It’s February 17. States nationwide and their departments of transportation, cities and regions are eagerly, perhaps anxiously, awaiting the announcement of the winners of $1.5 billion in so-called TIGER grants; short for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Discretionary Grant Program.

Raymond LaHood, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, is on hand personally to make the awards announcement. This isn’t the Academy Awards, but the impact will be far greater-a cash infusion to state and regional economies and those vendors that manufacture the technology and materials that go into highway reconstruction, terminal buildings, and trucks that range from light- and medium-sized to over-the-road.

The winners represented cities, states, and regions from across the U.S. Over 50 projects have been identified as innovative under the TIGER grant criteria. Allocated based on transportation sector, they range from light-rail for cities to port, rail and highway reconstruction, along with construction of intermodal and energy efficient terminals.

Of particular interest to those who support national and global commerce are projects designed to improve highways and freight rail corridors such as those chosen in the Midwest and the South. Bridge repairs are now slated to be made in Oklahoma and South Carolina, and ports from Maine to Hawaii will receive overhauls. The aim, said Secretary LaHood, is to reduce gridlock “for the traveling public” and provide Americans with more safe, affordable, and environmentally sustainable transportation choices.” The beneficiaries will be “factories, farms and businesses across the U.S. that will be able to move goods more efficiently and better compete in the global economy.”

While the checks start to flow out to “green” the nation’s transportation infrastructure another drama has been ongoing since Congress approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) roughly a year ago with a major emphasis on building jobs through the “greening” of the U.S. economy with an emphasis on transportation. Since 2009, the federal Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) been dispersing $16.8 billion for programs and initiatives that will “green” the nation’s vehicles-both private and public sector-to reduce our dependence on petroleum and help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

The EERE grants for vehicles focus mainly on research and deployment of a wide range of alternative fuels for cars and trucks, as well as construction of fueling stations to assist in everything from electric battery recharge to natural gas and propane, to name a few. Here are a few examples:

•    The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have received $9.4 million to replace 180 diesel drayage trucks with liquid natural gas vehicles. Workshops will be developed to train port workers, truck operators and technicians to use the new vehicles, along with educational outreach throughout southern California.

•    The Maryland Energy Administration will implement “the largest collaborative hybrid truck project in the nation to provide financial and technical assistance to many large fleets to purchase 150 hybrid electric vehicles.” These include ARAMARK, Efficiency Enterprises, Nestle Water Company, Sysco and UPS. The grant was close to $6 million.

•    The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will utilize $13.2 million in grant money to develop multiple alternative fuels and technologies across the state, including alternative fuel and/or hybrid school buses, municipal vehicles, and urban delivery and utility trucks. Five cities and towns, three counties, 10 private companies, two state fleets, two universities and 10 school districts will be involved.

•    Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition’s Long Island Regional Energy Collaborative has received close to $15 million to deploy five compressed natural gas (CNG) stations and 87 heavy-duty CNG-fueled trucks throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The trucks include 44 refuse trucks, 40 heavy-duty dump trucks and others. The fueling stations will be accessible to the public.



Tune in next month as I dig deeper into how the TIGER and EERE grants will affect the national and global supply chains. wt



Contributing writer Amy Zuckerman covers high-tech and sustainable supply chains.