The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II Program awarded $47.6 million to the Atlanta Streetcar project in October 2010. Work will now begin on the project.
The electric streetcar will run 2.6 miles through the heart of Atlanta's business, tourism and convention corridor. Its planned 12 stops will provide access to residential, cultural, educational and historic centers, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site and the Georgia Aquarium.
The streetcar will connect with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority rail system at Peachtree Center, and with numerous area bus routes. Besides providing easy access to jobs and downtown attractions, the streetcar will spur new development in an economically distressed area. It also will reconnect the eastern and western sections of downtown, which have been separated since Interstate 75/85 was built in the 1950s.
Additionally, the project is expected to create an estimated 930 jobs during construction and more than 5,600 jobs over the next 20 years. Service is scheduled to begin in 2013.
The Atlanta Streetcar Project was among 75 projects in 40 states that shared $600 million from the Department’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II Program. The Department received nearly 1,000 construction grant applications for more than $19 billion from all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. TIGER II grants were awarded to projects that have a significant impact on the nation, a region or metropolitan area.