Economy

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.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation announced Thursday that long-time agency member and former treasurer Earl Mahfuz had retired.

A labor union filed a lawsuit last week to try to stop a Bronx hospital from using recovery zone facility bonds to build a parking garage. The suit seeks an injunction to stop finalization of the financing and to require the public hearing process to begin again.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York gave final approval to $791.3 million of bonds at its board meeting yesterday, while also creating a finance committee as required under a public authorities reform measure enacted last year.

DALLAS — The Arizona Department of Transportation is developing a $4 billion plan to reduce congestion on freeways in Maricopa County with bonds backed by sales tax revenue.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation today will issue its first-ever bond transaction, a $274.7 million fixed-rate refinancing to generate savings.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded O’Hare International Airport’s passenger facility charge-backed bonds to A2 from A1 ahead of Chicago’s sale in mid-April of roughly $1.3 billion of new-money and refunding airport-related bonds.

DALLAS — As other Texas cities struggle to finance light-rail lines, El Paso is planning a much less costly bus rapid-transit system with vehicles that look like rail cars but travel on dedicated paved pathways.

Cincinnati-based Catholic Healthcare Partners has acquired Jewish Hospital, which will become part of CHP affiliate Mercy Health Partners of southwest Ohio.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission last week announced the resignation of Pete Rahn as head of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Fitch Ratings this week downgraded Marquette, a continuing-care retirement community located north of Indianapolis, to BBB from A-minus.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority last week picked Kristi Lafleur, a close aide of Gov. Pat Quinn, to become its new executive director.

Standard & Poor’s last week stripped Proctor Hospital of its investment-grade rating, downgrading the facility to BB-plus from BBB-minus due to three years of declining operations that have hurt its debt-service-coverage ratios.

SAN FRANCISCO — After California granted a franchise to build a private toll highway in San Diego County, it took almost 17 years before the 10-mile road opened to the public.

SAN FRANCISCO — When ­Wisconsin’s insurance regulator divided Ambac Assurance Corp.’s insurance portfolio into good and bad policies last week, municipal bonds issued for the bankrupt Las Vegas Monorail were the only muni debt placed into the Ambac rehabilitation account, which consists largely of the toxic mortgage-related securities that brought the company to its knees.

Texas Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security, said last week that the state must find a way to finance highway projects, including an increase in the gasoline tax.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plan to competitively sell $116.8 million of bonds on Wednesday to refund outstanding debt.

DALLAS — Faced with sharply falling revenue, Dallas Area Rapid Transit is considering delaying a key light-rail line to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, among other measures to reduce spending.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida’s largest ever public-private partnership — a $1.8 billion, limited-access toll road in Jacksonville — will begin moving forward soon.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week approved Richard Davey as general manager of the state’s largest mass-transit system.