FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The landscape of the city of Fort Lauderdale will be getting an upgrade in the coming years. The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced an $18 million TIGER grant to fund part of the Fort Lauderdale Wave Streetcar Project. The money will go toward the first phase of the project that will eventually have streetcars running along a 2.7-mile corridor in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

On Friday, June 22, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood visited Fort Lauderdale to officially announce the award. Joining him for the announcement were U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20), who has pushed for the project for seven years, along with Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-23) Broward County Commissioner Kristen Jacobs, Vice Mayor of Fort Lauderdale Charlotte Rodstrom, and Gregory Durden, the chairman of the Downtown Development Authority.

The project is expected to create 1,200 construction and related jobs, as well as 50 full-time permanent positions. The Wave continues the transformation of Broward County into a “livable community” – one which promotes transit-oriented development by enabling our residents to use a street car in place of single passenger vehicles to travel through the downtown Fort Lauderdale area.

The Wave has community partnerships with Broward County, The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), the State of Florida (FDOT), City of Fort Lauderdale, Downtown Development Authority, and the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization.

In February, Rep. Wasserman Schultz welcomed Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff for a roundtable discussion with all of the community partners and a tour of the proposed site for the Wave streetcar project.