Transportation industry

Three Senate Democrats wrote to House Speaker John Boehner, urging him to restore transportation funding cut in pending House legislation.

The Ohio House last Thursday passed legislation that would allow the state to issue $1.5 billion of bonds backed by a new Ohio Turnpike credit.

A judge last week agreed to allow a lawsuit to proceed that challenges Chicago's 99-year, $563 million lease of four downtown parking garages to a private consortium.

Indiana embarks on its first public-private partnership that is structured with availability payments next week as it borrows $641 million of private activity bonds for its half of the $2.6 billion, bi-state Ohio River Bridges project.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials expressed dismay Monday over a House bill for a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government.

Moody's Investors Service has given its stamp of approval to Virginia's new transportation funding plan, saying that it is a credit positive for the commonwealth at a time when it is highly exposed to risk from federal cuts.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board has approved refunding up to $1 billion of debt in a deal led by Goldman Sachs and Jefferies & Co. and assigned Morgan Stanley the lead spot on a future new-money deal that may tap the TIFIA program.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Portland Airport Enterprise's general airport revenue bonds to Baa1 from A3.

The Texas Department of Transportation will tap revenues from a high-speed tollway bypassing Austin to add tolled lanes to the city's airport.

Congressional staffers and finance experts speaking at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Washington Briefing said the outlook for highway funding is more uncertain than ever, while two transport-oriented lawmakers vowed to work across the aisle to make sure state and local officials have federal support.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said its mistakes in the design of the new Highway 520 floating bridge will costs tens of millions of dollars and delay construction.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced a five-year plan Monday to fix and repave 900 miles of road over the next three years.

The Chicago Transit Authority has tapped its CFO Karen Walker to lead the agency's public-private partnership efforts and has hired Ronald DeNard from the private sector to fill the CFO spot.

Two Democrats in the Senate who influence transportation policy have introduced legislation to create the American Infrastructure Investment Fund, a $10 billion infrastructure bank.

Moody's Investors Service announced Wednesday that it has changed its outlook for the airport sector to stable from negative, where it had been since August 2008.

The Georgia House has passed a bill that would revamp governance of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, privatize some services, and impose tighter restrictions on the issuance of bonds.

Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla is going ahead with privatizing Puerto Rico's main airport.

The sequestration cuts scheduled to take effect March 1 could throw the muni market into uncertainty and slam the air transport sector, according to market groups and public officials.

Chicago received 16 responses in its first market outreach to identify prospective bidders in a possible deal to privatize Midway International Airport, according to the city's chief financial officer Lois Scott.

The Virginia General Assembly gave final approval on Saturday to legislation that is projected to raise more than $800 million for transportation over the next five years.