Transportation industry

The New York Senate on Monday confirmed Gov. Andrew Cuomo's nomination of Joseph Lhota as chairman and chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs New York City's transit system.

WASHINGTON — Public-private partnerships do not necessarily supply more funds for highway construction than traditional government financing, and spending by the private party must be restricted by budget caps or legal limits for states and localities to see benefits from P3s, a Congressional Budget Office study concluded Monday.

The Indiana Finance Authority has issued a request for qualifications from legal firms interested in serving as transaction counsel on the state's portion of the $2.6 billion bi-state Ohio River Bridges project.

Standard & Poor's has placed the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority's grant anticipation revenue bonds on credit watch with negative implications.

Colorado Republican lawmakers plan to introduce a bill to restore a funding formula benefitting transportation construction that was repealed under 2009 legislation.

Standard & Poor’s last Thursday lowered its long-term and underlying rating on two series of Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority bonds just two weeks after Fitch Ratings affirmed the agency’s ratings.

A peer review panel has recommended California hold off on borrowing billions of dollars for its estimated $98 billion high-speed passenger rail project.

A bipartisan House duo has introduced legislation that would authorize up to $50 billion of tax-credit bonds to be used over six years to finance transportation infrastructure projects, mirroring a bill pending in the Senate and garnering support from lobbyists even as some question whether such bonds could overcome expected hesitancy from investors.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will receive $186 million to continue construction on a high-speed rail line linking Chicago with St. Louis, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Wednesday.

Indiana lawmakers returned to work Wednesday for a short session that begins with controversial labor legislation but will also likely include bills advancing a $1.3 billion bond-funded mass transit plan and raising more revenue for cash-strapped local governments.

Kentucky and Indiana officials announced last week that they reached consensus on a basic plan to finance and build the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges Project.

Amid the biggest building binge in its history, the North Texas Tollway Authority ranked as the top debt issuer in the Southwest in 2011, with more than $2.1 billion sold, according to Thomson Reuters.

Children’s Memorial Hospital’s plans to build a heliport on the roof of its partially bond-financed hospital under construction in downtown Chicago is being challenged by a community group.

The North Texas Tollway Authority board has agreed to pay legal fees for board member David Denison, who is involved in an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The San Diego Association of Governments approved the $345 million purchase of a bankrupt toll road from a private operator at its Dec. 16 board meeting.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority to A3 from A2.

Transportation officials and lobbyists will be watching Capitol Hill early next year, hoping lawmakers pass long-term reauthorization legislation funding aviation and surface programs that would bring much-needed stability to the sectors.

A Cook County Circuit Court judge last week dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority’s steep increase in tolls that will take effect Jan. 1 to fund a $12 billion capital program.

The Southern California Logistics Airport Authority has defaulted on more bonds after discovering it can't use reserves to make principal payments for some of its debt.

The Washington Department of Transportation is set to begin tolling on the State Route 520 floating bridge on Dec. 29.