Transportation industry

Nevada’s two biggest airports got bad ratings news this week.

DALLAS - A new report from a Louisiana public affairs group warns that significant revenue sources dedicated to road construction and maintenance must be found to avoid long-term deterioration of the existing highway system in the state.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines, which is leading a $519 million bond-funded redevelopment of its home airport Dallas Love Field, saw its senior unsecured debt rating downgraded two notches to Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service yesterday.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has introduced a bill to restore the federal highway trust fund's ability to accrue interest on its revenues and prevent the federal government from delaying payments to states for transportation projects.

DALLAS - Houston is planning to price nearly $1 billion of debt before the end of the month in a deal that could include Build America Bonds.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Railroad Administration received 278 preliminary applications for $102 billion of high-speed rail grants, even though the stimulus law authorized only $8 billion of federal funds for the projects.

The top Arkansas highway official told a special committee last week that state and local governments should be spending at least $300 million more each year to maintain the network of state, county, and city roads.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority - which operates the Atlantic City Expressway and the Atlantic City International Airport - will sell roughly $265 million of debt beginning this week.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will hold three public hearings later this summer regarding a proposed toll increase for the Dulles Toll Road. The proposed 25-cent fare hike will raise revenues for the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

The Massachusetts Port Authority will pay down $20.8 million of debt as the agency prepares to hand over the Tobin Bridge to a new entity, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee on Friday approved a $68.8 billion spending bill that would provide $4 billion for high-speed and intercity rail projects, $3 million more than was requested by President Obama in his fiscal 2010 budget.

After a nearly five-year hiatus from the public sector, Kim Paparello Vaccari in early April joined New Jersey Transit as deputy chief financial officer under the current CFO, Charlie Wedel. When Wedel retires later this year from his 18-year tenure at NJTransit, Paparello Vaccari will head the agency’s finance department.

WASHINGTON — A Department of Transportation official received a tongue-lashing from House lawmakers yesterday during a subcommittee hearing on whether a long-term transportation bill would help to prolong any economic recovery generated by the two-year stimulus law.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 18 to 1 yesterday to extend the current transportation law by 18 months so lawmakers have more time to reach consensus on how to fund a multi-year replacement law and can focus on pending health care and climate change legislation.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation expects to issue $250 million of grant anticipation revenue vehicle bonds on Monday after receiving a rating upgrade earlier this month.

Florida’s long-held dream of having a bullet train is back on track with Gov. Charlie Crist announcing that the state Department of Transportation has submitted an application for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s high-speed intercity passenger rail program.

Roughly $2.1 billion of Massachusetts Turnpike Authority debt received a boost yesterday when Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill that will direct $100 million each year to debt service costs on the bonds, a move that may help raise the agency's triple-B credit rating.

The Georgia Department of Transportation and Atlanta BeltLine Inc. last Thursday announced that they entered into a purchase agreement giving Atlanta the option of acquiring a major portion of right of way for the long-planned BeltLine project.

WASHINGTON - The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is expected to vote today on a bill that would extend the current transportation spending law until 2011, despite opposition from within the committee and from key House members.

By the end of October, the 57-year-old Massachusetts Turnpike Authority will cease to exist and a larger, more expansive bonding authority will take over MassPike's operations, assets, and its $2.2 billion of debt.