Transportation industry

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.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett appointed Charles Kopp, Boise Butler 3d, John Soroko and James Shacklett 3d to four-year terms on the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.

President Obama approved New York State’s request to expedite the review and approval process to allow work to begin on the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge between Westchester and Rockland counties.

The New York City Transitional Finance Authority sold $758 million of future tax-secured, fixed-rate subordinate bonds last week by negotiated sale.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced the award of $5 million to 11 cities, towns, and regional planning organizations for transit-oriented development aimed at improving links between communities and their transportation infrastructure.

BRADENTON, Fla. - After nearly 10 months of inaction, investors of the defaulted bonds issued by North Florida's Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority may see restructuring negotiations get under way now that a governing board is in place.

DALLAS - Phil Wilson, a former aide to Gov. Rick Perry recently named executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, should be paid twice as much as his predecessor, according to the new chairman of the board that oversees TxDOT.

Anchorage will drop its lawsuit against the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, which is proposing a controversial public-private toll bridge project, according to published reports.

DALLAS - Standard & Poor's on Wednesday lowered its rating on the Arizona Transportation Board's subordinate-lien highway revenue bonds to AA-plus from AAA with a negative outlook.

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee warned Wednesday that "a national infrastructure bank as proposed" in President Obama's jobs bill "is dead on arrival in the House of Representatives."