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A plan to increase tolls in Massachusetts is facing resistance from legislative leaders, while Gov. Deval Patrick works on a plan to dismantle the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority even though rising debt service costs necessitate additional revenue for the agency in the short term.

The once high-profile plan to use a public-private partnership to build a rail link between Oakland International Airport and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District’s rail system appears to have expired quietly.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled a beggar's budget yesterday that threatens draconian service cuts and fare and toll increases if it doesn't get help from the city, state and federal governments. In order to close a $1.2 billion gap in 2009, the MTA would reduce staff and cut subway lines and bus routes as well as hiking tolls and fares to yield an additional 23% of revenue.

CHICAGO - Chicago's $8 billion O'Hare International Airport runway reconfiguration and expansion program marked a major milestone yesterday with the official opening of the first new runway amid questions over airlines' financial support for the future phases of the massive construction project.

CHICAGO - The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board yesterday approved a $1.8 billion, bond-financed plan to build new interstate interchanges and add bus and ride-sharing commuter lanes - investments billed as the second phase of the $6.3 billion congestion-relief program now underway.

CHICAGO - A few months after postponing a $583 million bond sale and suffering downgrades from all three rating agencies, Royal Oak, Mich.-based Beaumont Hospitals this week announced a $60 million turnaround plan that will include layoffs, pay cuts, and a delay in construction projects.

The New York State Thruway Authority yesterday approved a $1.16 billion budget for 2009 that includes increased bonding over the current year.

CHICAGO - In the first deal of its kind, a Federal Home Loan Bank recently provided a letter of credit for a tax-exempt health care bond issue that participants said offers an attractive option for smaller issuers struggling to secure credit enhancement in the current market.

Any economic stimulus plan considered by Congress should include proposals for infrastructure spending and state aid, economists told members of the Senate Budget Committee at a hearing yesterday.

New Orleans will pay up to $79 million to buy 70 acres of land north of downtown for a planned Veterans Affairs hospital and to relocate the residents.

BRADENTON, Fla. - In a difficult market for issuers with top ratings, let alone a new credit with a large amount of debt to sell, the North Carolina Turnpike Authority hopes to get into the bond market early in December for its first-ever issuance - a $650 million deal to finance its first project.

CHICAGO - Michigan lawmakers are expected to tackle the issue of transportation funding in their upcoming lame-duck session, mulling a slew of new revenue options ranging from reconfiguring the state's gas tax and implementing tolls on major highways to hiking the sales tax.

CHICAGO - Fresh from approving fare increases to shore up its operating budget, the Chicago Transit Authority is expected to enter the market today with $175 million of grant-backed revenue bonds to speed up spending on capital projects.

As DHL Express prepares to cut up to 9,500 jobs nationally, most of which would come from its hub in Wilmington, the company last week said it would be willing to donate its airport there to a public entity for redevelopment. The 2,200-acre DHL Air Park is currently the largest privately run airport in the county.

WASHINGTON - Almost a dozen transit agencies are pressing Senate Finance Committee leaders to severely limit what banks and other investors in leaseback deals can obtain from them as the transactions unwind because of insurer rating downgrades.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - Budget shortfalls and lack of access to capital markets for infrastructure projects may be sparking a transition period for financing that could ultimately prove beneficial for issuers over the long term, transportation experts said yesterday.

DALLAS - When the Texas Legislature opens in January, North Texas transportation planners will seek authority to create a tax base that could extend the region's growing network of passenger rail lines beyond existing transit districts and allow for the issuance of debt.

All of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's swaps are underwater, the authority said yesterday.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - Transportation projects may become increasingly funded by federal loans, a new crop of fees, and taxes, while private-sector financing may also need to become more inventive, analysts and officials said at a conference here yesterday.

The Phoenix City Council has raised the customer facility charge for car rentals at Sky Harbor International Airport to $6 per day from $4.50 to generate a debt service reserve fund of $21 million for the bond-financed facility.