Transportation industry

CHICAGO — Chicago has backed off from its plan to sell $1.1 billion of O’Hare International Airport bonds next week as it fights a lawsuit filed by the airport’s two largest carriers challenging its authority to finish work on an $8 billion expansion plan without airline consent.

Attracting private-sector investment is a key element to building a high-speed rail system in the Northeast, witnesses and Congress members said Thursday at a hearing in New York City.

Moody’s Investors Service is considering downgrading the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey because of its need to continue borrowing money to finance transportation projects even as toll collections and airport fees grow slowly.

New Jersey Transit formally rejected a $271 million repayment demand Tuesday from the Federal Transit Administration, which is seeking to recover funds allocated for a canceled $8.7 billion mass-transit tunnel.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has named three consortiums seeking to bid on the Atlanta Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal project.

Without more revenue, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will exhaust its capacity to bond for new projects after 2014, MTA officials said Monday.

CHICAGO — Attorneys for Chicago and O’Hare International Airport’s two largest carriers will return to court next month as a standoff over the final phase of an $8 billion expansion plan continues.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to competitively market $300 million of tax-exempt bonds on Thursday.

New Jersey is looking for a private operator to collect tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and the Atlantic City Expressway.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Washington priced more than $452 million of general obligation bonds Wednesday in competitive deals that drew multiple bids, even as lawmakers continued to haggle over the state’s growing budget deficit.

CHICAGO — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, in his first state of the state address, revived a controversial proposal to create a public-private partnership to build and operate a bridge connecting Detroit and Canada — the nation’s busiest trade crossing.

The recession appears to have ended at the West Coast’s largest container ports.

WASHINGTON — House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica said Wednesday that he will introduce a multiyear surface transportation bill later this year that includes Build America Bonds.

The New York State Thruway Authority on Wednesday approved up to $525 million of new-money bonds and up to $250 million of refunding bonds secured by the state’s highway and bridge trust fund.

BRADENTON, Fla. — North Florida’s Mid-Bay Bridge Authority expects to price $170 million of new and refunding springing-lien revenue bonds Thursday.

CHICAGO — American Airlines and United Airlines on Tuesday sued Chicago to block its financing of remaining projects under an $8 billion expansion program at O’Hare International Airport ahead of the city’s planned sale of $1.1 billion of passenger facility charge-backed bonds next month.

CHICAGO — American Airlines and United Airlines on Tuesday sued Chicago to block its financing of remaining projects under an $8 billion expansion program at O’Hare International Airport ahead of the city’s sale of $1.1 billion of passenger facility charge-backed bonds next month.

DALLAS — Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will launch a seven-year project to remodel its four original ­terminals next month. But despite the $2.3 billion cost, officials do not expect 2011 to be a year of heavy bond issuance for new money.

WASHINGTON — Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell touted his $4 billion transportation spending plan ­Wednesday during a state of the commonwealth speech in which the Republican reaffirmed his intention to privatize state liquor stores and proposed a state employee contribution plan to ­reduce the retirement pension ­liability.

CHICAGO — Fitch Ratings on Wednesday lowered its rating on O’Hare International Airport’s upcoming $1.1 billion issue of passenger facility charge bonds by two notches due to the airport’s increased leverage as Chicago seeks to fund remaining projects under an $8 billion expansion without airline support.