Transportation industry

The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority will price 262.3 million of bonds on behalf of 95 Express Lanes LLC next week, financing which is expected to pair with a $300 million federal loan for one of Virginia's biggest public-private partnerships.

Officials expect to accommodate large cargo ships traveling up the East Coast after the Panama Canal widens.

The importance of passenger facility fees, often used to back bonds, has grown in recent years and is likely to continue playing an expanding role in financing airport capital projects, according to a new Fitch Ratings report.

Two toll-road operators in the Houston area whose systems interlink will issue $379 million as the systems continue to expand in the suburbs of Texas' largest city.

Current revenues will curtail road building in Texas within a few years, according to testimony last week before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

The outlook for bond-financed transportation infrastructure remains stable, but could possibly see a downturn if the slow economic recovery loses momentum or if banks are downgraded. according to a new mid-year report from Fitch Ratings.

After a long, bumpy road, Gov. Tom Corbett signs a bill that establishes a framework for infrastructure public-private partnerships.

Nassau County received 13 responses to its request for information regarding a public-private partnership for its troubled sewer system.

An analysis of rating actions shows that public-private partnerships are highly exposed to the effects of downgrades and negatives outlooks applied to participants in the P3, according to a report from Moody's Investors Service released Thursday.

Aerostar Airport Holdings and Gruopo Aeuropuertos Avance submitted their proposals for a public-private partnership to run the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport this week.

Florida's most populous county, Miami-Dade County, plans to head to the bond market next week in search of investors for the county's transit bonds.

Denver's Regional Transportation District will decide by the end of the month whether to proceed with a $350 million light rail line through the suburb of Aurora after winning positive comments at a public hearing this week.

Big bond commitments will be a major piece of the funding puzzle when it comes to constructing a national high-speed rail system, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood affirmed Wednesday.

A Federal appeals court refused a rehearing on its decision to reject federal permits for North Carolina's Monroe Connector toll road.

The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority, Fla. missed its third bond payment on July 1 because toll revenues were insufficient to pay debt service, according to a market notice filed by Bank of New York Mellon.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed several pieces of legislation authorizing $1.6 billion in new state borrowing to finance transportation and transit projects and extending an increase in the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois' working cash notes limits.

Two Virginia authorities will price a total of more than $200 million of bonds in separate negotiated deals over the next week. The Virginia Resources Authority will price $81 million of bonds in a pool deal on behalf of 13 local issuers on July 12. In addition, the Commonwealth Transportation Board will sell $125.5 million of grant anticipation revenue bonds less than a week later.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder last week signed into law legislation that will set aside a portion of sales tax revenues for the cash-strapped transportation fund.

Moody's Revised its Outlook to Stable from Negative on A1-rated Indianapolis Airport Authority, citing strong financial performance.

The Massachusetts Port Authority, which needs to shuffle gates at Boston's airport to accommodate the United-Continental merger and JetBlue expansion, plans to sell $285 million in new money and refunding.