On Thursday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he will accelerate stimulus spending and announce $1.5 billion in TIGER Discretionary Grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) one month early. The TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Discretionary Grant program will award Recovery funds on a competitive basis to projects that have a significant impact on the nation, a region or metropolitan area and can create jobs and benefit economically distressed areas.

"Our top priority with the Recovery Act is to get money out the door quickly in order to put people to work and get the economy back on track," said Secretary LaHood.

As part of the ongoing effort to accelerate spending, Secretary LaHood created a review team to expedite the application process for the $1.5 billion TIGER Discretionary Grant program, which will enable the U.S. Department of Transportation to announce the grants in January 2010 - one full month ahead of the statutory deadline.

"By awarding these Recovery dollars ahead of schedule, we'll be able to jump start major-impact projects and boost local economies across America even more quickly," Secretary LaHood said.

Further information on the $1.5 billion TIGER Discretionary Grant program can be found here.