Greenville County was not among the 39 recipients of the US Department of Transportation’s $500 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants for 2015.
The City of Greenville, Greenville County and Greenlink transit had applied for $12-$14 million to transform the Greenlink system from a local to a regional system with 10 electric buses, express routes and extended service hours.
Now that Greenlink will not receive the infusion of funding to jumpstart the process, it could use the anticipated match funding of approximately $11 million to implement the plan one route at a time, said Greenlink Executive Director Mark Rickards.
The system has been adding routes and was planning to extend to Fountain Inn and Travelers Rest even without the TIGER funds, said Rickards. The federal dollars would have accelerated the process, he said.
Greenlink can work through the Greenville Transit Authority, its governing body, to forge public-private partnerships for funding and support, he said. In addition, potential for partnerships with businesses and manufacturers exists to move workers to employment centers, he said. At this time, Rickards said he does not see state funding assistance as a possibility.
USDOT received 627 eligible applications requesting $10.1 billion, 20 times the funds available, federal officials said. Rural areas received 43 percent of the grant awards, a higher percentage than any previous year.
