Transportation industry

The nascent nationwide push for high-speed rail still needs a specific funding plan and a mix of federal, local and private sources are now being explored, U.S. Department of Transportation officials said yesterday.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed Tuesday appointed Robert Kennedy as acting general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, effective June 30.

With an eye toward reducing risk and increasing returns, the Florida State Board of Administration last week voted to revise investment strategies at the country’s fourth-largest public pension fund and to invest in infrastructure projects, including airports and roads.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation Monday announced the appointment of Sandra Burgess as the new director of its public-private partnership program.

The Michigan Department of Transportation last week released revenue projections for a second bridge spanning the Detroit River as the Senate gears up for one of the most debated and controversial votes of the session.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority in central Florida today hopes to begin retail pricing of a two-pronged transaction — including up to $250 million of fixed-rate refunding revenue bonds and a restructuring of $250 million of variable-rate bonds with the termination of associated swaps.

A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official reassured New Jersey lawmakers yesterday that the agency is moving quickly to update or replace the Bayonne Bridge, a move that would potentially increase shipping activity in the area.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin will competitively sell $800 million of one-year operating notes tomorrow and is gearing up to issue about $200 million of new-money transportation revenue bonds next month, while a planned general obligation refunding remains on hold.

Transportation stakeholders are concerned that the Obama administration has not released a set of reauthorization principles by the time Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said it would.

WASHINGTON — A group of Senate Democrats sent a letter yesterday to Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., urging them to add billions of dollars for transportation-related investments to the draft climate and energy bill the two recently unveiled.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants ideas on how to create a new credit with revenue streams enacted in last year’s state bailout, according to its first request for proposals for underwriting services in five years.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Kentucky Turnpike Authority plans to begin pricing $334.2 million of new-money and refunding revenue bonds Monday for in-state retail investors. Final pricing is expected Tuesday.

The Georgia Transportation Investment Act of 2010, signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue last week, seeks to make the biggest investment in state transportation infrastructure in the last 50 years.

CHICAGO — The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will enter the market as soon as tomorrow with roughly $400 million of fixed-rate refunding bonds, the first of two sales planned this year to restructure a chunk of the agency’s synthetically fixed-rate debt to reduce bank and liquidity risks.

Puerto Rico will refund prior Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority debt next week before heading to market with a combined new-money and refunding sales-tax bond deal.

DALLAS — The Louisiana House Ways and Means Committee has backed an 11-point outline of how the state should finance transportation projects.

Demand for federal high-speed rail funds has once again exceeded supply, as the Federal Railroad Administration confirmed this week that 23 states flooded it with a$137 million of applications for proposed projects.

The global airline industry is expected to post a large profit this year and see a significant increase in passenger traffic, an airline trade group announced yesterday.

Heavy-load road traffic associated with natural gas drilling in northwest Arkansas is causing highway damage that will cost much more to repair than the state highway department is receiving from the severance tax on gas.

WASHINGTON — State and local groups are bringing their concerns to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s upcoming TIGER II grants — $600 million to be distributed to highways, bridges, transit, freight and passenger rail, and ports — with ports requesting at least one-quarter of the money.