Transportation industry

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority could vote on potential toll increases this Friday to help offset growing debt service costs as state officials continue to map out legislation that would allow MassPike to be dismantled and folded into two other agencies.

WASHINGTON - The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials met with the Federal Reserve late Monday in a last-ditch effort to urge them to step in as guarantor on a leaseback deal the agency entered into with a Belgian bank. The move came just ahead of a U.S. District Court hearing today that will decide whether WMATA should remit a $43 million termination payment to the bank on the deal.

Chicago’s proposed $2.5 billion lease of Midway Airport to private operators is on a glide path to win Federal Aviation Administration approval possibly before the end of the year following a required public hearing on the deal last weekend.

At the request of the Federal Transit Administration, New Jersey officials increased the estimated cost of a new passenger-rail tunnel that will run between Newark and Manhattan to $8.7 billion, a $1.1 billion boost from the project's earlier cost estimate.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has to close a $1.2 billion deficit in the next fiscal year, MTA officials said at a special finance committee meeting yesterday.

CHICAGO - As General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reported grim third-quarter earnings Friday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm warned that the state, just a few weeks into its fiscal year, already could face a deficit reaching up to $600 million.

Fitch Ratings last week changed its outlook on the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to stable from negative, citing recently approved toll increases that will help liquidity and fund needed capital improvements.

Amid continued strong demand and recent firmness that saw some yields decline as much as 12 basis points in spots during new-issue pricing last week, a $750 million revenue offering from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority will further test the strength of the market this week.

WASHINGTON - Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials on Friday made an urgent plea to the Treasury Department to prevent it from having to make a $43 million termination payment on a leaseback deal, just as the Belgian bank demanding the payment was expected to urge a federal court here not to block the payment.

After nearly three years of overseeing New Jersey's roads, bridges, and mass transit systems, Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri will head the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, a revamped agency that many hope will move away from its previous history of fiscal mismanagement.

WASHINGTON - Credit agencies are monitoring their ratings on transit agency leaseback transactions at a time when they are at growing risk of having to cough up billions of dollars as lease agreements with private investors go into default because of insurers' rating downgrades.

Atlanta on Friday closed on a private placement of $64.5 million of tax allocation district bonds for its ambitious BeltLine project, after the size of the offering was scaled back in recent weeks due to the liquidity crisis and market volatility.

WASHINGTON - Just one day after his historic win to become the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama was choosing staff, setting up a transition team, and preparing to work with the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve on the financial crisis, according to sources and public statements.

The Virginia Department of Transportation turned over control of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Monday, moving forward on a $5.2 billion Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport and $2 billion of tax-exempt bonds that will finance it.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Democratic state Sen. Dave Aronberg was reelected this week, giving him the chance to follow through with legislation aimed at curtailing the use of transportation-related public-private partnerships in Florida.

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Democratic leaders said yesterday that they will push for a second economic stimulus package when Congress returns to Washington for a lame-duck session on Nov. 17.

Despite a faltering national economy, voters by and large gave a very favorable reception to bond referendums on Tuesday's ballot.

CHICAGO - The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority expects to enter the market today with between $300 million and $400 million of fixed-rate, new-money revenue bonds to raise funds for its ongoing $6.2 billion rebuilding of the tollway system.

WASHINGTON - More than three years after its creation, the Department of Transportation's $15 billion private-activity bond program designed to help states and localities finance infrastructure through private investment - a program that DOT officials want to expand - has resulted in only one $589 million transaction.

New Jersey officials are working on a $750 million new-money New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority bond sale that includes $250 million of capital appreciation bonds.