Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'AA+' long-term rating to Contra Costa Transportation Authority, Calif.'s sales tax revenue bonds. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'AA+' rating on the authority's series 2012A and 2012B sales tax revenue bonds. The outlook is stable. The rating reflects our opinion of: The strength of the gross pledge of the 0.5% sales tax revenues collected in Contra Costa County; The strong 1.75x additional bonds test, or ABT (however, we expect coverage to be higher due to the authority's practice of spending about 60% of revenues for ongoing transit programs in the county); and A large and diverse economic base firmly integrated into the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan area. The
