Transportation industry

The Arkansas Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance last week hired two economists to help it determine the true cost of maintaining state roads at recommended levels.

The first projects financed under Tulsa’s Fix The Streets effort will get under way this summer, with proceeds from the first $11 million of the $285 million of general obligation bonds authorized for the five-year program.

President Obama may have chosen a man from outside of the transportation finance universe to be his transportation secretary when he tapped former Rep. Ray LaHood for the job, but his picks for other posts at the department have included several veterans in transportation finance and policy.

SAN FRANCISCO - Moody's Investors Service today cut its outlook for the U.S. ports sector to negative from stable amid steep drops in consumer demand and global trade.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick Friday signed into law a bill to end the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority by the end of the year.

DALLAS - Despite reservations about the state's rising debt service amid falling revenues, Texas transportation officials plan to issue all $4.9 billion of voter-authorized bonds for its projects as soon as possible.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority expects to issue $136.8 million of airport system revenue variable-rate bonds on Wednesday to refinance outstanding revenue notes.

DALLAS — Texas lawmakers will get another chance to authorize $2 billion of transportation bonds and keep five state agencies in business, under Gov. Rick Perry’s call for a special session.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Kentucky General Assembly adjourned its special session Wednesday after plugging a $1 billion hole in the upcoming budget and creating a new bonding authority that will help the state finance some or all of its share of the $4 billion Ohio River Bridges Project.

SAN FRANCISCO — Orange County, Calif.’s John Wayne Airport is a bit of an oddball among airports. And it’s those differences that have helped it garner a rating upgrade that airport officials hope will portend a successful bond issue next week.

WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of a fatal subway accident here this week, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee has warned a transportation group that he may consider drafting legislation that would prevent tax-advantaged lease-back deals from blocking transit authorities from maintaining or upgrading their subway cars.

WASHINGTON — A Senate committee will vote during the week of July 20 on an extension to prevent the dwindling highway trust fund from going broke before Congress can pass a multi-year reauthorization bill, its chairman said yesterday.

The New York State Thruway Authority plans to issue up to $700 million of two-year bond anticipation notes to fund the remainder of its five-year capital program, the agency said yesterday at its monthly board meeting.

The Las Vegas Monorail Co. continues on its one-way journey toward default, according to Fitch Ratings, which Monday downgraded its underlying rating on the monorail operator’s first-tier debt to C from CC.

The House Transportation Committee's highways and transit subcommittee approved a bipartisan $450 billion multi-year transportation bill yesterday after members soundly rejected the Obama administration's plan to delay the process for 18 months.

DALLAS - A campaign by Golden, Colo., to discourage investment in a privately funded tollway on the city's periphery will not halt the project, an official with the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority said.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority could face an estimated $268 million termination payment to UBS Securities LLC on five swaps after Standard & Poor's yesterday downgraded Ambac Assurance Corp., which insures the derivatives, to BBB from A.

St. Louis this week released an addendum to the preliminary offering statement on an upcoming $230 million revenue bond sale for Lambert-St. Louis International Airport that includes an updated financial feasibility study following American Airlines’ announcement that it plans to cut 18 daily flights.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised its outlook on the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority’s AA-plus rating to stable from positive over the fiscal and capital pressures the system faces and the potential effect on future debt service coverage levels.

Assuming it is able to go forward, a $4.9 billion mega-project in Brooklyn will proceed in stages under a modified plan the Empire State Development Corp. adopted yesterday at its monthly board meeting.