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Program / BUILD
BUILD / RAISE Grants
USDOT's flagship competitive grant for surface transportation projects with significant local or regional impact, open to a broad range of public applicants. VerisGov maps the structure and keeps the moving parts current.
At a glance
- Program
- BUILD (formerly RAISE, formerly TIGER); statutorily the Local and Regional Project Assistance program.
- Administering agency
- Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
- Statutory authority
- 49 U.S.C. 6702 (Local and Regional Project Assistance), codified by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- Funding mechanism
- Competitive discretionary grant awarded through a Notice of Funding Opportunity; funded through appropriations.
- Money flow
- USDOT solicits applications, scores them against statutory merit criteria, and awards grants directly to selected eligible entities; awards typically require a non-federal match.
- Who has a stake
- States, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations and regional bodies, transit and port authorities, federally recognized Tribes, and the engineering and planning firms that develop applications.
What it is
BUILD, the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development program, is a competitive discretionary grant run by the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation. It funds surface transportation capital projects that deliver significant local or regional impact and that often cross the boundaries of the traditional highway, transit, rail, and port funding silos. The program carries a long lineage: it was previously known as RAISE and, before that, as TIGER.
For most of its history the program ran on annual appropriations acts without standing authorization. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act changed that by codifying it as the Local and Regional Project Assistance program at 49 U.S.C. 6702, giving it a permanent statutory home while it continues to be funded through appropriations. Because it is discretionary, USDOT issues a Notice of Funding Opportunity, applicants submit competing project proposals, and the Department selects awards against statutory merit criteria such as safety, state of good repair, economic competitiveness, mobility, and environmental and quality-of-life outcomes.
Eligibility is unusually broad for a USDOT program. States, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, units of local government, public agencies and publicly chartered authorities, special-purpose districts and port authorities, transit agencies, federally recognized Tribes, and multijurisdictional groups of these entities can all apply. The program reserves portions of funding for rural and urban areas and applies different minimum award sizes to each, which shapes how smaller and more rural applicants compete.
Key facts
- Program BUILD (formerly RAISE, formerly TIGER); statutorily the Local and Regional Project Assistance program.
- Administering agency Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
- Statutory authority 49 U.S.C. 6702 (Local and Regional Project Assistance), codified by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- Funding mechanism Competitive discretionary grant awarded through a Notice of Funding Opportunity; funded through appropriations.
- Money flow USDOT solicits applications, scores them against statutory merit criteria, and awards grants directly to selected eligible entities; awards typically require a non-federal match.
- Who has a stake States, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations and regional bodies, transit and port authorities, federally recognized Tribes, and the engineering and planning firms that develop applications.
What it funds
- Highway and bridge projects with local or regional significance
- Public transportation, passenger rail, and freight rail projects
- Port and intermodal infrastructure, including inland ports and land ports of entry
- Multimodal and surface transportation components of larger projects, including projects on Tribal land
Always current
What VerisGov keeps current
The facts above hold for years. These move, and they are where most of the work is. The engine tracks each one against its government source, so what you see is the live state, not a snapshot that quietly went out of date.
- Current and upcoming Notice of Funding Opportunity, application deadlines, and selection announcements
- Minimum and maximum award sizes and the rural and urban funding splits in effect
- The annual appropriated funding level and any program-name or priority changes
- Required non-federal match percentages and any waivers for rural, Tribal, or disadvantaged applicants
How VerisGov covers it
The same engine runs on this program that runs on every domain: find the primary sources, verify and source-pin each fact, and productize it into something your team can use.
VERIFY
Verify and source-pin each fact
Every figure, rule, and deadline is checked against its government source and pinned to it, so a claim on the page traces back to the document it came from. When a detail is uncertain, it stays qualitative.
PRODUCTIZE
Productize it for your team
The verified corpus becomes a navigator, dashboard, report, dataset, or custom build, shaped to how your team works and refreshed as the program moves.
Pinned to records published by
- U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Office of the Secretary
- State, local, and Tribal applicants
Answers
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BUILD, RAISE, and TIGER?
They are the same program under different names over time. It launched as TIGER, was renamed RAISE, and is currently branded BUILD. Statutorily it is the Local and Regional Project Assistance program at 49 U.S.C. 6702.
Who can apply for a BUILD grant?
A wide range of public entities: states, territories, local governments, public agencies and authorities, special-purpose and port districts, transit agencies, federally recognized Tribes, and multijurisdictional groups of these.
Is BUILD competitive or formula-based?
It is competitive and discretionary. USDOT publishes a Notice of Funding Opportunity, applicants submit project proposals, and the Department selects awards against statutory merit criteria.
How does VerisGov help with BUILD / RAISE?
VerisGov maps the durable structure, the statutory home at 49 U.S.C. 6702, the USDOT role, and the competitive mechanism, and keeps the volatile details current: the notice of funding opportunity and deadlines, award sizes and rural-urban splits, funding levels, and match rules. Every fact is pinned to its source.
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