Transportation industry

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.

DALLAS — The Arizona Department of Transportation is developing a $4 billion plan to reduce congestion on freeways in Maricopa County with bonds backed by sales tax revenue.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation today will issue its first-ever bond transaction, a $274.7 million fixed-rate refinancing to generate savings.

CHICAGO — Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded O’Hare International Airport’s passenger facility charge-backed bonds to A2 from A1 ahead of Chicago’s sale in mid-April of roughly $1.3 billion of new-money and refunding airport-related bonds.

DALLAS — As other Texas cities struggle to finance light-rail lines, El Paso is planning a much less costly bus rapid-transit system with vehicles that look like rail cars but travel on dedicated paved pathways.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission last week announced the resignation of Pete Rahn as head of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority last week picked Kristi Lafleur, a close aide of Gov. Pat Quinn, to become its new executive director.

SAN FRANCISCO — After California granted a franchise to build a private toll highway in San Diego County, it took almost 17 years before the 10-mile road opened to the public.

SAN FRANCISCO — When ­Wisconsin’s insurance regulator divided Ambac Assurance Corp.’s insurance portfolio into good and bad policies last week, municipal bonds issued for the bankrupt Las Vegas Monorail were the only muni debt placed into the Ambac rehabilitation account, which consists largely of the toxic mortgage-related securities that brought the company to its knees.

Texas Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security, said last week that the state must find a way to finance highway projects, including an increase in the gasoline tax.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plan to competitively sell $116.8 million of bonds on Wednesday to refund outstanding debt.

DALLAS — Faced with sharply falling revenue, Dallas Area Rapid Transit is considering delaying a key light-rail line to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, among other measures to reduce spending.