SUMMARY OF THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION'S SYMPOSIUM ON OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

This report summarizes the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored seminar held on December 6, 1993, covering various topics related to overcoming barriers to public-private partnerships for developing and financing highway transportation projects. Three overall themes or topics were addressed: the first topic was to identify an array of partnership structures available for financing infrastructure improvements; second, experience from case studies was used to identify and discuss barriers to public-private partnerships; and finally, various means to overcome the barriers were suggested and discussed in an open forum. The following partnership structures, evolving from public to private, were discussed: traditional new public highway; traditional new public toll-road delivery; innovative financing for new public facilities; blended public-private financing for new public toll road delivery; public-private partnerships to deliver new road capacity; and privately supplied new highway. The following barriers or issues drew the most attention and comment during the Symposium: financial barriers; equity; barriers related to concession or franchise agreements; powers of state agencies; procurement barriers; permitting process; tax structure; and support from government and the community. Briefly stated, key suggestions to overcome the barriers were: create an attractive investment climate; provide direct government support; develop community-wide support; provide early development stage support by government; limit environmental protests; enhance incentive to use private bonding; provide funding as a catalyst for public-private arrangements; develop innovative financing; look beyond tolls for revenue streams; and establish on-going communications.

  • Record URL:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This summary report is Number 11 in the Federal Highway Administration's Searching for Solutions: A Policy Discussion Series. This report was prepared for the Federal Highway Administration by Apogee Research, Inc.
  • Corporate Authors:

    Federal Highway Administration

    1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
    Washington, DC  United States  20590
  • Publication Date: 1994-5

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Appendices;
  • Pagination: 51 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00674253
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-PL-94-026
  • Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT
  • Created Date: Feb 8 1995 12:00AM