Transportation industry

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $30.1 billion of outstanding debt contains about $5.2 billion of variable-rate debt, of which $3 billion is in synthetic fixed-rate mode achieved through interest-rate swaps, according to a derivatives portfolio report.

DALLAS - With financing already in place, the Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday agreed to begin seeking design-build credentials for an $815 million network of interstate highway interchanges and bridges in Dallas.

A new poll shows that a statewide ballot initiative to limit highway tolls in Washington has lost traction with voters, according to the Seattle Times.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is said to be chugging ahead with an outside-the-box - and outside-the-state - proposal to further extend the No. 7 subway line to New Jersey, according to a New York Post report that said he will spend the next few months planning for it.

DALLAS - Two members of the North Texas Tollway Authority board are expected to submit resignations unrelated to a current Federal Bureau of Investigation probe of the board's business practices, according to reports.

CHICAGO - Reversing a recent decision, the Obama administration Monday said Ohio could use a small federal grant to finance Republican Gov. John Kasich's effort to privatize the Ohio Turnpike.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The North Carolina Turnpike Authority expects to move forward as soon as possible with the remainder of the financing for its second toll road following Tuesday's final judgment in a federal case that stalled the project for nearly a year.

Fitch Ratings last week affirmed its AA rating on $590 million of revenue bonds issued by the Ohio Turnpike Commission and revised its outlook to stable from negative.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded the town of Port Huron in eastern Michigan to A-plus from AA-minus, affecting $24 million of general obligation bonds.

CHICAGO - The Chicago Transit Authority heads to market as soon as Wednesday with $456 million of sales tax revenue bonds and as much as $96 million of new-money and refunding capital grant-backed bonds to fund the purchase of rail cars.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority is under fire from Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs for what she describes as an aggressive financing structure that backfired.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Friday he will schedule a vote the week of Oct. 31 on a bill that would provide $60 billion for transportation and infrastructure and authorize the establishment of a national infrastructure bank.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday named Madison Square Garden executive and former New York City deputy mayor Joseph Lhota to succeed Jay Walder as the chairman and chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

DALLAS - Some board members of the North Texas Tollway Authority appear to have conflicts of interest involving business ties or family members, but the agency lacks clear policies regulating the conflicts, according to a consultant's review.

With the transportation sector highly correlated with the broader economy, airports are looking to gross domestic product and unemployment estimates to determine their own levels of performance.

Moody's Investors Service dropped the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority one notch to A2 on Tuesday, citing a lighter traffic outlook, reduced revenue support from the state, and deep exposure to variable-rate debt and swaps.

CHICAGO - The chair of a Senate subcommittee in Michigan Wednesday abruptly put off a key vote on a $4 billion, partly bond-funded bridge linking Detroit and Canada.

DALLAS - With its first financing for a project in Fort Worth, the North Texas Tollway Authority is expanding its role as the major regional road builder as it faces new scrutiny over its business practices.

The Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp. plans a $1 billion sale of senior revenue bonds through negotiated bid Wednesday after a one-day retail period, primarily to fund the extension of New York City's No. 7 subway line.

DALLAS - Texas Gov. Rick Perry's office rejected doubling the salary of the Texas Department of Transportation's executive director but did authorize a salary above a statutory maximum of $292,500, officials said.