Transportation industry

Municipal infrastructure market participants believe that insufficient funding and the politicization of infrastructure are worse impediments to investments than corruption, earmark abuses, public policy instability, or poor creditworthiness of public authorities, according to a recent survey by KPMG LLP.

The state would privatize the Ohio Lottery and the Ohio Turnpike and use the money to fund a college scholarship program under a bill introduced last week by Sen. Kevin Coughlin.

The Michigan Department of Transportation last week put out a request for proposals seeking construction bids from companies interested in work on a new, $1.8 billion, bond-financed bridge across the Detroit River. The deadline for responses is March 17.

WASHINGTON — President Obama in his fiscal 2011 budget yesterday proposed a $4 billion infrastructure bank to fund or finance worthwhile transportation projects.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. has pulled out of a partnership with the Related Cos. to develop the 26-acre East and West Side Rail Yards in Manhattan — also known as the Hudson Yards — the parties confirmed yesterday.

CHICAGO — The Michigan Department of Transportation last week significantly cut its five-year construction plan, warning the state faces the loss of $2.4 billion in federal aid through 2014 because it lacks matching dollars.

DALLAS — With a statewide moratorium on new private toll projects still in place after more than two years, the Texas Transportation Commission is planning a bypass around that financial barrier to leverage existing funds.

The Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance has urged tax increases and a diversion of general fund revenue to finance highway construction and maintenance needs estimated at $19.1 billion over the next 10 years. Current sources would provide only $4.1 billion over the period.

Without tax increases to finance transportation infrastructure, tolling on large portions of the nation’s interstate highway system will be inevitable, Citi managing director Ronald Marino said on Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO — After appearing to close a long debate in December with the decision to award construction contracts for a rail link to the Oakland International Airport, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District now faces the threat of losing $70 million in federal stimulus funding on civil rights grounds.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco International Airport plans to refund $215.9 million of fixed-rate debt with variable-rate demand obligations next week, as it seeks to pair debt with forward swaps it agreed to enter before the financial crisis.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue Thursday said the state could not refinance $424.4 million of transportation debt because the board that oversees road projects has voted to ­maintain accounting practices that violate state law.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week updated financial information presented in bond documents, including an estimated $1.52 billion current-year state budget deficit and the limited status of New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority funds.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority voted on Thursday to increase all fares by 10 cents and to tap its reserve fund to close a $40.1 million revenue shortfall for fiscal 2010.

WASHINGTON — High-speed rail proponents rejoiced yesterday after President Obama announced the Federal Railroad Administration has awarded 31 states with a total of $8 billion of high-speed rail grants, the largest of which will go to California, Florida, and the Midwest region.

DALLAS — The Texas Department of Transportation expects to go to market this spring after gaining approval to issue up to $3 billion of general obligation bonds.

The agency building the new Transbay Transit Center project in San Francisco announced Tuesday that it has closed on a $171 million federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan for the project.

The easier it is to get around an area without a car, the less likely a homeowner there will default, all other things being equal, an environmentalist group says.

WASHINGTON — President Obama wants to freeze non-military discretionary spending for three years to save $250 billion over the next decade, but market participants in states, transportation, and other infrastructure sectors are not panicking yet.

BRADENTON, Fla. — President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will be in Florida today to announce which states will share in $8 billion of federal stimulus funding for high-speed rail projects, and the winners will include the Sunshine State.