Transportation industry

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee yesterday made clear he opposes a national infrastructure bank to fund transportation needs, warning it would siphon money away from projects the highway trust fund currently finances and serve urban areas at the expense of rural parts of the country.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority could face a downgrade on its transportation revenue bonds unless it finds new revenue sources, Moody’s Investors Service said in a special comment Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Funding from the federal government is now being parceled out from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and states and localities are deciding where to invest their money.

SAN FRANCISCO— Dan Thomas is chief financial officer of the Port of Seattle, which owns and operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the seaport.

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Kone, assistant deputy airport director for finance at San Francisco International Airport, manages a major variable-rate bond portfolio that’s helping to fund a 10-year, $1.35 billion capital improvement project at the West Coast’s second-busiest airport by passenger traffic.

DALLAS - The Kansas House Transportation Committee has endorsed a bill establishing a new 10-year, $17.7 billion comprehensive statewide transportation program, but a Senate bill raising taxes to support the effort is unlikely to make it out of committee.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's finance committee yesterday passed a detailed toll and fare increase schedule as already depressed dedicated tax revenue collections weakened further.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority yesterday approved delaying a toll increase set for Thursday with the stipulation that the legislature must allocate at least $100 million to MassPike by July 1 or face a toll hike at that time.

The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority faces rising debt service costs as it moves forward with a $1.6 billion fiscal 2010 capital plan that legislators will now consider.

DALLAS - The Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority, better known as Metro, will have to seek other funding sources for its expanding Houston-area rail system after learning that federal stimulus funds will not be available.

WASHINGTON - The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will bring $400 million of bonds to market in the next two weeks after postponing deals last fall due to the turmoil in the marketplace in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority today may opt to postpone toll increases that are set to begin Friday and instead use reserve funds to help meet operating costs for the remainder of fiscal 2009, which ends June 30.

The Hawaii Superferry ceased services this week after an adverse reading from the state Supreme Court.

CHICAGO — A controversial plan to build a new bridge spanning the busy trade route between Detroit and Canada advanced this week when the Michigan Strategic Fund approved a resolution allowing the issuance of nearly $800 million of private-activity bonds to finance the project.

The Massachusetts House yesterday passed a bill to extend the state’s general obligation pledge to five Massachusetts Turnpike Authority swaps and removed an amendment that would have banned independent state authorities from entering into swap agreements.

DALLAS — The Louisiana State Bond Commission yesterday approved the sale of up to $685 million of gasoline tax bonds as the state tries to negotiate lower swap-termination fees before the bonds go to market.

The House yesterday approved a six-month extension of Federal Aviation Administration funding under suspension of the rules, which would keep the airport construction grants program and other programs funded through Sept. 30.

Transportation advocates told budget writers in the House yesterday that private capital is available and should be harnessed.

The Chicago Transit Authority board late last week approved the appointments of Richard Rodriguez as its new president and Karen Walker as its new treasurer and chief financial officer.

A rescue plan for the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority appeared to be headed for derailment yesterday after New York Senate leaders proposed measures intended to address the agency's $1.2 billion operating deficit but not its long-term capital needs. Gov. David Paterson said the Senate's plan was unacceptable.