Transportation industry

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority plans a $415.6 million sale of Series 2012A assessment bonds on Thursday, after a one-day retail period.

CHICAGO — Ohio State University on Friday is expected to tap a private investor that has offered $483 million in cash to take over the school’s parking system for 50 years in a deal that would make OSU the first public university to privatize such an asset.

Federal transportation officials said they want additional information before committing funds to a proposed light-rail line financed by private investors along one of Detroit's main thoroughfares.

Chicago is challenging $50 million in reimbursement payments sought by the private consortium that leases the city’s parking meter system.

DALLAS — The Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority, which feeds suburban traffic to the Harris County toll system in the Houston area, is advance refunding $119 million of debt while continuing its expansion.

WASHINGTON — Private firms have until July 12 to submit bids to operate the Port of Virginia as part of a public-private partnership, an opportunity created by the Virginia Department of Transportation after it received an unsolicited P3 proposal.

Austin voters won’t see a proposal to authorize $275 million of general obligation bonds for a light-rail system on the November ballot, Mayor Lee Leffingwell said last week.

CHICAGO – The Chicago Transit Authority Friday unveiled plans for a $500 million overhaul of its bus fleet by 2014.

The board of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has added TD Securities to its approved pool of variable-rate remarketing agents and dealers, after the MTA’s finance committee signed off on the move.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley Thursday selected 105 road and bridge improvement projects for the first round of funding in the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program, or ATRIP.

CHICAGO — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is reportedly close to reaching a final agreement with Canada on a long-stalled $4 billion trade bridge spanning the Detroit River at the nation’s busiest trade route.

WASHINGTON — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels made the rounds in the nation’s capitol Thursday, urging lawmakers to pass a transportation bill friendly to public-private partnerships and telling reporters that he fears there might not be a bill at all.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad this week signed an agreement with the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority to build the long-planned $1.9 billion Wekiva Parkway.

The New York State Thruway Authority, faced with refinancing $868 million of short-term debt next month and a declining debt-service coverage ratio, is taking steps toward future toll hikes.

The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board prices the biggest deal of the week, selling $600 million of capital projects revenue bonds.

Between 3% and 8% of federal money earmarked for the highway system since 2010 has gone to waste on inactive projects, according to a new GAO Report, which cites lax federal oversight and recommends a narrower role for the FHA.

Part of a noise-mitigation plan for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has fallen apart after the Federal Aviation Administration disapproved portions of it.

The Federal Highway Administration last week approved the location of the $1.9 billion Wekiva Parkway, a 27-mile toll road that would complete a beltway around western metropolitan Orlando.

CHICAGO — The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is bringing $41.7 million of highly rated sales-tax-backed bonds to market Thursday.

Tulsa County, Okla., officials are considering a $340 million package intended to keep American Airlines and other aviation-related businesses at Tulsa International Airport.