Transportation industry

WASHINGTON - There are perceptible signs that a long-awaited surface transportation bill may actually be approved by Congress early next year.

DALLAS - Oklahoma would replace or rebuild 706 sub-par bridges on state highways by 2019 without raising taxes or fees under a modernization plan outlined Monday by Gov. Mary Fallin.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Ten volunteers are interested in serving on the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority that oversees the defaulted bonds sold to build the 3.5-mile-long tolled Garcon Point Bridge in North Florida.

DALLAS - Two former aides to Texas Gov. Rick Perry now hold top positions at the Texas Department of Transportation after former energy lobbyist and secretary of state Phil Wilson was named the agency's executive director.

The City Council in financially strapped Harrisburg is considering a series of bills to increase parking revenue.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners advanced a capacity planning study that will deal with the five airports under its jurisdiction.

Fitch Ratings warned it may have to lower ratings on Garvee bonds if Congress only approves more short-term extensions of a surface transportation bill through 2012 instead of a multi-year bill.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Toll Authority voted Wednesday to try to buy an office building in San Francisco using bridge toll dollars despite a pending audit.

CHICAGO - Ohio State University's plan to privatize its parking system advanced this week when the school posted a request for qualifications for firms interested in the asset.

The capital program is the "front and center challenge" for New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, outgoing chairman Jay Walder said Wednesday.

DALLAS - Dallas Area Rapid Transit plans a 16% increase in debt service as it continues to expand its light-rail system under the fiscal 2012 budget that begins Saturday.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is suffering from an extreme cash-flow problem, but Gov. Nikki Haley has said she opposes raising the state gasoline tax as a solution.

A new rail alternative for downtown Raleigh has emerged from public comments related to the Southeast High-Speed Rail corridor, according to North Carolina transportation officials.

DALLAS - The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority will reduce its exposure to the vagaries of variable-rate debt and cut its debt service costs with next week's negotiated sale of $521.7 million of revenue refunding bonds.

DALLAS - The Arizona Transportation Board is scheduled to sell $164.5 million of excise tax revenue bonds in a competitive deal Tuesday.

House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., has been given the go-ahead by leadership to include $15 billion more for transportation programs in his multi-year bill, if he can find the revenue, sources said.

Six finalists are in the running for a contract to privatize Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority and the Puerto Rico Ports Authority have announced.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors approved plans last Thursday to issue $250 million of bonds.

The Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp. expects to price $1 billion of new- money bonds the week of Oct. 17 to benefit the extension of the No. 7 subway line in New York City’s transit system from its current terminus on Eighth Avenue to the Hudson Yards redevelopment area.

DALLAS - With its debt already at a record level, the North Texas Tollway Authority waived a $3.2 billion project offered by the Texas Department of Transportation.