You can tell a lot about the business climate from the way executives travel. In the years before 2008, business leaders needing to meet a client, check out a hot prospect or tour a factory often used their corporate jet to get them there. more

After a six-month wait for needed approvals, Metropark LTD. recently opened a new surface parking lot at 43 Weybosset St. behind the old National Bank façade. “Restaurants are doing better than last year and, yes, there are more people working downtown. … Demand [for parking] is up,” said Charlie Meyers, president of Metropark. The company’s citywide revenue is up 10 percent this year. Revenue from city parking meters is also up, 55 percent since 2009, according to Providence Parking Administrator Leo Perrotta. more

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Transportation said last week that it has reopened the Frenchtown Brook Bridge in East Greenwich about one month earlier than originally planned. more

Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee joined officials from the R.I. Department of Transportation and members of the media for a tour of the new Sakonnet River Bridge on Monday. more

A gain in demand for capital goods such as equipment and machinery in August failed to make up for declines in the previous two months, showing slowdowns in business investment and exports threaten to further restrain the U.S. economy more

Gas prices in Rhode Island rose 1 cent this week after dropping 3 cents last, according to AAA Southern New England. more

BOSTON – Massachusetts Auditor Suzanne Bump announced an audit of the Mass. Bay Transportation Authority’s automated-fare-collection system that highlighted revenue variances of more than $100 million between the system’s records and the actual money collected. In addition, the audit showed missing keys to bus and trolley fare boxes and incomplete tracking of fare-box cash. more

What a ride it’s been for John Olinger. What started out just eight years ago as a two-person transportation startup catering to tour-bus users has morphed into a mini conglomerate that provides luxury transportation to clients in more than 600 cities worldwide. more

WARWICK – T.F. Green Airport will move ahead with plans to extend its runway and enhance airplane safety thanks to $110 million in federal funds, The Associated Press reported last week. more

Michael A. Tartaglione has lived a familiar version of the American dream, working long, hard hours in Rhode Island’s taxi industry while starting at the bottom in 1976. Now he owns the place. more