Economy

Bonds from the Southern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will not be affected by a workers’ strike that halted Philadelphia’s subway and bus service beginning early Tuesday morning.

bus system.Prendergast comes to the MTA from the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, Vancouver’s mass transit system, also known as TransLink. He served as CEO since July 2008. Prior to TransLink, he had helped oversee infrastructure projects at Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc..

Pharmaceutical maker Theragen Inc. defaulted on outstanding Series 2005 bonds last week as Bank of Oklahoma NA, the trustee for the debt, announced that the company did not meet principal and interest payments due Nov. 1.

DALLAS — The $8 billion in federal stimulus funds earmarked for high-speed rail development in the United States is the first installment of a program that could reshape the nation’s transportation options as significantly as has the interstate highway system.

DALLAS — The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program is likely here to stay, though it is unclear how much funding it will receive in the future, federal officials said here yesterday.

The Bay Area Toll Authority this week began public hearings on proposed toll increases on seven state-owned toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Moody’s Investors Service Tuesday issued one-notch downgrades to bonds issued by Palomar Pomerado Health, a hospital district in San Diego County.

CHICAGO — The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will head into the market this fall with the sale of up to $300 million of toll-backed revenue bonds in a deal that will mark the final financing planned for its five-year-old $6 billion capital program.

Pushing principal and interest costs out to future years has weakened the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s balance sheet, with an independent report released yesterday estimating the mass transit agency faces a cumulative structural deficit of $1.19 billion by fiscal 2014.

CHICAGO — Voters in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan were in the mood to say yes Tuesday, approving bond issues for a new hospital in Indianapolis, a capital improvement plan for Detroit Public Schools, and a measure allowing casinos to set up shop in Ohio’s four largest cities.

Kentucky’s appointees to a bi-state authority that will determine how to finance the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project have been announced by Gov. Steve Beshear and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.

CHICAGO — Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy Hospital enters the market beginning today with a retail order period on its $180.7 million of new-money and refunding revenue bonds that will introduce fixed-rate bonds to the well-known hospital’s debt portfolio.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced the state would cut 700 positions, Medicaid payments, and school transportation funds to trim $204 million from the $23.7 billion budget for fiscal 2010.

SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa last week proposed borrowing to speed construction on $20 billion of mass transit projects approved by Los Angeles County voters last year.

WASHINGTON — The Georgia Department of Transportation is poised to launch a public-private partnership initiative it hopes will encompass 17 projects, including a multimodal passenger terminal in Atlanta, connector highways, toll roads and privatized highway rest stops.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick Friday announced five members to serve on the board of the state's new transportation bonding authority, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be looking across the pond for ideas on how to improve service and management and how to address its capital needs.

The Texas Department of Transportation is proposing $1.1 billion for the widening of heavily congested sections of Interstate 35 between Austin and Dallas using more than half of the so-called Proposition 12 bonds authorized by lawmakers.

The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City will begin a retail order period tomorrow for $85 million of bonds secured by a Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Thursday evening re-filed its application to the Federal Highway Administration to implement tolls on Interstate 80.