretionary Grants program.

BUILD Transportation grants replace the pre-existing Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program.  The new grant program is for investments in surface transportation infrastructure and will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. 

ELIGIBLE PROJECTS - BUILD funding can support roads, bridges, transit, passenger or freight rail, ports or intermodal transportation.  Rural broadband is eligible as part of a transportation project.

MERIT CRITERIA - Safety, economic competitiveness, quality of life, environmental protection, state of good repair, innovation, partnership, and additional non-Federal revenue for future transportation infrastructure investments. Other criteria - Demonstrated project readiness, project costs and benefits.  Additional considerations - Geographic diversity among recipients.

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS - State and local governments, ports, transit agencies, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other political subdivisions of State or local governments. Multiple eligible applicants may submit a joint application.

FUNDING - The maximum grant award is $25 million. 

Rural Area - 100 percent of the costs of a project.  The minimum award is $1 million.

Urban Area -  Total Federal assistance may not exceed 80 percent.  The minimum award is $5 million.  Please note that the minimum total project cost for a project located in an urban area must be $6.25 million to meet match requirements.

Non-Federal financial contributions can include State, local, and private sector funding; or other forms of cost share such right of way contributions, toll credits, or recycled revenue from the competitive sale or lease of publicly owned or operated assets. Projects that anticipate INFRA grant funding or other future DOT discretionary grant funding to complete a funding package will be less competitive than those projects that rely on other sources to complete a package.

The Department will evaluate the applicant’s ability to generate new non-Federal revenue for transportation infrastructure investment; it will not use Federal share as a merit criterion in awarding projects.

IMPORTANT WEBINARS - All webinars are scheduled for 1:00-3:00 PM Central Time

• All participants - How to compete for BUILD Grants - Thursday, May 24
• For rural and tribal applicants - Tuesday, May 29
• All participants - How to prepare a benefit cost analysis for a BUILD application - Thursday, May 31

Details and registration information regarding these webinars will be made available at https://www.transportation.gov/BUILDgrants.  The U.S. Department of Transportation will schedule additional webinars on these topics in June.

APPLICATION SUBMITTAL DEADLINE - Final applications must be submitted through Grants.gov by July 19, 2018.

For more information, please visit https://www.transportation.gov/BUILDgrants.