Infrastructure

The toll of Hurricane Sandy on the Eastern Seaboard's transportation infrastructure underscores the need to fund both annual maintenance and "generational" infrastructure projects, said John Porcari of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Alabama prices $340 million of new Garvee bonds Wednesday as part of Gov. Robert Bentley's Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program.

Spending on transportation infrastructure construction is likely to grow a modest 3% next year to a total of $130.3 billion, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association's annual forecast.

The ability to fast-track stalled projects as well as create jobs is making the design-build-finance model attractive to states, panelists said at The Bond Buyer's annual transportation and P3 conference.

With Congress and the Obama administration honed in on resolving the national budget crisis and avoiding the fiscal cliff, it's unlikely the already squeezed transportation sector will avoid a hit, predicted sector specialist Jane Garvy.

Panelists at the Bond Buyer's annual transportation and P3 conference said the newly expanded TIFIA program, combined with private activity bonds and yield-hungry investors are powerful tools for governments embarking on public-private transportation projects.

President Obama should seek federally-subsidized infrastructure bonds, a national infrastructure bank, and standardization of state tolling authority to help accomplish his infrastructure investment goals, the Center for American Progress said in a new report.

Rep. Bill Shuster appears to have secured his chairmanship of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee after receiving the blessing of current chairman John Mica.

There is more new leadership at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, as the group voted this week to elect Rhode Island Transportation Director Michael Lewis as the association's president for the next year.

The impact of the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff could devastate U.S. debt-financed infrastructure if Congress fails to find an alternative combination of cuts and revenue measures, Fitch Ratings said Monday.

Two Virginia groups representing local governments have joined the opposition to Gov. Bob McDonnell's and the state Department of Transportation's plan to toll Interstate 95.

A congressional panel grilled members of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board Friday morning in a hearing called to examine a scathing report on the bond-issuing agency's ethical practices and policies.

A federal loan program for water infrastructure projects is close to reality after getting a push from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing Thursday.

The board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority voted Wednesday to increase rates on the Dulles Toll Road, calling it necessary to finance part of the mostly bond-funded and highly controversial Silver Line rail extension to Dulles International Airport.

Frederick "Bud" Wright is expected to become the new executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officers early next year, sources said Tuesday.

The federal government should both exempt private activity bonds from the alternative minimum tax and create a national public-private partnership office to help state and local governments put deals together according to Brookings Institution reports issued Tuesday.

California's non-partisan Legislative Analyst said the state's use of public-private partnerships has fallen short by using unclear processes and picking unsuitable projects.

Rep. Bill Shuster, R- Pa., announced on Thursday his candidacy to serve as chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

John Horsley and Jack Basso will take about 90 years of experience with them when they retire from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in February, and the two are disappointed to be stepping away from a very uncertain future.

New York City Housing Development Corp. president Marc Jahr has been tapped as the chairman of the interim executive committee of Municipal Bonds for America, a coalition formed to stave off threats to tax exemption.