Transportation industry

DALLAS — The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the first toll road agency of its kind in Texas, is looking for yield-hungry investors willing to take a risk on $374 million of revenue bonds at or below investment grade next week.

WASHINGTON — House Transportation Committee chairman John Mica wants to take the Northeast rail corridor away from Amtrak and privatize most of it to get true high-speed rail service — trains that can travel at 220 miles per hour.

Senate transportation committee leaders have agreed to fund the TIFIA program at $1 billion per year as part of a six-year highway and transit funding bill that they plan to introduce in two weeks.

The Illinois General Assembly recently passed legislation to establish a commission charged with recommending the best way to implement a public-private partnership to aid in financing, construction and operation of a high-speed rail system.

Oklahoma Lawmakers revived a bill authorizing a $70 million state road bond issue last week just 24 hours after the proposal was narrowly defeated.

The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority within the next three weeks will receive bids from private operators on a concession agreement for the island’s busiest toll road.

New Jersey needs to create new revenue streams to help support the state’s transportation infrastructure needs, according to a report released last week by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is looking for a new source of revenue to help pay for transportation projects.

WASHINGTON — Loudoun County, Va., is looking at the possible impact of withdrawing its funding for the Washington, D.C., Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

Uncertainty about federal highway funding is causing some states to turn from Garvee bonds to alternative financings, such as toll-backed debt and public-private partnerships, but issuers should be aware of the risks involved, Fitch Ratings warned Wednesday.

Georgia in June plans to sell between $90 million and $100 million of general obligation bonds as part of the financing for a $140 million highway designed to improve truck access at the Port of Savannah.

Top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee showed support for Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden’s transportation tax-credit bond proposal Tuesday, indicating for the first time that the GOP may back the taxable bonds if they don’t add to federal spending.

SAN FRANCISCO — Southern California’s San Joaquin Hills toll road has gotten a green light from bondholders to restructure $2 billion of debt that helps avoid a default.

The Toledo-Lucas Port Authority entered into a closing agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to preserve the tax-exempt status for $3.5 million of 2005 bonds after the IRS found they were taxable.

The United States “effectively shrugs off infrastructure” amid escalating government deficits and cash-strapped taxpayers, according to an annual report released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young on Monday.

DALLAS — A multibillion-dollar series of projects to reshape how travelers get to and through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport have all begun construction, with completion expected to take six years.

WASHINGTON — Prospects look dim for U.S. airports to obtain the authority to charge higher passenger facility charges, which would generate more revenue to back bond issues.

Senate Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller D-W.Va., introduced a bill Wednesday that would create a national infrastructure bank and fund it with $10 billion over two fiscal years.

Two Florida lawmakers who unsuccessfully sued Republican Gov. Rick Scott to prevent him from turning down $2.4 billion of federal funds for high-speed rail blasted the governor Monday when other states and Amtrak won the money.

CHICAGO — Struggling to meet traffic projections for its privately owned airport in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, Branson Airport LLC has won some breathing room from holders of $113 million of airport bonds under a forbearance agreement that staves off any enforcement actions.