NEW ORLEANS, LA U.S. Transportation Assistant Secretary Carlos Monje, Jr. announces that the Department of Transportation has awarded the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority a $10 million TIGER grant to replace and modernize the terminal at the New Orleans Canal Street Ferry. The project is 1 of 39 federally funded transportation projects in 34 states selected to receive a total of $500 million under the Department's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) 2015 program. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced project selections for this seventh round of TIGER grants on October 29.

The Department received 627 eligible applications from 50 states and several U.S. territories, including Tribal governments, requesting 20 times the $500 million available for the program, or $10.1 billion for needed transportation projects.

"Transportation is always about the future," said Secretary Foxx. "If we're just fixing today's problems, we'll fall further and further behind. We already know that a growing population and increasing freight traffic will require our system to do more. In this round of TIGER, we selected projects that focus on where the country's transportation infrastructure needs to be in the future; ever safer, ever more innovative, and ever more targeted to open the floodgates of opportunity across America."

The New Orleans Canal Street Ferry project will replace the existing Ferry Terminal with a smaller and more modern facility and close the gap in the Riverfront promenade caused by the existing Ferry Terminal's configuration.

The project will improve safety for passengers at the ferry terminal by replacing an outdated facility and making it easier for pedestrians to move.

"This project will make a profound difference for New Orleans residents, commuters and tourists," said Federal Transit Administration Acting Administrator Therese McMillan. "The new ferry terminal will provide a safer pedestrian environment and enable more convenient, accessible transfers between bus, streetcar and ferry services in an area that is vital to the city's tourism economy."