Transportation industry

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority faces a $165 million deficit for fiscal 2010, which begins July 1, as debt service costs for the transit agency will increase by $77 million to $445 million.

WASHINGTON - The $787 billion stimulus package signed into law by President Obama yesterday may spur smaller issuers to increase debt issuance through tax code changes, but may also limit the debt that is sold for transportation, water and wastewater, and other infrastructure projects in the near term because of the new federal funds provided for them.

Survey results issued this week by transportation firm HNTB Corp. spotlights misperceptions about transportation finance.

DALLAS - The Louisiana State Bond Commission will consider increasing a pending $485 million road bond issue by $200 million to pay a hefty but fluctuating swap termination fee when it meets Thursday morning.

CHICAGO - Chicago Friday banked $1.15 billion when it closed on a 75-year lease of its parking meter system - the latest in a series of private concession deals involving city assets undertaken over the last four years.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority today begins a two-day pricing of $600 million of federal highway grant anticipation and reimbursement revenue vehicle bonds.

Work on San Antonio International Airport’s $525 million expansion program will slow down due to fewer passengers than expected at the facility.

Gov. Butch Otter says some higher taxes will be needed to fund improvements to Idaho’s highway system.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Municipal bond issuance in the Southeast last year took the largest tumble of any region in the country. Volume fell in all four quarters of 2008 as the credit crunch worsened and - as one financial adviser put it - the rules kept changing.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and officials from across San Diego County late Monday announced a $4 billion plan to renovate Lindbergh Field, the city's main commercial airport.

CHICAGO - A flood of refundings by Midwestern issuers looking to shed auction-rate securities and variable-rate bonds backed by downgraded insurers in the second quarter of 2008 couldn't compensate for a steep fourth-quarter drop-off in borrowing amid the economic and market turmoil of last fall.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee begins consideration today of a multiyear Federal Aviation Administration bill that would authorize $16.2 billion for bond-related airport grants.

WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday voted 61 to 37 to approve its $838 billion economic stimulus legislation, setting the stage for House and Senate conferees to begin to resolve the differences between their two bills, including six differing bond-related provisions.

Expecting to receive about $220 million in federal stimulus funds for infrastructure, the Utah Department of Transportation last week listed 44 projects that should be ready to start within three months.

WASHINGTON - The Senate late yesterday voted 61 to 36 to approve a procedural motion to limit debate on a $829 billion compromise economic stimulus bill that would revise two key muni bond provisions.

Colorado lawmakers are splitting along party lines on support for a road-building initiative called Funding Advancement for Surface Development and Economic Recovery — also known as “Faster.”

NEW YORK - Rumors continue to circulate in Massachusetts regarding a potential gas-tax increase while the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority heads toward a possible toll hike vote to help it meet its financing needs.

A real estate deal that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority expected to bring in $700 million for capital spending is on hold, the New York agency announced last week.

Massachusetts Senate leaders yesterday moved forward with their plan to combine the state's surface transportation operations, including roads, bridges, and mass transit systems, under one entity called the Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority, or MassTrans.

DALLAS - Louisiana will have to tap into its transportation trust fund for the next 35 years to support debt service on bonds financing the state's $5.2 billion, 20-year-old highway improvement program.