Audrey Dutton

WASHINGTON — A high-level Department of Transportation official told lawmakers yesterday that the Obama administration will support “ambitious local initiatives” for large-scale projects, such as a 12-line transit project in Los Angeles.

Congressional foot-dragging on federal transportation policy reverberated again at the state level this week, as the Missouri Department of Transportation decided not to put projects out for bids, making March the second consecutive month the state canceled bids due to federal funding uncertainty.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will unveil its principles for a new multi-year transportation bill within the next 90 days, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters yesterday at a conference here sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

WASHINGTON — Multiple factors such as the lack of a White House proposal and a public push-back against gas-tax hikes or new mileage fees are working against the passage of a new multiyear transportation bill, market participants warned yesterday at a conference here sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

WASHINGTON — States could lose $768 million of highway funds this week and be forced to delay or cancel projects due to the failure of Congress to approve a short-term extension of federal aid to states, state officials and transportation advocates said Monday.

WASHINGTON — States will not receive highway payments from the federal government starting today because of the Senate’s inability to clear a temporary extension of aid to states, although payments could resume this week, according to market sources.

WASHINGTON - States will not receive highway payments from the federal government starting Monday because of the Senate’s inability to clear a temporary extension of federal aid to states, although payments may resume next week.

WASHINGTON — A Fitch Ratings report released this month lengthens the shadow cast over transportation credits by the economic downturn. However, the agency predicted an eventual upturn for seaports.

The House and Senate are hurtling toward a deadline this weekend to extend the current surface transportation law, but bills pending in each chamber differ significantly in how funds would be allocated to the states.

The horizon continues to appear gloomy for state and local governments heading into 2010, with two reports by Fitch Ratings and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government this week predicting another year of crunched state and local finances.

WASHINGTON — The total budget hole for state and local governments in fiscal 2011 is “approaching $150 billion,” Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody’s Economy.com, said in an interview Thursday.

State and local transportation authorities in more than 40 states will receive a total of $1.5 billion in grant or loan subsidy funds to support 51 projects that range from port revitalization to toll roads and streetcars.

WASHINGTON --The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced 51 projects that will receive grants from the $1.5 billion Transportation Investment Generation Economic Recovery, or TIGER, program.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation plans to announce the award of stimulus grants to help fund more than 50 projects across the country, senior Obama administration officials said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — A mileage-based revenue system to fund federally assisted transportation projects could be implemented within about five years, the RAND Corp. said in a report released online last week.

Moody’s Investors Service issued a report this week warning that it remains pessimistic about airports and is keeping a negative outlook based on expectations for the next 12 to 18 months.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Federal Railroad Administration is currently evaluating options states could use to build high-speed rail, including ways to encourage multi-state projects, deputy administrator Karen Rae said in an interview yesterday.

Policymakers should allocate 25% of all federal transportation funding to competitive programs across all modes of travel as they consider overhauling federal laws, according to a recent report by the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats yesterday said they plan on Monday to take up the first of a series of jobs bills, which will include expansion of the Build America Bonds and TIGER grant programs, an extension of the transportation law, and transportation and water infrastructure funding.

Senate Democrats plan to unveil a “jobs agenda” as early as this morning that would extend surface transportation programs for a year, expand the Build America Bonds program, and augment the popular TIGER discretionary transportation grant program.