Rural infrastructure projects aimed at improving freight connectivity were among the recipients of U.S. Department of Transportation grants announced July 29.

The way the U.S. Department of Transportation puts it, communities of all sizes are seeking federal grant money to expand large-scale infrastructure projects of regional significance.

State governments have inundated the U.S. Department of Transportation with applications for TIGER grants, filing 625 applications worth $9.8 billion while DOT has only $500 million to disperse this year.

The Department of Transportation must improve how it chooses the winners of a popular grant program that has backed more than $4 billion in infrastructure projects since 2009, according to a federal watchdog.

Senate transportation funding leaders defended the need for the Department of Transportation’s popular infrastructure grant program and the way in which the department selects the grant winners, despite an effort by conservative lawmakers to significantly reduce the program’s funding allocation in recent years.

Senate appropriators on June 3 easily approved a $54.4 billion spending bill that would fund transportation and housing programs in fiscal 2015, and boost funding for a popular infrastructure grant program.

The U.S. Department of Transportation should establish new accountability measures for the grant program known as TIGER, including documenting how decisions are made to award grants, a new report from the General Accountability Office said.