Transportation industry

DALLAS - A new bypass that would open up existing freight tracks for commuter rail between Austin and San Antonio would cost $2.4 billion, with the means of financing yet to be identified, according to a report from the Texas Department of Transportation released yesterday.

CHICAGO - Longtime Fitch Ratings airport analyst Peter Stettler will leave the agency this month to join an aviation consulting group based in Chicago.

A federal plan to revamp the national transportation system would remove the $15 billion cap on private-activity bonds used to finance construction of highways and rail-to-truck freight transfer facilities, withhold federal monies for some large projects unless public-private partnerships have been considered, and encourage use of state infrastructure banks.

Massachusetts lawmakers yesterday were meeting behind closed doors to discuss how to enhance a portion or all of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's $2.2 billion of outstanding debt while lawmakers also evaluates four different borrowing plans totaling $9 billion before the legislative session ends on July 31.

Parking fees and a new sales tax could finance part of a proposed $80 million three-mile streetcar project in Grand Rapids, according to a new feasibility study.

ATLANTA - The Kentucky Turnpike Authority today will begin selling $200 million of revenue bonds that were authorized for several road projects designed to facilitate economic development in the state.

A transportation consulting group has proposed a 15.3 mile streetcar system in Austin that would cost $550 million to $614 million to build and $21 million to $23 million a year to operate.

A Senate Finance subcommittee turned a critical eye to the current tax code and public-private partnerships as a solution for infrastructure funding woes during a hearing last week, which came on the heels of a Department of Transportation report that announced record-breaking highs in the number of P3 deals for surface transportation.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week advanced a sales tax ballot measure that would raise as much as $40 billion to expand highways and public transportation in the nation's most notoriously congested region.

Portland could be heading to the market next year with a new-money transaction to help finance a $60 million expansion project at the Portland International Jetport.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be challenged to close multimillion dollar deficits over the next four years but the New York agency is expected to balance its budget through state and local government assistance, fare increases, or operating cost reductions, Standard & Poor’s said in a report last week.

BRADENTON, Fla. -The Florida Department of Transportation on Wednesday received six responses from firms interested in the state's first-ever lease of an existing toll road, which is known as Alligator Alley.

CHICAGO - Even as rising gas costs threaten Michigan's transportation revenues, the state needs to double spending on its roads and bridges or up to 30% of roads will become unsafe within the next decade, according to a report on the state's transportation system released this week.

DALLAS - With growth coming from the world's largest Army post, El Paso, Tex., is moving toward a $1 billion comprehensive mobility plan that would complete a freeway loop around the city, add a rapid transit system, and build the first two toll roads in the area.

The House yesterday approved an $8 billion patch for the anemic Highway Trust Fund, while a Senate committee postponed this week's vote on a stimulus package that would inject billions more into transportation infrastructure.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday asked the state, city, and subway and commuter train riders to pony up more money to help the agencyy close a budget gap that would rise to $903 million in 2009.

CHICAGO - With ratings in the double-A category and clearance from the Illinois auditor general, the Chicago Transit Authority is readying its long-planned issue of nearly $2 billion of taxable pension-related bonds for sale as soon as next week.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission yesterday announced that it submitted a revamped application to the Federal Highway Administration, seeking approval to implement tolls on Interstate 80.

Facing a $20 million 2009 budget deficit stemming largely from rising fuel costs, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority last week issued a proposal to raise fares and cut service in Cuyahoga County.

Senate Appropriations Committee members are expected Thursday to vote on transportation funding as part of a second economic stimulus package, Peter Rogoff, staff director of the committee's transportation panel told airport executives meeting here yesterday.