Transportation industry

North Carolina Gov. Beverley Perdue Tuesday released a budget proposal for fiscal 2011 that includes no additional bond issuance, but creates a new fund for transportation projects. The plan, which would amend the state’s biennial budget passed last year, closes a $1.2 billion budget gap.

DALLAS — Without a sales tax increase, the Denver area’s FasTracks transit system — originally designed as a 12-year project — would not be completed until 2042, according to the Regional Transportation District.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation yesterday released a plan that provides a framework for potential rail development during the next 25 years.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last week announced a $12.8 billion highway improvement program for fiscal 2011 through 2016 that’s projected to create 167,000 jobs.

WASHINGTON — Real estate investment trusts could be the next frontier for infrastructure financing, according to a report released yesterday by Deloitte LLP, a member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss association. But legislation is needed to clarify questions of eligibility if public-sector entities want to secure REIT investments, the report said.

The director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation told highway commissioners last week that any more cuts in state funding could halt a planned sale of $150 million of bonds.

The North Little Rock City Council last week unanimously approved a proposal by Mayor Patrick Hays to issue $7 million of five-year sales tax bonds that will provide $750,000 for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Arkansas River.

The Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance will hold four meetings across Arkansas in May to get public input on its proposals for financing state and local highway and street projects.

Jay Walder, chairman and chief executive officer of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, last week urged the municipal finance community to continue to support capital funding for mass-transit projects despite the economic downturn.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has appointed E. Lynn Hampton interim president and chief executive officer effective May 9.

CHICAGO — A merger between United Airlines and US Airways would hit the smaller hub airports where the two operate hardest as the carriers would likely move to consolidate those bases, Moody’s Investors Service warned in a new report on the potential credit impact of a union between the two.

WASHINGTON — Infrastructure in the U.S., especially for water systems and surface transportation, is desperately in need of investment, the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young declared this week. Their report criticized governments from the local to federal levels for their sluggish movement toward transportation and infrastructure financing reform.

Governors Chris Gregoire of Washington and Ted Kulongoski of Oregon this week appointed an eight-member panel of experts to review plans to build a new bridge across the Columbia River.

Innovative financing tools for transportation projects — including an array of different types of bonds — should be expanded and grouped into a centralized department at the federal level, state and local officials told House panel members yesterday.

New Jersey Transit yesterday approved a system-wide fare increase of 22% to generate $126.6 million of new revenue and help close the agency’s estimated $300 million fiscal 2011 deficit.

WASHINGTON — Amtrak wants to become a major player in creating a national high-speed rail network, as states continue to jockey for funding from the federal government and potentially offer up their own bonds to help cover construction costs.

CHICAGO — While the market’s attention is focused on Chicago’s sale of more than $1 billion of new-money and refunding debt for O’Hare International Airport this week, the city is also preparing to refund and reoffer pieces of its Midway Airport debt it had hoped to retire with its now-stalled plan to privatize the facility.

A U.S. district court judge last week dismissed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that contested its right to collect toll revenues that secure more than $900 million of MWAA's outstanding bonds. The bond proceeds are helping to finance the system's expansion of rail service to Washington Dulles International Airport.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week approved a five-year, $3.8 billion capital spending plan that includes $800 million of bonds to support mass transit infrastructure improvements in the greater Boston area.

Ohio next week will price $170 million of taxable Build America Bonds that feature the state's highest credit rating to finance improvement projects.