Sec. LaHood creates DOT economic recovery team

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has created a team at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to coordinate the Department’s role in President Obama’s economic recovery program.

The team will ensure that economic recovery funding is rapidly made available for transportation infrastructure projects and project spending is monitored and transparent.

The group, known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) team, is composed of officials from across the DOT’s operating administrations and offices. The team is co-chaired by Lana Hurdle, deputy assistant secretary for budget and programs, and Joel Szabat, deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy.

“We created the TIGER team to make sure that DOT’s portion of recovery funding goes out to states and localities as quickly as possible in order to immediately create jobs and strengthen our economy and transportation systems,” Secretary LaHood said.

The team will identify and prioritize key highway, bridge, transit, rail, aviation and intermodal spending. The team will also develop reporting standards to accurately track the money as it is being spent and ensure that all accountability requirements are being met.