Transportation industry

WASHINGTON — The House Transportation Committee Monday unveiled a 775-page, multi-year transportation infrastructure bill that is to be voted on Wednesday by its transit and highways subcommittee.

Massachusetts lawmakers late yesterday voted to abolish the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority by the end of 2009 and create a new agency with bonding authority that would oversee most transportation programs in the state and take on MassPike’s $2.2 billion of outstanding debt.

WASHINGTON — States and other sponsors of high-speed rail projects must submit pre-applications for a share of the more than $8 billion of available funding no later than July 10, the Federal Railroad Administration said this week in interim guidance that outlines the criteria for such projects.

The California Alternative Energy and Advance Transportation Financing Authority has announced the closure of a $20 million clean renewable energy bond deal on behalf of the California Department of Transportation.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Harbor Department plans to sell $200 million of new-money bonds and up to $550 million of refunding debt next week.

WASHINGTON — House Transportation Committee leaders yesterday released a voluminous blueprint for a soon-to-be-introduced bill that would create a national infrastructure bank to help states, localities and private parties finance transportation projects.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday gave the go-ahead for a revenue bond issue of up to $250 million for the county’s John Wayne Airport.

WASHINGTON — The $450 billion transportation bill that is to be introduced soon by the House Transportation Committee chairman will provide $1 billion of federal funds for designated metropolitan planning organizations to issue bonds to finance transportation projects.

CHICAGO - St. Louis enters the market next week with up to $230 million of Lambert St. Louis International Airport revenue bonds to raise $126 million for projects and to refund bonds through a tender option designed to take advantage of the relief provided by the federal stimulus from the alternative minimum tax.

House Transportation Committee chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., is expected to unveil a white paper tomorrow outlining the upcoming multi-year highway bill, but it probably will not contain details about the funding levels, revenue sources, or tax provisions necessary to pay for transportation programs, sources said yesterday.

Moody’s Investors Service last week placed the Chicago Transit Authority’s $2 billion of sales and transfer tax receipts bonds and lease revenue bonds on negative watch, an action that stems from Moody’s downgrade earlier this month of the CTA’s parent agency.

DALLAS - The North Texas Tollway Authority is all but certain to raise tolls to preserve its debt-service coverage after revenues for 2009 fell by nearly 11%, officials indicated yesterday.

Standard & Poor’s this week knocked the Detroit Local Development Finance Authority’s tax increment financing bonds Series 1997B and C and 1998A further into junk bond territory due to “significant uncertainty” over the future of a Chrysler plant that makes up most of the taxable value of the district.

SAN FRANCISCO - Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. has announced the formation of a transportation finance group.

DALLAS - Dallas Area Rapid Transit expects to make history with its record $1 billion bond issue today. The triple-A rated deal is not only DART's largest ever, but the biggest in the Southwest so far this year.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Atlanta Board of Education on Monday affirmed its participation in two of the city’s tax allocation districts, clearing a major hurdle to advancing up to $200 million of bonds for the long-delayed BeltLine project.

DALLAS - With the fate of five state agencies in limbo, Texas Gov. Rick Perry confirmed that he will call a special session of the Legislature, but said he has not decided when or what issues will be included.

Bucking a nationwide trend of decline for most airports, the rating outlook for Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport last week was revised to stable from negative when its credit ratings were affirmed.

Fitch Ratings affirmed its top ratings on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airport Commission and its $261 million of general obligation debt.

The New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust may finance nearly $900 million of clean water and wastewater projects in fiscal 2010, almost double its typical annual program, with the aid of federal and state stimulus funds.