Moving MassDOT forward.

In 2009, Massachusetts marked an important turning point when it signed into law a series of reforms aimed at improving the administration of the state's transportation infrastructure. It made a fresh start, creating an entirely new entity -- the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) -- to manage and operate the state's highways, local roads, bridges and other transportation assets on a more efficient basis.

As part of the reform agenda, Citi Municipal Securities worked closely with the new MassDOT to help it confront its legacy of expensive Massachusetts Turnpike debt. A solution lay in a recapitalizing and restructuring nearly $2 billion in fixed and variable rate bonds issued by the MassDOT's predecessor, effectively refinancing the bonds for a much lower cost.

Indeed, the deal, achieved with bond ratings upgrades, lowered the all-in cost of funds for MassDOT by 4 percent per year, for an annual reduction in debt service of nearly $38 million. It also provided approximately $400 million for critically needed capital improvements on the Massachusetts Highway System, including essential improvements to Massachusetts Turnpike's interchange with Route 128, one of Boston's high-tech corridors, and to the B.U. Viaduct segment of the Massachusetts Turnpike in the Allston-Brighton-Cambridge area.

It is great to be part of an effort that helps MassDOT source financing at a lower cost, reinvest in its roads, bridges and tunnels and realize the benefit of its comprehensive reform. This work is truly changing the way transportation services are delivered in Massachusetts -- for the better. We play similar roles in hundreds of infrastructure projects that help sustain and improve communities across the United States.

Citi Municipal Securities is proud to have underwritten more of America's public projects in the past decade than any other U.S. bank.