Public-Private Partnerships in Highway and Transit Infrastructure Provision

Book excerpt: This report describes the wide variety of public-private partnerships in highways and transit, but focuses on the two types of highway PPPs that are generating the most debate: the leasing by the public sector to the private sector of existing infrastructure; and the building, leasing, and owning of new infrastructure by private entities. [...] The effect of PPPs on the planning and operation of the transportation system is a more open question because of the numerous forms they can take, and because they are dependent on the detailed agreements negotiated between the public and private partners. [...] A wide variety of public-private partnerships in highways and transit exist, but this report focuses on the two types of highway PPPs that are generating the most debate: (1) the leasing by the public sector to the private sector of existing infrastructure, sometimes referred to as "brownfield" facilities; and (2) the building, leasing, and owning of new infrastructure by private entities, sometim [...] The report then discusses the main issues of contention with the construction and long- term leasing of highways by the private sector, particularly as they relate to the funding, planning, and operation of the surface transportation system, before providing some policy options Congress may wish to consider. [...] The development of the Las Vegas Monorail provides an example of the potential and the difficulties of private investment in public transit.