Infrastructure

After nearly three years of overseeing New Jersey's roads, bridges, and mass transit systems, Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri will head the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, a revamped agency that many hope will move away from its previous history of fiscal mismanagement.

WASHINGTON - Credit agencies are monitoring their ratings on transit agency leaseback transactions at a time when they are at growing risk of having to cough up billions of dollars as lease agreements with private investors go into default because of insurers' rating downgrades.

Atlanta on Friday closed on a private placement of $64.5 million of tax allocation district bonds for its ambitious BeltLine project, after the size of the offering was scaled back in recent weeks due to the liquidity crisis and market volatility.

WASHINGTON - Just one day after his historic win to become the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama was choosing staff, setting up a transition team, and preparing to work with the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve on the financial crisis, according to sources and public statements.

The Virginia Department of Transportation turned over control of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Monday, moving forward on a $5.2 billion Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport and $2 billion of tax-exempt bonds that will finance it.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Democratic state Sen. Dave Aronberg was reelected this week, giving him the chance to follow through with legislation aimed at curtailing the use of transportation-related public-private partnerships in Florida.

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Democratic leaders said yesterday that they will push for a second economic stimulus package when Congress returns to Washington for a lame-duck session on Nov. 17.

Despite a faltering national economy, voters by and large gave a very favorable reception to bond referendums on Tuesday's ballot.

CHICAGO - The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority expects to enter the market today with between $300 million and $400 million of fixed-rate, new-money revenue bonds to raise funds for its ongoing $6.2 billion rebuilding of the tollway system.

WASHINGTON - More than three years after its creation, the Department of Transportation's $15 billion private-activity bond program designed to help states and localities finance infrastructure through private investment - a program that DOT officials want to expand - has resulted in only one $589 million transaction.