Transportation industry

WASHINGTON - The current financial crisis that has caused Treasury rates to plummet has created a boom in demand for a 10-year-old federal program that offers low-interest loans, pegged to Treasury rates, to transportation departments and private investors. But there is no longer enough funding in the TIFIA program to meet the growing demand, according to transportation experts and market participants.

DALLAS - Oklahoma has identified 100 highway projects across the state that could begin construction as early as March if Congress passes a proposed multibillion-dollar transportation infrastructure stimulus package.

DALLAS - With its own future in question, the Texas Department of Transportation is abandoning the Trans-Texas Corridor as a planning concept, executive director Amadeo Saenz said yesterday.

Virgin Galactic last week signed a 20-year lease agreement that calls for the tourist spaceflight provider to establish its headquarters in New Mexico and base its operations at the state-owned Spaceport America.

WASHINGTON - State and local governments could get an infusion of federal funds next year to jump-start many of their shovel-ready transportation projects if Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama are able to enact a promised stimulus package soon after Obama takes office, industry stakeholders said in recent interviews.

DALLAS - The New Orleans Aviation Board will refund all $113.3 million of its outstanding variable-rate debt and pay swap termination fees of up to $16.7 million for five related interest rate swaps with the proceeds from the negotiated sale of $138.8 million of fixed-rate airport revenue bonds next week.

Fitch Ratings has confirmed the rating of AAA/F-1 assigned to Denver International Airport’s $148.5 million of system revenue bonds under a new standby bond purchase agreement with Morgan Stanley Bank.

DALLAS - The El Paso City Council yesterday approved creation of Texas' first transportation reinvestment zone that could attract an estimated $1 billion in state funds for road projects.

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials may postpone a vote on proposed toll hikes to give incoming Transportation Secretary Jim Aloisi time to review the agency's books.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised the outlook to positive from stable on the New Jersey Turnpike Authority due to additional revenue from a recent toll increase that began Dec. 1.

CHICAGO - The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority's inspector general will review the planning process undertaken by the agency to craft its new $1.8 billion capital program, a move its board hopes will quell concerns that the plan was rushed through to give Gov. Rod Blagojevich leverage in raising campaign funds.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation has granted New Mexico’s official state spaceport the license it needs for vertical and horizontal launches.

WASHINGTON - A top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is urging Congress to draft the stimulus package to include a "general revenue sharing" program for state and local governments that would provide aid to municipalities facing budget shortfalls as a result of the economic crisis.

CHICAGO - Michigan lawmakers wrapped up their 2008 session Friday with the approval of a long sought-after measure to advance a bond-funded plan to expand Detroit's Cobo Center as well as a plan to build a light-rail line that could play a key role in the development of a regional southeastern Michigan transportation system.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Transportation has misled the public and lawmakers by claiming that the highway trust fund has been depleted by declining gas tax revenues, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association charged in a memo to congressional staff and reporters Friday.

New York State should consider privatizing assets and using design-build strategies to fill funding gaps for capital projects, a state commission said in a preliminary report yesterday. The report identifies transportation and education projects as candidates for public-private partnerships.

Transportation stakeholders in Congress, lobbyists, and industry officials yesterday lauded Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Department of Transportation, because of his management abilities and bipartisan credentials, despite his thin resume on transportation.

DALLAS - The Texas Transportation Commission approved a $1 billion issue yesterday after learning that the state may need as much as $313 billion to build and maintain highways through 2030.

CHICAGO - The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois yesterday approved a $2.6 billion budget for next year that relies on federal aid to fund capital projects amid the ongoing drought in new state borrowing.

Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP has named Irene Walsh as managing director and head of its U.S. infrastructure and project finance advisory practice, while also hiring James Ziglar Jr. as a senior vice president.