Infrastructure

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week approved a five-year, $3.8 billion capital spending plan that includes $800 million of bonds to support mass transit infrastructure improvements in the greater Boston area.

Ohio next week will price $170 million of taxable Build America Bonds that feature the state's highest credit rating to finance improvement projects.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 27 transportation, labor, and other groups are urging lawmakers drafting climate and energy legislation that could impose a carbon tax on gasoline to ensure any resulting tax revenue would be funneled into the highway trust fund instead of other programs.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority meets today to continue working on a $4.1 billion plan of finance to build two new bridges across the Ohio River between the two states, and to reconfigure a major intersection in Louisville. The bi-state agency's agenda will include discussion about the selection of an advisory team.

CHICAGO — Federal officials yesterday announced $410 million in new funding to help support Chicago’s $8 billion runway expansion project at O’Hare International Airport, an award that comes one week ahead of the city’s sale of more than $1.1 billion of new-money and refunding O’Hare debt.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell yesterday called for a special legislative session to find $472.5 million for fiscal 2011 transportation needs as the Federal Highway Administration denied, for the second time, the state’s request to implement tolls on Interstate 80.

Americans, even in rural areas, overwhelmingly favor expanding public transportation such as rail or bus transit rather than highway construction, which traditionally has received much more funding, according to a recent national poll.

SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain, the commuter rail line that connects San Francisco to San Jose, is facing a fiscal crisis that could force it to cut half its service next year.

The Kansas Senate Transportation Committee has approved a proposed $8.2 billion, 10-year transportation program that includes $1.7 billion of bonding capacity for highways, rail, aviation, and mass transit efforts.

A study released last week by the Arizona Department of Transportation said the state’s 83 public airports would need $9.7 billion over the next 20 years to meet the demand for aviation services.