Public-Private Partnerships in U.S. Transportation Sector: Stakeholder Perceptions

The use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) for transportation infrastructure delivery has increased in the U.S. However, concerns about and opposition to these agreements exist due to a variety of factors. This paper explores the perceptions that a variety of PPP stakeholders have about PPP usage to deliver transportation infrastructure in the U.S., including stakeholders from fields at times overlooked in PPP literature but that are key to these transactions, such as professionals in legal, banking and finance, and concessionaire organizations. The paper reports the main findings from a survey taken by 101 professionals, with responses classified based on different aspects of the respondents’ backgrounds. Results indicate that stakeholders’ perceptions about benefits, barriers, and valuation of PPPs vary depending upon the respondent’s work type, location, and especially whether they had previous experience with PPPs. While this is not surprising, in some cases, such variations in perceptions were unexpected in both type and magnitude. It is understandable that some misperceptions still exist among PPP stakeholders due to various reasons, yet, some responses showed deep misunderstandings, fears, or unrealistic expectations about PPPs. The fact that respondents were targeted because of their assumed familiarity with these transactions is worrisome and it validates recommendations in the literature, as well as from respondents of this survey, to educate decision-makers, staff, and the general public about what PPPs are, why they are needed, and what they can and cannot do.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE10(1) Public-Private Partnerships.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Martinez, Sergio E
  • Hall, Andrea
  • Walton, C Michael
  • Mosebar, Megan
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC
  • Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
• Date: 2014

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 19p
• Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Public private partnerships; Stakeholders; Surveys
• Uncontrolled Terms: Transportation infrastructure
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Finance; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01519826
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 14-5333
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 26 2014 10:11AM