Transportation industry

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.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 27 transportation, labor, and other groups are urging lawmakers drafting climate and energy legislation that could impose a carbon tax on gasoline to ensure any resulting tax revenue would be funneled into the highway trust fund instead of other programs.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority meets today to continue working on a $4.1 billion plan of finance to build two new bridges across the Ohio River between the two states, and to reconfigure a major intersection in Louisville. The bi-state agency's agenda will include discussion about the selection of an advisory team.

CHICAGO — Federal officials yesterday announced $410 million in new funding to help support Chicago’s $8 billion runway expansion project at O’Hare International Airport, an award that comes one week ahead of the city’s sale of more than $1.1 billion of new-money and refunding O’Hare debt.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell yesterday called for a special legislative session to find $472.5 million for fiscal 2011 transportation needs as the Federal Highway Administration denied, for the second time, the state’s request to implement tolls on Interstate 80.

Americans, even in rural areas, overwhelmingly favor expanding public transportation such as rail or bus transit rather than highway construction, which traditionally has received much more funding, according to a recent national poll.

SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain, the commuter rail line that connects San Francisco to San Jose, is facing a fiscal crisis that could force it to cut half its service next year.

The Kansas Senate Transportation Committee has approved a proposed $8.2 billion, 10-year transportation program that includes $1.7 billion of bonding capacity for highways, rail, aviation, and mass transit efforts.

A study released last week by the Arizona Department of Transportation said the state’s 83 public airports would need $9.7 billion over the next 20 years to meet the demand for aviation services.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation announced Thursday that long-time agency member and former treasurer Earl Mahfuz had retired.