Transportation industry

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.

CHICAGO - Fitch Ratings this week lowered its rating to A-minus from A on roughly $215 million of outstanding debt issued for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport as the airport faces impending service cuts by its largest carrier, Delta Air Lines Inc., which is merging its operations with Northwest Airlines Corp.

DALLAS - A Sunset Advisory Commission vote to abolish the Texas Transportation Commission - the largest issuer of state debt in Texas - sets up another legislative showdown over highway funding when lawmakers convene in Austin next month.

Gov. Charlie Crist has been asked by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz to reconsider the Florida Department of Transportation’s decision not to close the deal on the $1.2 billion Port of Miami Tunnel project.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., was reported yesterday to be President-elect Barack Obama's pick for Secretary of Transportation, surprising experts in the field who had thought other candidates were more obvious choices for the post.

CHICAGO - The Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission will hold a special meeting next week to discuss a tentative agreement that would allow Delta Air Lines Inc. to close its former Northwest Airlines Corp. headquarters in Eagan without triggering the immediate repayment of $245 million of debt.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey both passed their 2009 budgets yesterday, but their fiscal circumstances couldn't be more different.

CHICAGO - As unlikely as it may seem, Michigan can provide something of a model for states facing revenue and job losses stemming from a deteriorating U.S. automobile industry, Moody's Investors Service analysts said yesterday after releasing a report on the likely impacts from the fallout.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will begin searching for a new transportation secretary after Bernard Cohen on Monday resigned from the post.