Transportation industry

Transportation systems throughout the U.S. are looking to address a backlog of needed capital projects, yet at the same time volatility in the municipal bond market and a changing investor base have made financing transportation infrastructure more challenging.

WASHINGTON - States are weighing whether to modify their long-term transportation finance plans because of questions about the future sustainability of the beleaguered federal highway trust fund, after some already were forced to shelve $1 billion of grant anticipation bond deals due to unfavorable market conditions.

DALLAS - With tax revenue falling dramatically, the Arizona State Transportation Board will examine its bonding capacity today with a view toward scaling back projects already on the drawing board.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday announced his plan to increase transportation infrastructure projects and school construction over the next six to eight months to support job growth and help bolster the state's softening economy.

DALLAS - The Louisiana State Bond Commission yesterday decided to delay until next year a scheduled forward-purchase sale of $485 million of gasoline and fuel tax revenue bonds to avoid a swap-termination fee of up to $25 million.

DALLAS - Using state loan guarantees as a new form of debt insurance, the North Texas Tollway Authority yesterday agreed to build another $1.3 billion turnpike, despite misgivings by some board members about how the financing might affect future projects.

Nine members have been appointed to the state’s Southeast Regional Airport Authority, which will determine if Louisiana should take over New Orleans’s Louis Armstrong International Airport.

CHICAGO - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials yesterday unveiled a $1.8 billion, bond-financed plan to build new interstate-to-interstate interchanges and add bus and ride-sharing commuter lanes to the busiest stretches of the 286-mile toll system.

The Chicago Transit Authority last week proposed raising light-rail train and bus fares by 25 cents and monthly passes to $90 from $75 to help cover a looming deficit due to poor tax collections amid rising expenses for employees and fuel.

DALLAS - With the credit market still awaiting a thaw, the North Texas Tollway Authority approved a plan to complete the takeout of $3.5 billion of bond anticipation notes by the Nov. 19 deadline.

A committee of the Milwaukee County Board last week rejected county Executive Scott Walker’s plan to include $500,000 in the $1.4 billion 2009 budget to hire consultants to help craft a proposal to privatize Mitchell International Airport.

CHICAGO - When General Motors Corp. last week lobbied Detroit's two pension funds to invest in its prominent downtown headquarters to help raise $500 million, some saw it as an illustration of the severity of the fiscal pressures facing the U.S. auto industry.

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission last week approved an estimated $4 billion construction plan for the next eight years that will include projects in each of the state’s 77 counties.

Public-private partnerships for transportation deals that involve concessions are likely to be held to new standards on pricing and competition, under a rule proposed last week by the Federal Highway Administration.

DALLAS - With short-term interest rates in a volatile state, the Texas Department of Transportation is planning a current refunding of $150 million of variable-rate toll bonds, most of which are held by Germany's Depfa Bank.

New Jersey officials last week approved toll increases on three toll roads, a move that will boost debt service coverage on New Jersey Turnpike Authority debt and help fund transportation infrastructure projects throughout the state.

The Federal Aviation Administration plans to go ahead with auctions of flight slots at three airports owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced yesterday.

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will convene a forum here Monday to launch the development of a second economic stimulus package.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is eager to sell $350 million of new-money assessment bonds, once market conditions allow for the agency to issue long-term debt.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority plans to vote on its proposed toll hikes at a special meeting set for Friday, with those potential changes to take effect on or about Dec. 1, according to spokesman Joe Orlando.